March 25, 2008

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Tech advances to quarterfinals of NIT with win over UAB

Continuing its string of outstanding performances the past six weeks, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team canned its first seven shots, played stingy defense, and went on to roll past the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers 75-49 in a second round NIT game played Monday night at Cassell Coliseum.

With the win, Tech moved 21-13 overall on the season and won for the seventh time in the past nine games. The Hokies, who also moved to 10-0 in NIT home games, advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT for the fifth time in the program's history.

"I told them before the game that we're a team without gimmicks," Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said. "We are who we are. We're a team that checks you and rebounds and tries to get out and run and get easy baskets. We're not very tricky. That's who we are. As long as we're poised and confident, that's all I want us to be.

"You have to play well at this level at this time of the season. You can't have a bad game or you're going home. I like the way we're playing. I think we're playing with a lot of confidence, which I want them to play with. I think we're playing with a lot of trust. Our roles are well-defined and I think we're competing at a pretty high level. We're getting contributions from a lot of different guys."

Deron Washington and A.D. Vassallo led off the game with back-to-back 3-pointers, and that started the Hokies' opening onslaught. In addition to hitting its first seven shots, Tech hit eight of its first nine in jumping out to a 21-9 lead.

UAB cut that lead to five, 22-17, on a basket by Channing Toney with 8:56 left in the first half. But the Hokies closed the half with a 14-4 run to take a 36-21 lead in the locker and they never looked back.

The second half was all Tech, as the Hokies gradually built a 28-point lead. They shot 47.4 percent for the game, but 48.1 percent in the final 20 minutes, and they drained nine 3-pointers for the game.