2007.01.31
Hokies down at halftime
Mark Berman here from Blacksburg at halftime of the VIrginia Tech men's basketball game, where the Hokies are fortunate to be only down by two points at halftime to North Carolina State.
State, which had lost four of its previous five games, is up 30-28. State led the entire first half, extending its lead over the No. 16 Hokies to 26-16 with 5:22 to go in the half.
Cheick Diakite is the only Tech post player who has provided any inside scoring; he has two dunks. Backup post player Chris Tucker did have an outside jumper.
But Coleman Collins, who had five dunks in Sunday's win at Georgia Tech, is 0-5 from the field. Backup Robert Krabbendam also has been dreadful; he is 0-of-2 from the field.
The Hokies shot just 32.3 percent from the field in the half to State's 50 percent. State also leads on the boards, 21-16, but has hurt itself with seven turnovers.
Zabian Dowdell gave the Hokies a huge lift with 4.3 seconds left in the half with a four-point play. He drained a 3-pointer and was fouled, and made the free throw to cut the lead to 30-28. He has 11 points.
State center Ben McCauley has 12 points, so the Hokies' post players are also playing poorly on defense.
Tech guard Jamon Gordon has also had a bad first half. He is 0-of-5 from the field.






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