Virginia Tech Falls at Miami 74-68

Buzz Williams

Virginia Tech was defeated by Miami 74-68 on the road on Wednesday night.  The Hokies dropped to 16-7 on the season, with a 5-6 record in conference play.  The Hurricanes improved to 16-7 overall and 6-5 in ACC play.

Tech was led by sophomore point guard Justin Robinson, who finished with 15 points.  However, Robinson was issued a technical foul near the end of the game for making contact with an official.  He hit a three-pointer that cut the Miami lead to 69-63 with 27 seconds left, and there was contact on the play.  No foul was called, and Robinson was displeased, and when the Hokies took a timeout right after the three-pointer, Robinson made contact with the referee in question in Virginia Tech’s ensuing huddle.  He did not return to the game, and it remains to be seen whether or not punishment is coming from the ACC.

Virginia Tech led for the majority of the first half, until a late 9-0 run by Miami gave the Hurricanes a 40-34 lead at halftime.  The ‘Canes then scored the first three points of the second half to extend their lead to 43-34.

The game was back and forth for a bit, but the Hokies made a run to tie the game at 47-47 with 13:46 remaining.  Ahmed Hill’s two free throws tied the game, and it seems as if Virginia Tech was back in it despite the latter stages of the first half and the first few possessions of the second half.

However, Miami promptly responded with a 18-2 run capped by a three-pointer by DJ Vasiljevic with 7:13 remaining.  The only two points the Hokies scored during that run came on a Robinson layup at the 10:28 mark.  Virginia Tech did get back in the game in the final minutes, cutting the Miami lead to as little as six points on two occasions, but it was not enough.

Virginia Tech outshot Miami 47.8% to 45.3%, and the Hurricanes were just 7-of-21 (33.3%) from three-point range.  The Hokies were also an impressive 20-of-25 (80%) from the free throw line, but it wasn’t enough.  Rebounds were also tied at 32, despite Miami holding a huge advantage statistically coming into the game.  Halfcourt offense and turnovers were the real difference in this game.

As today’s game preview stated, Miami had 264 assists and 295 turnovers in 22 games coming into this matchup, while the Hokies had 337 assists and 268 turnovers in 22 games.  Those numbers were flipped on Wednesday, with Virginia Tech finishing with 12 assists and 15 turnovers, while Miami had 15 assists and 10 turnovers.  Those extra possessions turned out to be the difference.

Zach LeDay had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Chris Clarke added 13 points, Ahmed Hill had 12, and Seth Allen finished with 15.  But Tech was just 4-of-13 (30.8%) from three-point range.  Miami limited VT’s open three-point jumpers, and with Tech’s lack of size in the paint, the Hokies struggled offensively for much of the night.

Virginia Tech returns home to host #12 Virginia on Sunday night.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30pm, and the game will be televised by ESPNU.

Box Score

16 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Scrappy squad deserves credit For the first time in years, they are competitive. Can’t hit the next level without more beef and height. That will come. Buzz is doing great.

  2. Barely a touch and ref could have let go but I understand they have to maintain control. I don’t understand why we don’t play K. Sy more. If we had then he would be a lot more experienced by now.

  3. We still a number of games left and yes everyone of them will be a coin flip. UL and UVA would be considered major upsets if we win.
    Please don’t give up on our team. I realize we have some personnel issues but it takes at least 4 to 5 recruiting classes before we can see significant upward change.

    Next season talent and size will improve; 2 6’10” guys, 3 6’7″ guys plus 6’6″ guys and 6’5″ guys and adding a big time point guard.

  4. Touched official YES Pushed… NO!!!
    ACC Officials need to have a bit better control as they lost control of the game earlier. Poor judgment by Robinson to touch the official…. Maturity issues with this official sticking his nose into the Hokies Huddle and started this confrontation….

  5. I still like this team, though they do it appear to be among the 64. VT is heading in the right direction.

  6. Same story most games in ACC play. No inside presence leads to stifling defense on perimeter by opposing teams, few 3 point opportunities. On defense, lack of ability to play man to man due to no inside presence provides multiple easy inside opportunities along with multiple rebounds as difficult to block out playing a switching zone. Many times there were situations where Seth or Justin were responsible for blocking out a center or power forward after dropping down inside…
    We’ll never compete at a high level in ACC unless we get some inside depth and there doesn’t appear to be any in future.

  7. Total rebounds were tied but got out rebounded by 6 on offensive glass. We had 6 more defensive rebounds because we got to the free throw line more and made our free throws. Negative 6 offensI’ve rebounds and negative 5 turnover margin lead you Miami getting more opportunities.

  8. Hate being a downer but I don’t think this squad is going to make the Tourney. Think they will need to be at least a 21 win team to get in and I don’t see them getting there with the schedule remaining. I hope I’m wrong but the way they have played in some of these key road games in really perplexing.

Comments are closed.