What slim hopes Virginia Tech has of making the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament were kept alive with a sloppy 62-58 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.
The Hokies (17-11, 9-8) were locked in a tight battle with the Yellow Jackets (11-17, 4-13) that was defined by a combination of below-average shooting performances as well as defensive intensity from both teams.
The Hokies had a slow start to the game and after a rough first half of shooting that carried over into the second. They needed a spark from somewhere and it came from sophomore guard Darius Maddox, who had 12 points off the bench for VT. He was one of three Hokies with 12 for the game and 10 of his 12 were scored during a key run midway through the second half.
After the Yellow Jackets tied the game up at around the 12-minute mark in the second half, Maddox got hot in a hurry. He would score the Hokies next 10 points during about a four-minute stretch that saw the Hokies go on a 10-2 run giving them a 51-43 lead with eight minutes left to play.
The Hokie lead would grow as large as 13 and hovered around that number before Georgia Tech slowly started to mount a comeback. The Yellow Jackets unique zone defense created problems for Virginia Tech all night, causing 13 Hokie turnovers. Five of those turnovers came during the last five minutes of the game.
Josh Pastner had his team alternate between zone and man for most of the night, more so than when they have played the Hokies in the past. After playing man for a big part of the second half, they switched to their unorthodox 1-3-1 defense with a little over four minutes left in the game and that’s when the trouble began for the Hokies. The Yellow Jackets went on a 10-0 run that lasted during this time.
Georgia Tech was able to cut the lead to three at 59-56 after star guard Michael Devoe, who had a game high 18 points, fought through a Justyn Mutts foul to make a layup and the free throw that followed. After an errant pass from Hunter Cattoor went off the fingertips of Storm Murphy into the Hokie backcourt leading to a violation, Georgia Tech had a chance to inch closer, but Khalid Moore missed a contested layup from Keve Aluma that could have brought them within one.
On the ensuing offensive possession for the Hokies with the shot clock winding down, Aluma received a pass from Mutts down low on the right block. Aluma had to get the ball out of his hands quick to avoid a shot clock violation and although the ball looked like it was going to bounce off the right side of the rim, true freshman Miles Kelly hit the ball while it was still on the rim for a goaltending violation.
A quick Devoe layup got the Yellow Jackets within three again, but Cattoor hit the first of two free throw attempts with over seven seconds to play to put the game out of reach and secure the win for the Hokies.
Shooting Woes
For most of the game, the Hokies struggled to knock down wide open looks from three. They led the league in three-point shooting percentage coming into the game at 40%, but only managed to hit 6 of their 24 attempts (25%) last night. Among the Hokie sharpshooters struggling is Hunter Cattoor, who has not been the same since his stellar shooting performance in Tallahassee. He was 2-10 (1-9 from three) last night, and since the FSU game, he has shot just 16 of 53 (30.2%) from the field and 10 of 44 (22.7%) from three-point range.
It was also a tough night for Aluma. He gave the Hokies some momentum to lead off the second half with a steal and a basket on the other end to tie the game for the first time since the first few minutes of the game, but he too struggled to find his shot on the night going 4-12 from the field. He also struggled to defend the pick and roll against Yellow Jacket center Rodney Howard, who fouled out of the game with 8:32 left.
Georgia Tech shot the ball well in the first half at 52% but were stifled by the Hokie defense in the second half managing to shoot only 34.6%. This could be highlighted by Jordan Usher, who had 11 points in the first half, but went scoreless in the second half.
Up Next For The Hokies
On Saturday, the Hokies will hit the road again where they have struggled this year to face Miami (20-8, 12-5) who is third in the conference. The game has huge implications for the Hokies who do not yet have a Quad 1 win this season. Miami represents a quality Quad 1 opponent that the Hokies lost to on January 26th in the final seconds because of a half court buzzer-beater. It is safe to say the Hokies will need to play much better than they did last night in order to have a chance against Miami and to also continue to keep their dreams of playing in the NCAA Tournament alive without having to win the ACC Tournament.
