Virginia Tech 69, Clemson 61

That was an absolute blast to watch. I don’t think I could’ve picked a better ending to the final home game and Erick Green’s senior night. The team had fun, and it looked like the beginning of the year Hokies.

Quick thoughts: Erick had a supporting cast. Robert Brown, C.J. Barksdale, and Jarell Eddie combined for 34 points. Both Brown and Eddie drove, and the results were great. Why we didn’t try this earlier in the year, I’ll never know. Something clicked in their mind, that’s for sure.

The Hokies out-rebounded Clemson 33-21. We didn’t give them very many second chances to score.

Tech did a great job getting their hands on the ball on defense. It disrupted Clemson and forced a couple turnovers. Guys were aware of where their man was and did a great job with help defense. With that said, the Tigers missed A LOT of open shots, so we were pretty lucky.

Point Guards: Read this excellent article. It describes Erick’s career as a Hokie, and his awesome personality. His performance and efficiency was incredible; he finished with 29 points on only 12 shots. He could’ve shot more, but saw his teammates and wanted them to contribute. The best part of the night for me was when he crossed up Damarcus Harrison, had enough time to watch Harrison trip, pause, give him a little grin, and then drain a three. Simply. Incredible.

Shooting Guards: Robert Brown out did himself again. He scored 13 points and topped his previous ACC career-high from last game. He was really aggressive and refused to settle for jump shots. He gets by his man, and seems to have mastered the floater. He was a perfect 4-4 inside the arc, and his one 3 came on a buzzer beater in the corner before intermission. This is how we expected him to play all season, if he can continue to drive and play SMART basketball, the sky is the limit.

Forwards: This is C.J.’s 4th straight game in double figures. He has loads of confidence on both ends of the floor. On defense, he got his hands on the ball. On offense, he’s 100% sure his jumper will fall. He’s aggressive and has gotten stronger. Barksdale’s effort was obvious and he led the team in rebounds. Probably the most impressive thing is his free throw shooting. He was 6-6 from the line and made 4 of Tech’s final 5.

Although Jarell shot poorly, he was much more assertive on offense. He drove to the basket and either was fouled or made the layup. The aggressiveness of him and Robert really opened up the offense; they looked like the 7-0 Hokies at points.

Neither of Marshall Wood’s attempts had a chance to fall. They were pretty far off but his biggest contribution was his effort. Getting a team-high 3 offensive rebounds doesn’t just happen, especially in 16 minutes.

Centers: Cadarian Raines was a huge presence down low. He finished with 3 blocks and 1 steal. A couple of his rejectionss got the Hokies out in transition and provided easy looks at the basket. He was 1-1, and didn’t seem to mind that he only took one shot.

Joey van Zegeren went up strong to the basket and had a couple second chance points. He finished with 4 points and 4 rebounds in only 9 minutes of action; great statistics off of the bench.

Stat of the Game: The Hokies shot a season-high 54.8%. Every player was aggressive and it helps when your star goes 5-7 from 3.

Mike’s Player of the Game: He scored 29 on senior night, I mean who else could I give it to?! It’s been an honor to watch Erick grow as a player and I wish him the best in the future. I can’t wait to watch him come out of nowhere and shock everyone. He’s got 3 games left as a Hokie, barring a win or two (LOL YEAH RIGHT) in the ACC tournament, so let’s really enjoy the games. If he scores his average in the next three, he’ll be the first Hokie to score over 800 points in a single season.