Virginia Tech suffered a tough overtime loss at the hands of NC State, falling 90-86 in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon. The Hokies lost their eighth consecutive game, dropping to 11-14 overall and 2-10 in the ACC. NC State improved to 18-7 and 7-5.
The Hokies trailed by 67-60 with just 3:45 remaining in regulation, and the Wolfpack were on a 14-0 run. A Will Johnston three-pointer got Tech back in it, and this one saw a lot of drama in the final moments of regulation. Jarell Eddie hit a three-pointer with just under 10 seconds left to cut NC State’s lead to 77-75, and Scott Wood missed one of two free throws on the other end and Tech got the ball back with 8.1 seconds remaining.
The Wolfpack elected to foul Erick Green, who hit his first free throw to cut the lead to 78-76 with just over five seconds left in the game. The Hokies drew up a play for Green to miss the second free throw intentionally, with Jarell Eddie cutting to the basket from outside the three-point line to collect the offensive rebound. The plan worked perfect. Green’s intentional miss hit the rim perfectly, and Eddie knifed through for the rebound and putback, which forced overtime.
Eddie hit two three-pointers early in the overtime period, and the Hokies led by a point twice. However, NC State eventually reclaimed the lead, but Tech still had one last chance. Trailing 87-84 with 17 seconds left, Erick Green made a crossover dribble at the three-point line, but he dribbled the ball off his foot and the Wolfpack came away with the steal, effectively ending Tech’s chances at victory.
Green finished with 29 points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals. He was 11-of-24 from the field. He got some help in this game from freshman forward Marshall Wood, who had career highs in points (14) and rebounds (16). Wood was 4-of-9 from three-point range, and also had a short shot from in close. He played 31 minutes, with starter C.J. Barksdale only on the court for 10 minutes. Barksdale finished with two points and one rebounds.
Will Johnston started this game and finished with six points and two rebounds. Jarell Eddie came off the bench and scored 17 points, with most of them being clutch shots late in the game. However, Eddie also made several bad decisions with the ball in his hands at critical moments. It was good to see him get his shot back (7-of-13 from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range), but his decision making ability is still a work in progress.
Cadarian Raines had six points and nine rebounds for the Hokies. Tech outrebounded a very tough NC State team 42-39.
The Hokies return to action on Thursday night when they host Duke in Blacksburg. Tipoff is scheduled for 9pm, and the game will be televised by ESPN.
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It was a great game to watch. The effort was there. The issue with Barksdale struck me as Seth Greenberg all over again. Certain guys make a mistake, and you’re coming out. That was Greenberg’s solution to bad play, and now it’s JJ’s. Ten seconds in and it seemed to me the wrong time to light into your player on the floor and yank him. Was Barksdale wrong to roll his eyes? Sure. But, there are definitely two standards of accountability on this team. This is not the first time this has happened. Maybe it’s one of the reasons that many on this this team play like deer in the headlights. Afraid to make a mistake. Green is a great player, and I hate to think how bad it would be without him. But, he couldn’t guard my mother. He continually lets his man by for east layups. He tosses in 25-30 a night, so I can live with it. But, he is never taken out for poor play. Many see this issue as a Barksdale problem, it’s not, it’s a coaching problem.
NCS 43 foul shots to Tech’s 7 down on Tobacco Rd. What does that tell you about the refereeing?
We need a baseball link on this site
CC –
WAS IT POOR EXECUTION OR DRAWN-UP WRONG ON THE CHALK BOARD?
Agree with you and some of the others here, good to see the team playing more like they did early in the season…
PROP’s to CJJ for sitting Eddie, Brown & Barksdale – it seems to have given them fire off the bench. Glad it happened this year and we didn’t have to wait till next.
EXECUTION – playing for a tie and OT is a losing proposition for the Hokies. They had a perfect chance to win the game in regulation but were either too short sighted or did not execute properly. HOW? There was plenty of time on the clock, and after E-G made a perfect miss on his last free throw and Eddie got the perfect rebound – things went astray – why put the ball in the hoop for 2 and a tie. Johston or Wood could have been positioned for a wide open 3 and the win. Eddie had time to stop and pass the ball out for the wide open 3. But he was not instructed to do so or it was poor execution. In fact, enough time was on the clock to allow the 3-point attempt and to get a rebound if it was a miss. Then the Hokies could have gone for 2 or 3 off the rebound. If you don’t think it was enough time remaining – watch the recording – NC State had enough time to take the ball down to the top of the key and make an attempt for a game winner after Eddie made his basket. I’m sorry, with a short bench and E-G getting tired late in the season, it is no time to go for a tie and OT. The play was a great idea and almost perfectly executed for the win but came up a point short. Give coach Johnson credit for the play but let’s go for the win in the future.
Hang touch Hokie Nation!
r/
Slim
How often have you seen a team that was down by two with similar time on the clock at the end of the game get instructed by their coach to take a three? That just sounds twisted to me. That’s similar to say, in football, after a touchdown, your down one with an extra point to tie. How often do you see a coach go for two? Almost never. It doesn’t seem logical to go for a three in that situation, too many variables, and possible mistakes. They did the right thing, they gave themselves a chance to win, but just couldn’t pull it out.
Yippee Kie – Vippie
Dude – OT comes down to the same thing – Green going for 3 on a final shot to tie the game – instead he loses the ball – game over.
Short bench don’t work in OT.
That is when an experienced coach goes for the 3 in BB and the 2 in football. You see it more now than you did before – coaches realized OT often comes down to the last shot just as regulation.
TAKE A CHANCE – Go for the WIN! Show some backbone!
Have a nice day
/r
Slim
PS – Don’t forget they had time to work a 3 and then a 2.
I want a coach who goes for the kill and the win. Tired of all this old school thinking. How many titles has it gotten us?
You go for the win on the road and the tie at home.
Yeah you do!!
&
Run it in for 2!! (Best odds believe it or not…)
Tough loss but the team has displayed some toughness over the last few weeks despite not being able to win any games. GT is the only game that they haven’t led in the 2nd half now they just need to get better at sealing the deal. Up 7 at NC St they gave up a 14-0 run that put them in a hole they were forced to dig out of. The way NC St was playing they had no business going on a 14-0 run.
Green played well but there were key moments where he wasn’t able to hit a shot or deliver that may have meant the difference between the loss and coming back to Blacksburg with a win. It’s unfortunate that so much weight goes on his shoulders but I don’t think that is going to change at this point. It was good to see Wood step up yesterday and also good to see Eddie hit a few shots. However, he needs to be stronger with the ball in key moments.
Considering the records, this was obviously a very good showing for VT but it still stinks to not get the win when the team played well enough for the majority of the game to do exactly that.
Eddie is likely to turn the ball over when he puts it on the floor and tries to do stuff. He needs to play within himself but he is not a guard.
Great to see the confidence coming back and the team played hard and with energy. We can win a few more games. You can never win when your shots are not falling.
Barksdale has had ample opportunity to step up this year and has done nothing…..a huge disappointment. Unless he is willing to put more heart and effort into his game, I’m OK with him going elsewhere.
agreed. Saw one time when CJJ was lecturing him and he just walked by and rolled his eyes like he doesn’t need to be coached. Definitely OK
The time you saw was likely 10 seconds into the second half when he was pulled after making an entry pass to raines from a poor angle. No one likes being pulled 10 seconds into the start of the half. And if it was a bad angle, perhaps a guard on the wing should have called for the ball.
Not excusing Barksdale but 10 seconds in…
Marshall Wood looks like a guy who has his confidence and stroke back. That would bode well for next year.
Don’t be surpised if Barksadale is not on the team next yr.
I hope you’re wrong but I have the same feeling. At least CJJ is bringing in a couple of bigs next year. I hope they’ll be ready to play early.