Virginia Tech’s losing streak is over. The Hokies beat Miami 52-45 in Cassell Coliseum on Saturday night to improve to 9-15 on the season and 2-10 in the ACC. The Canes dropped to 13-14, with a 3-9 mark in conference play. Both of Tech’s ACC wins have come against Miami.
Miami jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on their first possession, but this game developed into a grueling, ugly brickfest. Tech led 19-15 at halftime. Miami had just five points at the nine minute mark of the first half, and they didn’t score their 20th point until the 10:47 mark of the second half.
The Hokies played a 2-3 zone for the entire game, and Miami settled for outside jumpers. That strategy failed them, as the Canes went just 7-of-34 from beyond the arc. They were also just 8-of-17 from the free throw line.
Despite the poor shooting night, Miami was able to keep the game close against a Tech team that is limited offensively. However, Devin Wilson made his free throws down the stretch to clinch the win. Wilson had 12 points, nine assists and went 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
C.J. Barksdale returned from injury to score 12 points and grab seven rebounds. He was 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range. He also blocked a shot and played 22 minutes. Freshman forward Trevor Thompson had eight points and 12 rebounds. Fellow freshman Ben Emelogu added nine points for Tech.
Cadarian Raines did not play for the Hokies. He is suffering from the stomach flu and could not attend the game. Marshall Wood also did not play, and that was James Johnson’s decision. As a result, Tech used just eight players against Miami, but still managed to pick up that elusive second ACC win.
The Hokies return to action on Tuesday night when they face UVA in Cassell Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 9pm, and the game will be televised by The ACC Network.
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We were ahead 17-5 with 6 minutes left in the half. The half time score was something like 19-15. Seems everybody is afraid to shoot the ball.
glad we got a w! Hope we can pull a big upset against the whoos
Say what you will about the competition, but we ran some nice plays last night. To me this indicates that coaching is there. We just don’t fair as well against teams with more talent.
If next year’s talent is as good as advertised, then we should see improvement. Hopefully the next incoming class will show upward trend.
We’ve got some momentum going into the UVA game!
Good for them.
Miami missed un-contested shots all night.We played poor defense, but we still pulled out the win. We got a win . Go hokies.
“Marshall Wood also did not play, and that was James Johnson’s decision”
Any insight into this decision? Just more disfunction?
Hustle-like symptoms 😉
A win is a win but Miami was awful. Barksdale, Thompson, and Wilson played really well.
I was following the live stats on my phone, and Miami made just 6 of their first 41 shots. That’s 14.6%. They made 9 of their last 17 finish 15-58 (25.9%), but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a worse start to a game for a team.
ouch.