The Hokies gave it their all, but it wasn’t quite enough as they fell 59-49 to #6 seed Miami in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday night. Tech finished the season with an 11-22 record, while the Hurricanes improved to 21-11 in their fight for an NCAA Tournament bid.
In the regular season, Virginia Tech went 0-2 against Miami and lost by lopsided scores of 76-52 and 82-61. Between the second half of the first meeting and the first half of the second meeting, the Hurricanes outscored the Hokies 93-44. In short, this was a terrible matchup for the Hokies.
However, fresh off a confidence building 81-80 win over Wake Forest in the first round, Virginia Tech came out and played Miami tooth and nail, and the final score was not indicative of how close the game really was. The Hurricanes led at halftime 24-19, but Tech led in both halves of play, and actually had the lead 38-37 with 8:47 remaining after a jumper by Jalen Hudson.
Miami scored to retake the lead on their next possession, but this was still a one-point game until the 5:04 mark when Davon Reed nailed a three-pointer to make the score 47-43. The Hokies managed to keep it close, but the Hurricanes nailed seven free throws in their final four possessions to create the final margin of 10 points.
Overall, there were a total of four ties and 10 lead changes, and both of those stats indicate how competitive this game was.
Ahmed Hill and Adam Smith paced the Hokies with 10 points each, and Hill also led Tech with six rebounds. The freshman added two assists and did not commit a turnover in 23 minutes of action. Senior Christian Beyer, playing in his final college game, had nine points and four rebounds, and made several big shots to keep his team in the game in the second half.
Unfortunately, an off game from freshman guard Justin Bibbs was enough to seal Tech’s fate. Bibbs made VT’s first shot of the game, but finished the game only 2-of-13 from the field, missing many decent looks at the basket. The Hokies shot 21-of-52 (40.4%) for the game, but everybody besides Bibbs was 19-of-39.
It was also another rough game for freshman center Satchel Pierce. Tech’s 7-footer had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks against Miami in the regular season finale. However, he had four fouls in five minutes in the first round game against Wake Forest, and his line against the Hurricanes on Wednesday was two points, no rebounds and four turnovers in 13 minutes of action.
The Hokies turned the ball over just nine times in the game after turning it over only four times in a fast-paced game against Wake Forest. This isn’t a particularly efficient offensive team, but their lack of turnovers over the past two games was enough to beat Wake Forest and keep them in the game until the end against a good Miami team.
Just because the 2014-15 basketball season is over does not mean TSL’s coverage is ending. In the coming days, we’ll have postseason recaps and thoughts on everything from Buzz Williams, to player personnel, to recruiting. Stay tuned.
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Kudos to Beyers and Johnston, I always root for walkons especially ones who end up contributing valuable minutes. Buzz in on the clock now, but I suspect it’ll be fun to watch him operate in the comong months, and I do mean the next few months, let alone next year. VT’s still probably a year out but expecting a few more wins next year, do I dare hope for a .500 season? I was at the Saturday Miami game, great to see the improvment over a week.
I sincerely and appreciatively thank the contributions of our walk ons this year.
That said, I hope we NEVER have to count on walk for our success in MBB ever again
I remember being on a GT board about 10 years ago and some guys were commenting about VTs walk-ons back then: “When was the last time you heard of a basketball walk-on”?
Bryan Randall was a walk-on at the time. Jeff King was a walk-on at one time too. Yeah, it’s unusual.
It will take at least one more year to overcome the damage done by Tom Gabbard and Jim Weaver. Hopefully, better days are ahead.
Oh please … Just stop with the bashing of Gabbard and Weaver already. It’s infantile and it has no basis in fact. In their haste to blame Jim Weaver for everything from global warming to the federal budget deficit, people conveniently forget that it was Jim Weaver who built a new $20 million state-of-the-art practice facility for the basketball program.
The VT program had already rolled over into a nose dive under Seth Greenberg. His 11th-ranked 2011 recruiting class was a total disaster. He had alienated half of his players and at least half of the athletic department. His assistant coaches were leaving him as fast as they could pack their bags and Jim Weaver was getting zero interest from any quality assistants to come and replace them. Remember what James Johnson said when he left? “It isn’t about the money.”
What was Weaver supposed to do in that situation? Hang on to Seth and hope that things would magically turn around? As for his hire of James Johnson, people also tend to forget that we were pretty late in that year’s recruiting cycle at the time and there weren’t a lot of Buzz Williams types out there to be had at the time. If Weaver can be faulted for anything, it would be because he held on to Seth too long.
Gabbard!??!! I know its fashionable and fun to beat up on Weaver, the old offensive coaches, Beamer, and whoever but Gabbard?!? What about the new facilities, the maintenance of the old facilities, and the planning of new facilities do we not like?
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
Blaming Gabbard and Weaver for the past is way past its usefulness
It is a tired act and time to move on
Anyone notice the Miami players walking to the locker room at halftime versus the good guys? Our boys had a hop in their step; an enthusiasm. I think they really wanted to play. It was an encouraging sign for the future!
Enjoy watching this team run their sets… much different than last year when they didn’t seem to have a clue
Hokies All,
The kids have it all they had these last two games. My belief, if Buzz can find a couple “big guys” that can play we will be competitive again hopefully in the middle of the ACC pack. Duke, UNC, Louisville, UVa, ND, and NCSU will be out-of-reach for some time.
GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!
Yes. Shooting = F-minus. Poor offensive shooting against a not strong defensively Miami team. Disappointing.
The Hokies, outside of Bibbs, shot almost 50% (19-of-39). And that includes some chucked-up three-pointers towards the end.
Bibbs has become an issue in and of himself, after the concussion.
Will, thanks for the injection of reality. Game was fun to watch. Guys played hard, and for the most part well.
Go Hokies!
They ran out of horses at the end. Have to wonder if they lost their legs since there was a big drop-off in shooting.
Thanks to Mr. Beyer and Johnston for the hard work they’ve put in over their career.
Great repot. Thanks.
These last two games had some positive upsides for the team. Lots of work in front of Buzz, but he’s the man. Thank you Chris.