Virginia Tech jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never let up as they thumped Lamar 88-53 in Cassell Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. The Hokies are now 7-3 on the season, while the Cardinals dropped to 5-5.
Lamar had won three games in a row coming into Saturday’s contest, including a 15 point win at Liberty on Friday night. However, they were dominated from the opening tip by the Hokies. The Cardinals never led, and the only time the game was tied was before Justin Bibbs’ three-pointer that put Tech up 3-0.
Lamar shot just 33.3% from the field, while the Hokies were 33-of-68 (48.5%). Tech was 9-of-24 (37.5%) from beyond the three-point line. Tech forced 20 turnovers while committing 13 of their own, including just three in the first half. VT won the rebounding battle 46-36. That includes 16 offensive rebounds, which led to 24 second chance points. The Hokies scored 46 points in the paint against former Hokie Tic Price’s team.
Tech struggled earlier in the season to get off to good starts. That hasn’t been the case over the last two games. They took a 28-8 lead in the road win against Radford, and jumped all over Lamar early in the game. Unlike the Radford game, this time the Hokies kept their foot on the gas for the entire 40 minutes.
“On both ends of the floor [it was the best VT has played for 40 minutes all season],” Buzz Williams said following the game. “For sure.”
Virginia Tech put six players in double figures. That includes two players with double-doubles.
Zach LeDay: 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks
Kerry Blackshear: 11 points, 10 rebounds
Justin Bibbs: 17 points, 5-of-9 three-pointers
Jalen Hudson: 14 points
Chris Clarke: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Seth Allen: 10 points, 7 assists, only one turnover
Virginia Tech began going with a starting lineup of Devin Wilson, Justin Bibbs, Jalen Hudson, Chris Clarke and Zach LeDay against Radford. So far, so good.
“It’s really been the change of the lineup, I guess, that made us start stronger,” LeDay said after finishing with his sixth double-double of the season. “We’re coming out and playing hard and focusing on the little things. And getting better on defense, really emphasizing our defense.”
For the second straight game, Buzz Williams went with an eight-man rotation. Shane Henry and Satchel Pierce didn’t play at all against Radford, and they only played the final 2-3 minutes of the game against Lamar.
Virginia Tech returns to the court next Saturday when they host Grambling State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm, and the game can be seen on ESPN3.
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Some of my personal thoughts about the game yesterday afternoon, in no particular order:
1.) Anyone know what’s up with Kerry Blackshear and his left foot/ankle? Watching him yesterday he always tried to stay on the ball of his left foot, rarely putting his ankle down. It looked like he was taped up or in a brace early in the game. Hopefully not a long-term condition/injury? In any case I was impressed with how well he played despite the issue.
2.) Speaking of Kerry, during one of his trips to the line (off an and-1, I believe), Buzz turned around and told the bench and first rows of fans to cheer for Kerry if he makes the free throw. He did, and everyone cheered, and Kerry had a big grin on his face because he had heard Buzz.
3.) At one point during the game Buzz sub-ed out Seth Allen. Seth kept standing and was actively following the guys on the court. Then he noticed something and quickly made a suggestion to Buzz, who agreed and called it in to his offense. The play resulted in VT getting fouled and going to the line. Buzz then turned around and commended Seth on picking that up and thanked Seth for letting him know. Good to see the teamwork not only between the players themselves but both ways between the players and coaches.
4.) I’m curious how the limited bench rotation is going to pan out down the season stretch. I’m hoping Satch and Shane make some marked improvement over the holidays so that they can contribute more during the ACC stretch. Otherwise I can see the “main 8” guys getting worn down as the season progresses. Definitely don’t want to see them becoming full-time bench warmers!
5.) The ball movement overall yesterday seemed to be markedly better than any we’d season all season. I thought there were moments where it happened against Radford, but not as consistently as yesterday (albeit against a much lesser opponent). Would love for this progression to continue all season long along with higher FG and FT percentages and lower turnover numbers.
All in all, definitely pleased with the progress the team is making and hoping for a not completely gut-wrenching ACC season!
This team has potential