On a snowy Saturday night in Blacksburg, the Hokies entered the softer part of their already gentle out of conference schedule against Charleston Southern University. Despite a run by the Buccaneers before halftime, the Hokies dominated this game from start to finish, winning in a blowout fashion, 73-50. Tech improves to 9-1 overall with Saturday nights victory and now is just three games away from starting the conference part of their schedule.
The Essentials
The Game
Virginia Tech started fast, going on a 17-2 run in the first seven minutes of the first half. Even with Malcolm Delaney picking up two early fouls, Tech still managed to rack up some points with him on the bench as Tech led 27-8 at the under eight media timeout. However, the rest of the half would be outlined by sloppy play and an abundance of turnovers by the Hokies. Tech’s lead quickly sank from 21 to just 10 before Delaney hit a layup at the buzzer to send Virginia Tech into half with a 33-21 lead.
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The 2nd half was all Virginia Tech as CSU was clearly just overmatched in every aspect in this game. The Bucs hung around for the first five minutes of the half, cutting the lead to eight before the first media timeout. However, after that point the Hokies went on a 17 to five run over the next five minutes, putting the game out of reach. Tech coasted for the rest of the half, leading by as much as 29 at the 4:45 mark. But the Bucs were able to grab some late buckets and shrink the lead to 23 when the final buzzer sounded.
What Does It All Mean?
Obviously, with the way the Hokies had been playing so far this year, this win was expected. However, coming off a weeklong break with limited practice, this could have become that “bad loss” that we see on Tech’s resume every year. But that was not the case as the Hokies put on their snowshoes, made it to Cassell, and took care of business as they defeated a much smaller and a much less skilled Charleston Southern team.
Bullet Points
- Manny Atkins had by far the best game of his young career against CSU. His stat sheet is less than impressive as he finished with just six points, two assists, one rebound, and three steals in 18 minutes. However, for the first time this season, he actually looked like he belonged on the basketball court with the rest of the team. Atkins is going to be a very good player in time but tonight he really took a step forward and will hopefully gain some confidence from his performance.
- Malcolm Delaney was once again the high scorer for the Hokies in this contest with 26 points. That’s the 8th time this season that Delaney has claimed that honor.
- The emphasis on defense this season was evident on Saturday night as Dorenzo Hudson, Malcolm Delaney, and Erick Green combined to keep CSU’s leading scorer Jamarco Warren well below his season average. Warren came into the contest averaging 16 points per game and only scored just two points in the game.
- The Virginia Tech Athletic Department issued a statement saying that if you could brave the two feet of snow on the ground and make it to Cassell Coliseum, you would be granted entrance for the game whether you had a ticket or not. The crowd last night was less than stellar as about a thousand fans showed up but with the conditions in Blacksburg, that was probably a good turnout.
- Three of the Hokies freshmen played double digits in minutes last night. Atkins played 18 minutes, Green had 16, and Boggs played 12 minutes in last nights contest. The only freshman who did not receive playing time was power forward Cadarian Raines who is still recovering from an off-season injury.
Stats
Next Up
The Hokies will play game two of their three game home stretch on Tuesday against UMBC at 7 p.m. University of Maryland, Baltimore County is winless on the 2009-2010 season, and will enter Blacksburg at 0-9 after their game with American was canceled due to weather conditions.
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