The last time Virginia Tech defeated Louisville on the hardwood was three conferences ago for both schools. Cardinals coach Chris Mack was a college player-in his sit out season after transferring within the old Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) from Evansville to Xavier. The Hokies were just one year removed from the career of VT legend (and legendary name) Bimbo Coles.
The Hokies and Cardinals were rivals in the old Metro Conference when Tech swept both meetings just two weeks apart in the 1990-91 season. Both teams finished with losing records that year (Virginia Tech at 13-16; Louisville at 14-16), which was notable for being the lone losing season in a stretch from 1987-97 when Denny Crum’s teams made nine trips to the NCAA Tournament in 10 years.
Fifteen meetings later and through meanderings through the Atlantic 10, Conference USA and Big East by the programs, Virginia Tech hasn’t defeated Louisville since. With both in the Atlantic Coast Conference now, the streak is 15 wins and counting for the Cardinals over ol’ VPI after a 72-64 win on the road in Blacksburg Monday night in a battle between top 20 teams.
The matchup for Tech against Louisville promised to be problematic for two reasons. One, Virginia Tech is figuring out how to adjust without star guard Justin Robinson, out with a foot injury. Two, Mack loves pounding it inside with the Cardinals, and for as much as VT coach Buzz Williams loves to talk about paint touches, it was going to be hard for his team that is already very thin up front to keep Louisville from getting them.
As it turned out, the Hokies’ bigger issue on Monday was Louisville out Tech-ing Virginia Tech from the three-point line. The Cardinals drilled 13 three-pointers in the game, more than four over their season average and four more than the hosts, whose nine triples simply weren’t enough with everything else they faced.
Louisville guard Ryan McMahon in particular was a thorn in the side with 17 points, hitting 4 of 5 from long range and all five of his free throws. His 12 points in 83 seconds in the middle of the second half turned a three-point game into a 12-point Cardinals lead, putting Virginia Tech in chase mode the rest of the way.
Louisville continues to be a better team than all expected this year. Even as the Cards have won, there might’ve been a case to make that it was a still-limited team posting a surprise win or two and otherwise capitalizing on an advantageous schedule. Even with Robinson’s injury here, though, to back up wins over the likes of Michigan State and North Carolina with another over a team that has been highly ranked all season suggests this is a team that isn’t going to fade, even as a brutal closing stretch in the ACC is just around the corner. (See: at Florida State, Duke, at Syracuse, plus two games left with Virginia)
For Virginia Tech, perhaps it was hit by the curse of wearing black uniforms at home, or maybe bad juju for sporting the for-some-reason trendy practice jersey look with only a logo on it instead of a school name, in this case the stylized VT. Or maybe there was a double (triple?) whammy for wearing a black practice jersey, and at home.
The Hokies will continue to search for their identity without their point guard, and in his absence and while hoping dearly that he’ll be back soon they’ll need even more from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Ahmed Hill and Ty Outlaw. Fortunately for Virginia Tech, there are no more matchups with Louisville coming up, at least in the regular season.
Side Dishes:
- The Big 12’s regular games on Big Monday saw Iowa State continue to establish its credentials (and Oklahoma continue to establish another late-season slide). The Cyclones edged the Sooners 75-74 to move to 7-3 and stay in the thick of the race for the regular season title. Marial Shayok hit a huge three-pointer at the end of the shot clock in the final two minutes. The Sooners are now 3-7 in the Big 12 and need to find a way to pull a game like this out. Also, Texas Tech was superb on Monday for the second straight week, bulldozing West Virginia 81-50. Brandone Francis scored 16 points off the bench to lead a balanced effort. The Mountaineers, on the other hand, made just nine field goals in the whole game, shot 23.1%, fumbled away 26 turnovers, and received just 27 points total from anyone not named Derek Culver, who scored 23 mainly on the strength of 24 trips to the free throw line, making 15.
- A real surprise in the Patriot League, not necessarily the result but how it came to be. Colgate smoked Lehigh on the road, sweeping the season series with an eye-opening 84-62 win. Rapolas Ivanauskas is a 6-foot-10 transfer from Northwestern and had a monster game with a career-best 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and the Raiders jumped all over the team previously tied for first with Bucknell, building a 50-25 halftime lead. The Mountain Hawks were done in by a whopping 21 turnovers.
- Prairie View A&M continues to be a great story in the SWAC. The Panthers improved to 9-0 in league and are now three games ahead of the field after a 69-67 win over Alabama State. Gerard Andrus (14 points, 11 rebounds) notched his first career triple-double and PV finished strong after trailing by a point entering the final two minutes.
- Florida A&M moved into second in the MEAC with an impressive 73-57 win over fellow contender North Carolina Central. The Rattlers got a combined 48 points from Justin Ravenel (25) and Kamron Reeves (23), and they also got help in the standings, able to move past North Carolina A&T after Bethune-Cookman topped the Bulldogs 69-53.
- The Big Sky Conference also featured four games on Monday. Most notably, Montana State knocked Northern Colorado out of a tie for first with a 69-66 win on the road in Greeley as Tyler Hall scored the game’s final seven points, including a jumper to give the Bobcats the lead with 56.7 seconds left. Hall is wrapping up an outstanding four-year career at MSU and scored 23 here.
Tonight’s Menu:
- The game of the night, maybe the game of the week is in the Sunflower State. Kansas seems to have more lives than a herd of 100 cats, at least that’s what it seemed like when the Jayhawks pounded Texas Tech on Saturday. Now we’ll see if they can curb their road woes when they take on rival Kansas State (9 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). The Wildcats have a homecourt advantage. Unquestionably they have an experience advantage, especially in the backcourt.
- A similar in-state matchup, maybe with not quite the stakes but also with a fascinating storyline is North Carolina State at North Carolina. How does the Wolfpack respond after its utter stink bomb Saturday when it scored 24 points in the whole game against Virginia Tech? Just a game earlier, State looked much the part of contender as it almost defeated Virginia. The Tar Heels won the first meeting in Raleigh, too, and have won five straight, so this is either a team hitting its stride…or about to get back to its unpredictable ways of most of the season.
- St. John’s is one of just three teams to defeat Marquette so far this year, and the Johnnies did it with authority winning by 20 the first time they met. They meet again, this time in Milwaukee. (7 p.m., FS1) We’re expecting a contest where Shamorie Ponds and Markus Howard bid to see who can score 40 first.
- Florida State is at Syracuse, where long meets long, but the Seminoles will try to speed it up against the slower Cuse. A win by the hosts in the Carrier Dome would put the Orange a full four wins up (3 1/2 games total) on the FSU in the ACC standings, quite a gap for two seemingly similar squads.
- Many might have forgotten by now that Boston College actually defeated Duke last year in their game in Chestnut Hill. Maybe that’s why ESPN decided that this game between near polar opposites in the ACC standings at Cameron Indoor Stadium belongs on their mothership network (7 p.m.). Or maybe it’s something else…
- Admittedly, the schedule for tonight on paper before the season wasn’t a great one. Among the other games on TV: what should be an angry Michigan State team goes to Illinois (7 p.m., ESPN2), South Carolina is at Kentucky (7 p.m., SEC Network), Michigan plays at Rutgers (7 p.m., Big Ten Network) and Missouri goes to Tennessee (9 p.m., ESPN2).
- It’s another Mid-American Conference Tuesday. Toledo has moved back atop the West Division, but the Rockets have a tricky one at home against Akron. Also, Bowling Green plays for the first time since its upset of Buffalo, but the Falcons also have a test at Western Michigan.
- An important game in the Missouri Valley has Drake at Loyola Chicago (7 p.m., CBSSN). The Bulldogs with a win can pull into a tie with the Ramblers in the standings, and depending on how co-leader Illinois State does hosting Valparaiso, could pull into a tie for first or at least within a game of the top spot. If the Ramblers are going to shake the incredible swings that has defined the season, the time is now.
- Big 5 hoops in Philadelphia is good even when its teams are struggling, so Saint Joseph’s at La Salle gets a call here.
- Saint Louis has faded badly with four straight losses to tumble from first to a tie for sixth in the Atlantic 10. Meanwhile, Dayton is just half a game out of the top spot now, and now hosts the Billikens (9 p.m., CBSSN).
- Florida is at Auburn (9 p.m., ESPNU), which looked more like the team most expected to see more of this year when it drilled rival Alabama on Saturday.
- The night wraps up with a dandy in the Mountain West as Utah State visits Fresno State with second place in the league on the line. The Bulldogs won the first game in Logan by a point, but the Aggies have won six straight since. Also, the final TV offering is San Diego State at New Mexico (11 p.m., ESPN2).
Enjoy another super Tuesday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
