ATLANTA – Virginia Tech chose a good time to show what they are capable of. The Hokies had a 7-9 regular season record in the ACC, one that could easily have been several games better as they lost a number of close games. This time around, they certainly finished the game, as the Hokies used a great defensive effort to pick up a 65-47 win over Miami in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Head coach Seth Greenberg, who told his team they played well even though they lost some games, loosened his team up by telling them not to worry about the NCAA Tournament and all the bubble talk. He put things in perspective, mentioning the work everyone did to get to this point. He told them to just go out and play the game, and the effect was clear.
“I felt better,” said senior A.D. Vassallo. “I just went out there and played.”
The Hokies got off to a fast start behind three-point shooting and defense, going up 12-2 early as they attacked Miami’s zone well. They were clearly more aggressive all along, with the biggest stumbling block being some sloppiness in the latter part of the first half. They were trying to score close to the basket and were solid defensively all game long, doing a nice job of shutting off any inside game the Hurricanes might have tried to get going.
But more than that, they shut down Jack McClinton, although the Hurricanes’ star guard was still slowed a bit by a nagging knee injury. McClinton had just nine points on 4-11 shooting, handed out one assist and had seven turnovers.
“We did a great job chasing him and once he got the pass, you had to help with that situation,” said sophomore guard Dorenzo Hudson, who along with Malcolm Delaney spent time guarding McClinton. “Sometimes I would play down off him and other times I stay up on him. I just tried to mix it up a bit and see what happened.
In the second half, defense again made the difference as it helped spur a 14-0 run to build a 57-37 lead. At that point, it wasn’t a ballgame.
“I thought the second half, that was as committed of a defensive performance that we have had all year,” said Greenberg. “They bought into the scouting report. I’ll look at the tape, but we didn’t make very many mistakes in terms of what we wanted to accomplish defensively.”
Miami shot just 34.6 percent from the field for the game. Virginia Tech, in an example of defense leading to offense, shot over 52 percent in the second half.
Next up for the Hokies is North Carolina. It’s safe to say they’ll need a similar defensive effort for that game, but especially in transition and that also means cutting down on their 17 turnovers against the Hurricanes.
“I think our transition defense was fine today, but it’s a different animal tomorrow,” said Greenberg. “I was very pleased on our ability to defend in transition today, but we have to take it to a whole new level tomorrow.”
