Maryland turned a close first half into a rout, using a big second half run to crush the Hokies 80-60 in Cassell Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Tech dropped to 8-13 overall and 1-8 in the ACC. The Terps improved to 13-9 and 5-4. It was only their second road win of the season. Incoming athletic director Whit Babcock attended the game.
Ben Emelogu, finally appearing to be healthy, paced the Hokies with 21 points. He was 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point range and made all four free throws. Unfortunately, no other Tech player could manage double figures…
Joey van Zegeren: 8 points, 5 rebounds
Trevor Thompson: 7 points, 4 rebounds
Will Johnston: 7 points
Devin Wilson: 6 points, 4 assists
The Hokies shot just 37% from the field, while the Terps shot 51.8%. Maryland was 53.3% from three-point range.
Tech trailed just 37-35 following a Will Johnston three-pointer late in the first half, but the Terps followed up with a pair of three-pointers of their own in the final 46 seconds of the half. That gave Maryland a 43-35 lead at halftime. The Terps then used a 10-0 run early in the second half to give themselves a 57-40 lead, and they went on to lead by as many as 25 points before the Hokies scored the final five points of the game.
Virginia Tech returns to action on Wednesday, February 5 at Florida State. Tipoff is scheduled for 9pm, and the game will be televised by RSN. Check your local listings.
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The players and the coaches just have to keep fighting through this. To most of the fans they may want the season to just end but to the players every game is a chance to do something positive. Luckily most players and coaches don’t let all the chatter affect the way they prepare themselves. Losing is hard enough on the players as it is but for fans it is a completely helpless feeling to watch it going on. I hope the guys can get an ACC win here to have something to feel good about again.
Doesn’t this ineptitude and lack of gameplan make what Erick Green did last year that much more amazing?
Teams really only had to plan for his scoring and still couldnt shut him down.
Thank you Jim Weaver! To honor your VT legacy, Cassell Coliseum will have a new name: WEAVER’S WRECK. Both basketball programs are embarrassing our beloved school. GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!
When’s the Spring Game again?
Let’s get this Basketball Season over with.
No coach could win in the ACC with the players JJ has available right now.
While i understand why someone could argue that these players cannot win in the ACC, I think that it has become obvious (painfully) for those of us who have watched JJ’s team the last 1+ seasons, that coaching is HUGE part of the problem. Offensive sets are unimaginative and rarely adjust to defensive strategies. While the execution of whatever offense JJ is trying to run is poor (in which player talent definitely plays a role), the offensive strategy rarely puts players in a position to succeed. The defense is, um, terrible. As a long time tech bball fan, i have witnessed many seasons of sub-par talent. However, some of the former coaches found a way to harness the available talent into average-to-above-average defense. there is such a lack of intensity and urgency that is missing with this team (especially on the defensive end). that starts with leadership and coaching.
Agree totally with scary 1. It’s time for Mr. Babcock to make a move. This is a joke. I didn’t watch the game today except when I saw on the scroll we were losing by 20 some odd points and caught the end of the game on espy 3 and we came in with the last 5 points to make it “respectable” haha.
I agree 100% but he and others indicated that he was brought on, not for his ability to serve as Mac the Knife and restructure programs, but to focus on raising funding and to possibly manage a CFB transition down the road…
once again, pathetic, embarrassing. Sad days for VT. This hurts across the board, hurts donations, hurts recruitment, scholarships, not just basketball. Mr. Babcock, do your thing.
I don’t want to sound unjust. Is it fair to let the new AD know now, as a group, how disappointed the VT fan base is with the current coaching situation, in an effort to encourage near-term action on his part?
It still seems to me that he would not make any coaching adjustments in this situation until he is on the job for at least several months.
Sorry, that’s too long. You can’t find a good coach a few months after a firing. Has to be done in March with a new coach in place by signing day in late April if possible.
I completely understand. Just trying to be PC by wondering if he has the cajones, or would he just wait until 2015. There are coaches and ADs who are specifically suited for bringing change and hiring/firing. It doesn’t seem like he has the trigger puller track record, and he said as much in his press conference. Finding a MUCH BETTER coach is that much harder than just firing the unsuccessful one you have now.
I think the only way he makes a move this spring is if the fan base makes A LOT of noise requesting that change happen now, so he starts to put that coaching search effort together even before he steps on campus.