The Hokies exorcised their Chestnut Hill demons on Tuesday night by blowing out Boston College 71-56. Virginia Tech improved to 15-13 overall and 7-8 in ACC play with the win, while the Eagles dropped to 7-21 overall, and 0-15 in league play.
Before Tuesday night’s game, Virginia Tech’s record at Boston College looked like this…
However, they had never run into a Boston College team this bad in previous seasons. Though the Hokies didn’t play particularly well, they still took control of the game late in the first half and handed the Eagles their 14th double digit loss in 15 conference games.
At the 7:21 mark of the first half, Virginia Tech led just 19-18. However, they closed the first half on a 21-9 run and took a 40-27 lead into the intermission. Boston College was just 1-of-15 from three-point range in the first half (and just 5-of-28 for 17.9% for the game), and many of their misses were wide open. BC had been a terrible offensive team all season coming into Tuesday’s game, and that trend continued against the Hokies.
Virginia Tech toyed with Boston College in the second half, only outscoring the Eagles 31-29 over the final 20 minutes. That was more than enough however. 13 Hokies saw playing time, including walkons Greg Donlon and Matt Galloway in the final minutes. Donlon even made a field goal in the final seconds.
It was a balanced scoring night for the Hokies…
Seth Allen: 14 points, 4 assists, 4 steals, 5 turnovers
Justin Bibbs: 12 points, 10 rebounds
Kerry Blackshear: 10 points, 5 rebounds
Those were the only three Tech players in double figures. Zach LeDay added nine points and five rebounds, while Justin Robinson had eight points and three assists.
Virginia Tech was 26-of-53 (49.1%) from the field, while the Eagles were just 22-of-62 (35.5%). Boston College outrebounded Tech 39-36, and both teams committed 15 turnovers, but it hardly mattered in the end.
Tech returns to action this Sunday at Wake Forest. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30pm, and the game will be televised by ESPNU as their Sunday night ACC game.
The Hokies have positioned themselves to make a run at the postseason, potentially with an NIT berth (unlikely), or perhaps even gaining a spot in the new “Vegas 16.” We’ll have more on Tech’s postseason chances in a TSL Pass article on Wednesday.
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Another thing I really like about these players. They show an outward calm temperament. If the other team is on a run, they don’t get out of their offensive sets and try to rush things. They stay calm in the face of a ref call against them (think Duke). They don’t show frustration. The most you might see if hands interlocked behind the head. Buzz must instill this in his players, or we have some good leadership from the upper classmen. And who is more demonstrative than Buzz.
Knew
For those that really wondered about Buzz and Whit hiring Him and wanting JJ for another year. This Buzz is for You ! Right now, IMHO, Buzz is a year ahead of the game plan. Thank you Chris for a good breakdown of this game.
Somewhere General Akbar is smiling. We survived the trap…game.
It’s Admiral Ackbar to be precise…nerd alert! 🙂
I actually typed “General”? While I could have taken slight umbrage for you posting about the correct spelling of Ackbar, even I would have called me out for calling the Admiral a general. Brain fart alert!
I’ll just go sit in the corner and sulk over a bowl of Maj’r Crunch.
BC looked like a high school team or perhaps the Washington Wizards. They have a long way to go.
Correction: Washington Generals
Last night was huge because I doubt we will be favored again this season. Getting Wake on senior night with their two really talented seniors will be a tall task. So we had to get at least one win this week and now everything else is icing. We need one more win to guarantee at worse a 500 season.
Would love to get 2 more ACC wins and finish at .500 in the conference. I’ve been thrilled with the improvement of the team from last season and they deserve to finish at .500 (especially thinking about the ND and Syracuse games that slipped away). Great job guys
At least two shots in Pittsburgh and Miami with a nothing-to-lose attitude w/a WF win.
Thought I saw some awful charging calls in the game. Defensive man still sliding into position when taking the charge, one of them under the basket on a baseline drive. Do the coaches turn videos of such calls in to the ACC Officiating office like I understand they do in football?
This ACC officials have been consistently terrible in regards to Offensive Fouls this year. I wish I knew why they are so quick to call a charge but I’ve noticed it too over the past 10 games. This is a real question; was there a rule change that I missed in the offseason? I’ve also never understood why players don’t get called for fouls when they jump on top of a player that has already jumped on top of a loose ball but that’s a different discussion.
I’m telling you…they LOVE the “dramatic” nature of calling a charge…ESPECIALLY on the visiting team. Been this way a while. A large number of college refs are attention whores who love to be part of the show, and one of the showiest calls they can make is the charge call and go running the other way…ESPECIALLY to get a little cheer from the home crowd
Lou Bello
Lou was worth the price of admission. You new he was going to put on a show.
Coaches and Fans have been way over-emphasizing what “great play” it is to jump on those “50/50” balls. It’s a problem. Hustle is important, but call a foul when a kid jumps on another.
The one charge on Clark was a missed call -for sure.
I didn’t see anything wrong with the charging calls on Clarke. Sure, the BC player may have been moving, but Clarke can’t lower his shoulder and plow into a guy.
Unreal…you must have only started watching bball the last few years…in the 80s/early 90s when I played…those are EASY block calls. Clark may have been filling his shoulder to try to get around the side of the defender, but both of this guys slid into his path as he was turning the corner on him…same thing on the one they called on Allen in 1st half which was the worst of the night
Great win, even against a very bad BC team. Plus, just the fact that post season is even being talked about, no matter how unlikely, is a great improvement for this team in year two.
Yep, let’s beat Wake!