A Bad Night in Boston

Chestnut Hill, MA – Virginia Tech was outshot, outrebounded, outhustled and outplayed in an 80-60 loss at Boston College on Wednesday night. The Hokies were blown out of the gym from the opening tip, trailing 15-2 early in the game, and they never recovered. Tech dropped to 21-6 overall and 8-5 in the ACC with the loss. The Eagles are now 14-13, with a 5-8 mark in conference play.

Malcolm Delaney paced Tech with 21 points, but he suffered through another poor shooting night. He was just 5-of-16 from the field and 1-of-7 from three-point range. He did knock down all 10 of his free throw attempts, but on the whole it was not a good performance from Tech’s leading scorer.

Dorenzo Hudson had 14 points, but like Delaney, he did not shoot well. He was just 4-of-15 from the field. Both Hudson and Delaney have had very bad shooting performances in Tech’s last two games, which were both losses.
Jeff Allen had 10 points for Tech, but he played just 14 minutes before fouling out. He has played 20 or fewer minutes in each of Tech’s last four games because of foul trouble.

The Hokies were just 19-of-61 (31.1%) from the field and 2-of-15 (13.3%) from three-point range. However, it was bad defense and poor rebounding that resulted in the lopsided loss.

Boston College shot 50.9% from the field and 43.8% from three-point range. They were able to get good looks at the basket all night, often from close range. The shooting disparity between the two teams was so great that not even turnover margin could overcome it. The Hokies had just 10 turnovers, while BC committed 18.

Beside the disparity in field goal percentage, the Hokies were absolutely crushed on the boards. Tech was outrebounded by BC 49-28. The Eagles only had nine offensive rebounds, so Tech’s inability to make shots had a lot to do with BC’s rebounding advantage. Not to mention Jeff Allen’s foul troubles. Allen had just two rebounds thanks to his 14 minutes of playing time.

It was clear from the opening tip that the Eagles had more energy than the Hokies in this game. BC jumped out to a 15-2 lead at the 16 minute mark. Joe Trapani, who was shooting 23.6% from three-point range in ACC play for the Eagles, nailed his first three outside jumpers. Trapani led BC with 17 points thanks to his hot start.

The Hokies managed to cut the lead to 22-19 at one point in the first half, but that’s as close as they got. The Eagles kept getting good looks at the basket, and they consistently beat Tech down the court for easy layups. The result was a 39-24 halftime lead for the home team.

Virginia Tech has been a second half team all season, but not on Wednesday night. They were never able to cut BC’s lead to single digits. The closest they could come was within 11 points. The Hokies were never within striking distance, and the Eagles led by as many as 22 points in the second half.

BC rubbed the salt in Tech’s wound with 39 seconds remaining, when walkon Nick Mosakowski hit a three-pointer to make the final score 80-60. It was the first basket Mosakowski has made all season.

Virginia Tech will look to get back on track on Saturday when they host Maryland at 4pm. The game will be televised by Raycom.