NC State 80, Virginia Tech 63

Quick thoughts: The offense looked good for much of the first half, with good ball movement and balanced scoring, but NC State began to press. This allowed State to go on a 10-2 run and start the blowout.

That certainly wasn’t the way any of us thought Erick Green’s career would end. In the post-game comments, it sounded like his knee was really bothering him. The entire second half of the season he didn’t seem 100%, and today he couldn’t go any further.

NC State is an extremely talented team offensively, and some things the Hokies were just unable to stop. The Hokies closed out well on three-point shooters but the Wolfpack was much too talented in the front court. With both C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell to keep track of, it’s hard to stop.

Point Guards: After Erick made back-to-back threes to start the game, I thought he was going to drop 40 points. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Green couldn’t get his shots to fall, and NC State/Lorenzo Brown did a great job preventing Erick from driving. He settled for 9 3-pointers, and finished 5-19, possibly his worst game of the season. On the bright side, Erick’s final shot put him over 800 points the season, the first ever Hokie to do so.

Marquis Rankin had another solid game on offense. He penetrated effectively and finished at the rim, something we aren’t used to seeing. The Hokies will need Marquis to have more games like his last two if they want to compete next season.

Shooting Guards: Robert Brown did not play well. He was 1-6 and had a couple boneheaded turnovers. When Rankin wasn’t in foul trouble, James Johnson chose him over Robert.

Forwards: Jarell Eddie was extremely aggressive when he had the ball in his hand. He shot well off the dribble and had his mid-range jumper fall. He refused to settle for 3-pointers until late in the game and really played a great game.

C.J. Barksdale had trouble shooting but still played the bulk of the minutes over Marshall Wood. He had a little trouble guarding NC State’s bigs, but wasn’t terrible.

Wood was in foul trouble all afternoon. This was far from the performance he had in Raleigh.

Centers: Cadarian Raines did exactly what I want him to do. He was aggressive, but looked for his teammates first. When he’d catch the ball, he’d look for the assist, and if nothing was there, he would try and score. He was 4-6 and had a team-high 7 rebounds.

Joey van Zegeren had three rebounds in only four minutes of play.

Stat of the Game: NC State did whatever they wanted on offense and finished 28-53 (52.8%).

Mike’s Player of the Game: Jarell Eddie led the team with 21 points (9-14) and 3 assists.

This was a looooooooooong basketball season! We can hope the guys put in Erick Green-like work over the summer and come out deeper and much improved. Go Hokies!!!

Sorry this was so short but I’m trying to enjoy the end of my spring break! I’ll have a 2012-2013 Basketball Review with a little preview to next season up sometime soon.