Virginia Tech nearly tied the game with a last second three-pointer, but fell to Penn State 61-58 in State College on Wednesday night. The Hokies dropped to 4-3 with the loss, while the Nittany Lions improved to 7-1 with the win.
Neither team shot the ball well from the field (38.5% for Tech and 37% for Penn State), and neither team was good from three-point range (28.6% for Tech, 16.7% for Penn State). Tech only had eight turnovers, while the Nittany Lions had 17. In the end, free throw shooting was Tech’s undoing.
VT: 4-of-14 (28.6%)
PSU: 17-of-30 (56.7%)
Joey van Zegeren led the Hokies in scoring and rebounding, but he went 0-of-7 from the free throw line. The r-junior came into the game shooting 39% from the charity stripe. He also finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but unfortunately he wasted four complete possessions in the first half by missing all of his free throws.
Justin Bibbs had 16 points and five rebounds, while going 3-of-5 from three-point range. No other Hokie had more than six points. Ahmed Hill was Tech’s second-leading rebounder with nine.
Tech led 42-34 with 11:39 remaining in the game. However, Penn State’s experienced team went on a 14-0 run to take a 48-42 lead, and the Hokies never regained the lead. Tech did not make another field goal until the 3:49 mark when van Zegeren got free for a big dunk. The big drought late in the game doomed the Hokies in the end.
Thanks to some bad Penn State free throw shooting, Virginia Tech was able to get a last shot with a chance to tie. PSU’s D.J. Newbill missed two free throws with 4.1 seconds left, and Malik Mueller rebounded for Tech. He dished to Ahmed Hill, who got a decent look at a three-pointer as time expired, but it bounced off the front of the rim.
The Hokies return to action this Sunday, December 7 when they host Radford. Tipoff is scheduled for 3pm, and the game can be seen online on ESPN3.
Game Highlights (by niemo at TechHoops.com)
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How bad was that game atmosphere at PSU? I thought about driving out for it (3 hrs). The Bryce Jordan Center was maybe 25% full? My sister, a senior at PSU, says the women’s team is far more popular. Surprised me for such a big school.
That PSU point guard killed us in the second half. And we could not get a defensive rebound in the second half, even when PSU was slamming 3 pointers off the rim.
I sux at basketball, but I picked up my neighbors ball last ngith and shot 70% from the charity stripe….COLD…with no practice. What gives with basketball players….that can’t shoot? I think Buzz needs to go back to forcing them to take granny shots….so they get embarrassed enough to work on their stroke…What a complete joke.
I would like some insight into this topic of missing free throws. I’m with you; I can see no reason to be that bad at free throws.
Try these quotes on about free throw shooting:
1) “It just keeps me humble. Just imagine me in my game shooting the same percentage that Reggie Miller shoots. I wouldn’t even talk to you guys because I wouldn’t have to.”
–Shaq, on his free throw shooting ability
2) “We defend against the free throw very well.”
–Lyle Damon, San Francisco State basketball coach, on opponents only shooting 57% from the free throw line against them
3) “We’re shooting 100 percent–60 percent from the field and 40 percent from the free-throw line.”
–Norm Stewart, Missouri Coach on his team’s poor free throw shooting
4) “I’m trying my hardest, but I can’t have everything. I can’t have the looks, the rapping ability, the scoring ability, and the free throws.”
–Shaq
5) “It’s one thing to hear about it from your coach, but when your wife tells you it stinks, you tend to work on it.”
–Orlando Woolridge, on his poor free throw shooting
Totally agree. Funny bc I thought about shaq too.
Actually shooting all alone with no practice is much different than running up and down the court for 4 minutes, getting knocked down to the ground, fighting for rebounds, and then standing still and trying to make two free throws while two teams of players, thousands of fans in the stands and many more on television watch. There’s more that goes into making a shot in a college basketball game than we give credit. That said, I agree that we need to improve out FT shooting. But comparing what these players are doing to shooting free throws in your driveway is apples and oranges.
Hmmmm… Sounds to me you have this coaching thing all figured out. Give Whit a call and let him know you are available for the right price of course.