It almost happened again, only this one, thanks to the stage of the ACC Tournament, would have likely stung the most.
After watching its 14-point second half lead evaporate Wednesday night against Clemson before Darius Maddox’s game-winner in overtime, Virginia Tech’s margin was slowly trimmed down by Notre Dame Thursday night.
The lead went from 11 points with 1:51 remaining in the game to eight points 20 seconds later. Then to seven and six points on consecutive free throws. And finally, with 48 seconds left, a layup from the Irish’s Prentiss Hubb cut the margin to just four.
But a quick foul two seconds later committed by Cormac Ryan on point guard Sean Pedulla sent him to the charity stripe for a one-and-one. He took three dribbles and a deep breath before sinking them both to give VT a six-point lead.
That was the closest No. 2-seeded Notre Dame (22-10, 15-5 ACC) would come to erasing the deficit it faced from the very beginning. No. 7-seeded Virginia Tech (21-12, 11-9 ACC) would go on to nail each of its final six free throws — two from Hunter Cattoor and four from Storm Murphy — in its 87-80 ACC quarterfinal win over the Irish at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“We’ve got a lot on the line, man,” Tech head coach Mike Young said after the win. “To get to 21 wins, to advance to the semifinal of this great tournament. Look forward to coming back over and strapping it on again and seeing them compete.”
The result, one that was derived from a 57.4% shooting clip, sent the Hokies to their first ACC Tournament semifinal appearance since 2011. Their bench, which consisted of David N’Guessan, Pedulla and Maddox, recorded 19 points — 16 more than it did in the win over the Irish on Jan. 15 — four rebounds and an assist.
It was another pressure situation — one that would be hard to live up to after Maddox’s buzzer-beater a night ago. It was, though, time for Pedulla to step up, which in the end, he did. But Thursday night wasn’t the first time the freshman was forced to hit pressure-packed free throws.
Less than two months ago at NC State, Pedulla scored the final two points of a three-point victory on free throws with 12 seconds left. But that situation was a tad different. He was seeing fewer minutes than he is now, and the Hokies were losers of four of their first five conference games before heading to Raleigh, N.C.
Though Tech’s late-season surge didn’t come for another few weeks, it let Young bestow confidence in his young guard — the same confidence that didn’t worry VT’s head coach when Pedulla stepped up to the line late in Thursday’s game.
Even before that, though, Pedulla saved some of his best basketball of the season for when it mattered most. Against the Irish in Brooklyn, he scored 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting and five free throws, only turning the basketball over once in his 15 minutes of play.
“I’ve got really good players,” Young said. “It took us time to get to this rotation, and maybe I can be faulted for that. But we’re getting really good play from Maddox and Pedulla and David N’Guessan.”
Maddox, rather than following up his game-winner with a breakout game, quietly added four points on two-of-five field goals and a rebound.
“We know we’re in a game where being aggressive is the most effective, especially coming off the bench,” Maddox said after Wednesday’s win over Clemson. “Sitting down, obviously isn’t the easiest thing to come in and make plays, but we just make as many aggressive plays as we can while we’re in the game and try to affect the game in as many ways as possible.”
N’Guessan, too, wasn’t as forceful as he was against the Tigers when he scored nine points and added six boards. However, he was physical again. He continually battled in the paint for positioning on the glass and made plays on defense to affect shots that wouldn’t necessarily be found in the stat sheet.
The rotation Young has put on the floor keyed the Hokies to their mid-season turnaround, one that saw them sitting 2-7 in conference play only to win nine of their last 11 regular season games.
“They were 2-7 in the league,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. “It still blows my mind they were 2-7 in the league, but the run they’ve been on, I think they’re an NCAA Tournament team. They’re really good.”
Thursday turned into one of the better showings this year from Virginia Tech’s bench. And maybe, just maybe, had it not come to play, the Hokies might have been the ones on the wrong end of the score.
“It’s huge — one more day of life,” VT forward Justyn Mutts said after Thursday’s victory. “Just trying to make the most out of it. That’s all we really can do at this point.”
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We hit the final 8 free throws. 2 by Pedulla, 2 by Cattoor, and 4 by Murphy.
Great win – congrats to the team, great group of kids!
Survive and advance.
When Jerry West was playing at WVU back in the 50’s he was asked about all the very close games. He responded that the team likes to excite the coaches ulcer. This Hokie team is sure exciting. After the insults Coach K made about VT leading up to the invitation to join the ACC, it sure would be great if we made it to the Final and beat Duke. Great send off for a great coach who has the most arrogance I have ever seen.
Yeah, ol’ Ferret-face isn’t getting a standing-O from me. We’ve proved many wrong about our ability to compete in the ACC and I do so enjoy beating duke. One more time this year would be just fine with me. But first UNCheat.
What did K say about vt? I missed that.
+1