Tech’s Season Ends with Loss to NC State

Virginia Tech’s basketball season came to an end on Thursday afternoon with an 80-63 loss to NC State.  The Hokies finished with a 13-19 record, going 6-19 after a 7-0 start.

Erick Green

Jarell Eddie and Erick Green switched places on Thursday.  It was Eddie who shot the ball well and led the team in scoring, while Green missed a high percentage of his shots.  In the end, the final result was the same.

Green finished with just 15 points, only the fourth time this season he has not reached the 20 point mark.  He was 5-of-19 from the field, and he also turned the ball over four times (all in the first half).  However, he did finish his career with a field goal and an assist on back-to-back possessions before James Johnson took him out of the game for his ovation from the crowd.

Eddie led the Hokies with 21 points and three assists.  He was 9-of-14 from the field, and 1-of-5 from three-point range.  He missed just one shot from inside the three-point arc, and he looked like the player we saw earlier in the season.

Cadarian Raines added eight points and seven rebounds for Tech.  Marquis Rankin scored eight points after scoring 15 in the regular season finale at Wake.  He’s beginning to look more comfortable driving the basketball to the hoop.  However, Robert Brown scored just two points.  he was 1-of-6 from the field, and he struggled handling the ball against a very talented NC State team.

Though they weren’t particularly good offensively in this game, it was their defense that once again was the issue.  NC State shot 52.8% from the field, becoming the third consecutive opponent to shoot over 50% against the Hokies.  Richard Howell led the Wolfpack with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

With the loss to NC State, Tech’s season has mercifully drawn to a close.  After jumping out to a 7-0 start and nearly being ranked in the top 25, the Hokies finished 6-19 after that huge win over then #15 Oklahoma State.

Next year’s Tech team will look much different.  Though they lose only Erick Green, six new scholarship players will hit the court for the first time.  Five freshmen will enroll for the first time, and transfer guard Adam Smith will be eligible.

hokiesports.com box score

 

5 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. No question, they have GOT to get better defensively. But how? If you’re JJ where do you start on that project?

  2. this might seem too simplistic but sometimes things are simple. If I was JJ, I would say to the team after all the thank yous etc, goodbyes, etc…

    “I failed you guys for getting us ready defensively for the season. My mistake. Won’t happen again, that said, it is your responsibility to do what is needed to become a better shooter. And Erick Green’s story has set an outstanding example that resonates with a lot more people than just those in and around our program. No doubt, spending the time and effort in the off season is what separates many players during the season. If it is important to you and it should be, dedicating your yourself in the off season to putting that ball in the hoop over and over again should be paramount in your mind.”

  3. I applaud the efforts of the team this year. Erick Green put in the hard work and it paid off. Raines seems to be following that lead. Who knows how this season would have turned out without the walk-ons. Hopefully the new blood coming into the program will give the coaching staff more options.

    As my wife the Cubs fan reminded me, there’s always next year.

Comments are closed.