Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

Virginia Tech (17-7, 7-3) jumped all over Virginia (16-7, 8-3) from the opening tip, opening a 38-22 halftime lead and cruising to an 84-57 dismantling of a Cavalier squad that had won seven straight conference games. Dowdell and Gordon shut down Singletary and Reynolds, and received excellent production from Washington (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Vassallo (22 points, 4-6 3-FG).

In typing the lead paragraph to this write-up, I mistakenly typed "Dowdon" instead of Dowdell and Gordon...which isn't that much of a slip considering how important the combined play of these two are for the hopes of the Hokies. Prior to the game in the usual ESPN roundtable, Jay Bilas said that "Dowdell and Gordon are better defenders than Singletary and Reynolds are offensively. Virginia Tech will win this one."

Bilas was right...again. Though Singletary (13 points) and Reynolds (21 points) came close to reaching their 36 ppg combined output, the duo needed 29 shots to score their 34 points. Holding Singletary and Reynolds to 12-29 shooting was a primary reason the Cavaliers shot an effective field goal percentage (EFG) of only 36 percent, versus their usual 51 percent in conference play.

Dowdell and Gordon were able to use their size and physical defensive presence to frustrate the Cavalier offense and make Singletary and Reynolds work for any kind of open look. The Hokies were effective in challenging the three point shot, and were subsequently allowing some degree of dribble penetration. However, when Singletary and Reynolds did make it into the lane, the Tech challenged every shot and recorded 11 blocked shots - 6 by Collins alone.

The breakdown of the Cavalier offense was near total. The Cavaliers only managed 5 assists on 21 made baskets, or an assist on only 8 percent of possessions.

In contrast, Tech was able to turn Virginia misses into defensive rebounds and fast break opportunities. These are the type of games that Deron Washington excels in and we've been waiting all year for the type of explosive performance that he delivered over the weekend. His 22 points were scored on a variety of open-court dunks and layups, along with second chances from five offensive rebounds.

When Washington wasn't tearing it up inside or in the open court, A.D. Vassallo was bombing from deep, making 4 of 6 from behind the arc and stretching the Cavalier defense in the process. Tech's offense was much more efficient than the Cavaliers' as the Hokies piled up a gaudy 64 percent EFG and recorded assists on 26 percent of their possessions.

In the end, however, Virginia just laid an egg in this one and Virginia Tech did the appropriate thing by taking them to the woodshed. We didn't see much that changed our opinions of either squad. We've thought all along that Virginia Tech has the deeper team and needs consistent output from Vassallo, Washington, and Collins to make a run in March. In other words, Dowdell and Gorden are decent offensively, but need some help to make the offense click. Virginia will always be more dependent on their backcourt to carry them anywhere, and there's not much Diane and Cain can do to change that.