Buzzketball's Season Ended by BYU 80-77

It's been a long few days for the Virginia Tech men's basketball team. Just 48 hours after their overtime win against Princeton, the Hokies had to make the nearly 2,000 mile trek to Provo, Utah to play BYU in the second round of the NIT.

It was a tough test, but Buzz Williams' crew came into the Marriott Center with their trademark tenacity. And in the end, they gave the less-traveled Cougars all they could handle in an 80-77 loss.

It took a few familiar things in Tech's arsenal to keep up with the potent Cougs. Junior guard Seth Allen put together possibly his best performance of the season. Not only did the Maryland transfer score 22 points off the bench, he also had no turnovers and played in control at almost every turn.

And Allen's fellow transfer, Zach LeDay, held ground down low. Though his 6-17 from the field seems inefficient, the undersized forward battled Brigham Young big men each second on the floor. He led all players with 14 rebounds, often acting as a one man wrecking ball on the offensive glass, and intimidated many an opposing shot on the other end.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. (13 pts, 7 reb) and Chris Clarke (9 pts, 7 reb) also had a large impact. The freshman were vital in stretches of both halves. In the first, Clarke pushed the ball with each of his boards, shifting the speedy Hokies into transition and giving them a few easy buckets when points were hard to come by. And in the second, Blackshear gave BYU fits on the block, dominating post-ups with his tricky game.

But unfortunately for the youngsters, it wasn't enough. As the game wore on with an up-and-down pace, fatigue became apparent. Turnovers grew sloppier, free throws and jumpers didn't have enough legs behind them and the weight of an entire college basketball season became apparent.

Tech kept things close by sheer will, dueling point-for-point for the last 12 minutes of the game. But as time dwindled, the last bits of steam were squeezed out of the locomotive. Outside of a garbage time lay up, the Hokies failed to score in the final two minutes of regulation, and each last ditch chance became more desperate until the final horn.

And though the closing chapter of Buzzketball season two ends in disappointing fashion, there should be nothing but heads held high. The 20-win squad became one of the most exciting groups to hit Cassell Coliseum in a long time, and considering all but one member is set to return, there should be more great things to come.

A few quick thoughts

Justin Bibbs' struggles tonight (and over the last three games), while frustrating, also shows the growth between 2015 and now. A year ago, the shooter's ability to heat up from three was often the difference between a win or loss. If the sophomore couldn't hit from deep, Tech would struggle to produce consistent points.

Now? Bibbs is the difference between a good offense and an incendiary one. The Hokies still did their thing in a scoring capacity, even though their top gunner was a non-factor. Would he had made a difference in the outcome? Possibly, the coaching staff's insistence on attacking the basket shows its effectiveness. Your shooters won't always light it up, but if you're built around something more foundational as a unit, it's survivable.

Speaking of program growth and changes, this could be the last game of Buzzketball at Virginia Tech. It may not be fun to think about, and I'm not saying he'll definitely depart, but it's healthy to at least acknowledge the possibility.

Going into the next week or two, please try to remember to not live or die on any shred of rumor on Twitter. Don't overanalyze the words of a famously vague head coach, who's simply playing the coaching carousel game like the rest of us.

It'd be a tough pill to take should Buzz bolt, but there needs to be some perspective. If I came to you during the dark days of Hokie Hoops, and said things could be fixed within two years, you'd have taken it right? It doesn't matter what the circumstances were, the program was in such a disheveled state everyone was desperate for solutions.

And even if Buzz Williams doesn't coach another day in Blacksburg, the hardest part is over. He's rebuilt it. This is an entirely different team than the one last year, and runs laps around the one before that. Basketball in Blacksburg isn't a joke, and Williams is the person to thank. And regardless of what happens now, watching this team evolve has been incredible.

(And for the record, I think he stays.)