Virginia Tech had the lead over Miami 22-21 at halftime, but couldn’t maintain it. The #10 Hurricanes took the lead and control on the first possession of the second half en route to a 65-49 victory in Coral Gables on Wednesday night. Miami improved to 21-4 overall and 10-3 in the ACC with the win. The Hokies dropped to 13-13 overall and 5-8 in conference play.
Tech played great defense in the first half, as Miami shot just 7-of-23 (30.4%) from the field. However, just like the UVA game last week, Tech’s defense fell apart as the offense continued to struggle throughout the course of the game. The Hurricanes shot 17-of-25 (68%) in the second half as Tech’s defense eventually wore down and gave up many uncontested shots around the basket.
For the game, Miami was 24-of-48 (50%) despite their terrible first half. The Hokies were 16-of-54 (29.6%). Freshman point guard Justin Robinson was the only Tech player in double figures. He scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while the rest of the team was just 11-of-45. Robinson also added three assists and four steals in 29 minutes. Fellow freshman Chris Clarke had seven points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. Five of Clarke’s rebounds came on the offensive end, and he gave Tech a lot of energy, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Virginia Tech did manage to out-rebound Miami 33-32, and the Hokies grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. However, they turned those 14 offensive rebounds into only 10 second chance points, while Miami scored 19 points off 16 Hokie turnovers. The Hokies had turnovers on their first three possessions of the second half, and that turned a 22-21 halftime lead into a 27-22 deficit.
Miami’s bigger, deeper team kept the Hokies away from the rim for most of the night. Zach LeDay had six points and three rebounds in 22 minutes, while Seth Allen had five points and five turnovers in 19 minutes. Kerry Blackshear had five points and eight rebounds, but he was limited to 23 minutes because of foul trouble, despite starting the game.
Virginia Tech returns to action this Saturday when they host Florida State. Tipoff is scheduled for 3pm, and the game will be televised by The ACC Network. Check your local listings.
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Depth and playing aggressive on offense has hurt the Hokies the last two ball games. Buzz got the team to winning when we get to the foul line. Team is sooooooo much better than last few years. The game play maturity is not there yet for road wins, but key now is to take it to the Seminoles and reverse this losing streak with a win over FSU.
Let’s Go…Hokies
Beat FSU!!!!
You aren’t gonna beat many Top 25 teams on the road when you shoot under 30% and turn the ball over as much as we did.
Hope they can right the ship against FSU at home on Saturday.