With
10:45 left in this game, everything was going according to plan. Coming out of half time, the Hokies had outscored
Virginia 25-12 to stretch a narrow 3-point half time margin to a 62-46 cushion. The Hoos were rattled, the Hokies were
rolling, and it was time for the Cavaliers to go quietly into that good night.

The Hokies had just poured a 7-2 run on the Hoos to build that 16-point lead. With Cassell Coliseum rocking, the
Cavaliers were expected to follow the same script they had followed two years earlier in Blacksburg, when they faded
down the stretch and gave up in a 73-55 Virginia Tech win.

But the 16-point lead put the Hokies in a strange position: leading in a blowout. Heading into Thursday night’s game,
the unasked question bothered me: What would Virginia Tech do as a frontrunner, a favorite, in the glare of the
spotlight? It seemed as if every ACC columnist and a generous sprinkling of national writers had buzzed this week about
Virginia Tech’s unexpected ACC wins. The Hokies had snuck up on three ACC teams in their last three outings, but with
all eyes upon them, in the favored role, would they get it done?

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