New Blood

Where in the heck did that game come from? Virginia Tech blew out Miami in the opening game of the ACC tournament, 65-47 to give them a shot at UNC and a possible invite to the NCAA tournament. Don't get me wrong, beating Miami does absolutely nothing for the Hokies' resume at this point. Pretty much every talking head in the college basketball biz is saying that Tech needs to win against UNC in their game tomorrow at noon to have a shot at the NCAA tournament, but this win against Miami gives us that chance.

Virginia Tech looked like Michael J. Fox after he had turned into Teen Wolf. They seemed to be either stealing the basketball, skying for a rebound, or dropping a shot in someone's face on every possession. I half expected to see the camera pan to the audience where Boof would be sitting in the stands wishing that her best friend, the Virginia Tech Hokies, would notice her as a woman and ask her out. It was a crushing defeat for Miami, who is now destined for an entry to the NIT, and especially disheartening for senior Jack McClinton, who is leaving Miami with a sour taste in his mouth (not to mention some kick-ass eyeliner and mascara... I swear that dude looks like he's wearing makeup). McClinton was 4-11, 1-6 on 3-pointers, and had 7 turnovers. To add to his embarrassment, he was benched for the final 3+ minutes of the game (although that might have had more to do with the fact that he was nursing a sprained knee).

Malcolm Delaney is still in a massive shooting slump, but in this game he was able to get the referees to blow their whistles and got to the line for 15 foul shots, where he made 14. Delaney added a three-pointer, but missed his other 9 shots from the field. He needs to shoot better than that for VT to be able to hang with UNC. AD Vassallo had a nice game despite his 3-point shot deserting him. He had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Vassallo continued to display that deadly runner in the lane, which looks like his best asset at this point. The surprise player of the game was JT Thompson, who had a monster effort. 12 points (on 5-5 shooting), 8 rebounds, and a block in just 23 minutes of play. Jeff Allen also had a nice game on 4-5 shooting good for 9 points, 6 boards, and 3 steals. He's got the fastest hands of any big man in the ACC... bar none. I'm sorry that I just said "bar none"... I really don't even know what it means, but the phrase seems to work there.

Tomorrow's game against UNC might end up being a little easier than our last game against UNC. The Tar Heels will almost certainly be without ACC Player of the Year, Ty Lawson, who is nursing a sore toe. Roy Williams won't want to risk playing Lawson in the ACC tournament where he could possibly aggravate his injury before the NCAA tournament. UNC has a #1 seed locked up no matter how they perform in the ACC tournament. Without Lawson, UNC is a little bit more mortal then they were the last time we saw them, and if the Hokies played with the intensity they showed today, we could be sitting pretty on Selection Sunday with a win over #1 North Carolina on our resume. The apple is just hanging from that low limb Hokies... now get over there and pick the crap out of it.