Hokies Grit Their Way to 70-68 Victory Over No. 4 Virginia

Seth Allen was exhausted, his right shoulder wrapped in ice, his voice growing hoarse.

But he didn't mind one bit.

Not after his Hokies had just moved to 2-0 in conference play. Not after his Hokies had just knocked off rival Virginia — who just so happened to be ranked fourth in the country — with a 70-68 win that once again had the familiar beats of Enter Sandman ringing in Cassell Coliseum well after the final horn had sounded.

"It takes your soul," said Allen of the upset victory. "My voice is kind of gone because I've been yelling and screaming. It took literally everything we had. It was a hard turnaround playing Saturday and then coming back Monday, but we just stayed the course."

It was a shocking scene in Blacksburg, one that left 'Hoos and Hokie fans alike wondering exactly how it had happened. How did Virginia Tech — the same Virginia Tech team who kicked off the year with a loss to middling Alabama State — just take down the fourth-ranked team in the country?

Maybe it was tactics, a brilliant defensive philosophy dreamed up by Buzz Williams that stifled the 'Hoos for much of the night, one that forced a senior-laden team into an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers.

Or better yet, maybe Williams had somehow devised a way to beat Virginia's famed pack line defense.

No, said Williams. It was much simpler, yet still deeper. It was his team's habits, their routines, their work ethics, their collective growth. That's what was beginning to move the needle.

"I don't think that you can have such a shallow answer and think that the preparation from Saturday evening to Monday evening was why we won," said Williams. "I don't think you can just say that the preparation versus NC State was why we won. I think you have to have a bigger perspective and think about the habits that we've tried to build since we all got here. I don't think you can beat a Hall of Fame coach, a team good enough to win a national championship, just on 48 hours of preparation. I think it has to be the habits that you've tried to establish from the beginning. Will Johnston, Christian Beyer have as much to do with this win as the kids that played tonight."

But even with the growing confidence inside the Hokies program, Williams knew he would have his hands full against the 'Hoos. Virginia, after all, entered the evening with victories over Ohio State, West Virginia, California and Villanova, all teams that could potentially be dancing come March.

"It's so hard to bend them to try to play any way other than the way they wanna play on both ends of the floor," said Williams of the Cavaliers' system. "They're so rhythmatic, the route that they wanna play in. They're not gonna beat themselves."

True to form, the game began at the methodical, deliberate pace that Tony Bennett has patented in Charlottesville over the past seven years. The Hokies led just 3-2 at the first media timeout, and with 9:24 left in the first half, the 'Hoos had sped all the way out to a 13-10 lead.

But behind 11 first half points — including three three-pointers — from sophomore Justin Bibbs, the Hokies managed to take a 26-21 lead into the break.

Virginia, perhaps growing weary of the low-scoring game, came out guns blazing in the second half and took a 38-34 lead into the first media timeout courtesy of four threes from point guard London Perrantes. Had it not been for an almost equally impressive offensive display from Zach LeDay over the very same period, the Hokies could have been looking at a double-digit deficit just minutes after emerging from the locker room.

"Dog gummit, they just blitzed us," joked Williams after the game. "I think 32 (Perrantes) hit 4 threes in that 17 point run, and I think Zach hit his 3 threes...And I apologized to the team during that round, 'I'm sorry, I should have called a timeout.'"

The Hokies slowly recovered from the 'Hoos offensive onslaught, tying the game back up at 43 and then 47 with 9:17 to play. LeDay, Allen, and Kerry Blackshear all helped the Hokies keep pace offensively, the latter performing admirably well in his matchup with Cavaliers star forward Anthony Gill.

The game was tied at 50 at the under eight media timeout, but Allen quickly scored the next five points to give the game yet another lead change.

Still clinging to just a three-point lead with under four minutes to play, Bibbs got free on a spectacular effort play from LeDay and drilled an open three to extend the lead to six. It symbolized LeDay's game perfectly — a scrappy, hard-nosed team-first player who twice grabbed his own miss only to find an open teammate on the perimeter for the biggest shot of the game.

"When you watch him, I don't think he's that good...But he's just always around the ball," said Williams, his emphasis firmly placed on the word always. "He doesn't always make the right decisions. Sometimes he tries to do a little too much. But I think there's something about when you work the way he works, his peers are never disappointed even when he tries to do too much because they know how much he cares and they know how much he works."

Allen picked Malcolm Brogdon's pocket on the ensuing possession and found Blackshear streaking up court for an old-fashioned three-point play that gave the Hokies a nine-point lead with just 2:47 to play. And after yet another empty Virginia possession, Justin Robinson hit a midrange jumper that improbably gave the Hokies an 11-point lead with 2:10 left on the clock.

But the 'Hoos weren't finished just yet. The No. 4 ranked team in the country answered with their own offensive flurry and at one point cut the Hokies' lead to just two with 18 seconds to play courtesy of a rare three-pointer from Gill (albeit aided by six missed free throws from the Hokies in the game's final minute).

LeDay made one of two from the line following Gill's three, but Virginia answered with two free throws of their own from Brogdon that cut the lead to one with just 8 seconds to play. Forced to foul immediately, the 'Hoos sent Allen to the line. Allen made the first but missed the second, leaving the door open for a potential game-winner for Virginia.

But with Bennett out of timeouts, Perrantes was forced to race upcourt and heaved up a contested layup that was blocked by LeDay. There appeared to be at least some contact on the play, but Bryan Kersey, Pat Driscoll and Brian Dorsey — two of whom worked the Final Four a year ago — were content with a no-call. Shane Henry grabbed the rebound and was fouled with .4 seconds to play, but with a 2-point lead, the celebration had already begun in Blacksburg.

Henry proceeded to miss both free throws, but a futile full-court shot attempt from Perrantes came up well short and Williams' most impressive win to date as the head Hokie was complete.

Many a team — and almost certainly last year's version of the Hokies — would have folded after Virginia came out firing in the second half with a 17-point barrage in just over 5 minutes. And against the No. 4 team in the country, it wouldn't have been the least bit surprising. But the Hokies hung around, two words that seem to keep popping up with this team.

"I think there's a little bit of their system on both ends of the floor...that preys on your lack of discipline," said Williams. "When they go on a barrage like they did, I think one reason teams typically don't hang with them the right way is they're just trying to hit a home run the next possession. We can't hit home runs. We don't have a home run hitter. We don't have a guy that can throw a knockout blow. We just gotta throw good pitches. Good pitches. Body blows, body blows. I don't know who would bat fourth on our team. It changes. Jalen was the best player Saturday, and tonight he scored 2. But if you base it off Saturday's game, you're like, 'that guy's batting in the 4 spot.' And then tonight he's not. So we just have to kinda hang around. I know it's boring, but just hang around."

That message seems to be hitting home for the Hokies at the right time, and Williams senses that he's beginning to reach his players on a more profound level.

"I don't think I'm necessarily the easiest guy in the world to play for. I don't think I'm necessarily the easiest guy in the world to work with," said Williams. "But the one thing that I would say about those kids is they care. For whatever reason, they know that I love them. And they know that I love them hard. And I think that's reciprocated."