Hokies Hoops Give One Away to Radford 66-68

The Virginia Tech men's basketball team (4-4) dropped another game, this time to Radford University (5-3) 66-68.

The Hokies trailed every moment between the 16:44 mark in the first half through 6:21 to go in the second, yet despite the struggles, Tech heated up from outside and eventually took a six-point lead with two minutes to play.

It all went south from there.

After a Highlanders dunk, Justin Bibbs missed the front end of a 1-and-1, which was subsequently followed by a wide-open Radford three pointer. Still up one, Devin Wilson coughed up the ball at midcourt and that was all she wrote.

In these game summaries I am traditionally Mr. Optimist, someone who tries to find the signs of growth after each loss. While there are definitely some things to take away in a positive light, I simply can't start there this time.

It's not that the Hokies lost to Radford, a good team in their own right, it's how they lost. It's that they battled back after a poor first half and executed the plan well enough to take a lead. At times the ball moved very well, the guards got into the lane and made plays and it really looked like they were going pull it out.

Remember the thousands of words that I wrote about this team's poor rebounding, bad free throw shooting and problem with turnovers? Those ugly deficiencies surfaced in the final two minutes and it cost Tech a win. In a not-so-shocking development, an offensive rebound that lead to a pair of Rad-Town free throws, Bibbs' missed bonus shot and Wilson's turnover doomed Tech and squandered its lead.

Joey van Zegeren was manhandled inside all afternoon, making it difficult for him to grab a rebound (he had one defensive board). The Hokies had spurts of trouble when Radford extended their defense, and a hot second half from behind the arc hid the fact that Tech had seven turnovers in those final 20 minutes.

It was a tough one to give away, and Tech might need the whole week that they have between games to get over it. If there's anything positive that Buzz can take away from this game, however, it's that his team was tested in a bunch of different ways and yet still responded.

The Highlanders deployed many different types of defense, pressing at times and playing zone at others. Tech was able to recognize each defensive shift and attack accordingly. Sure they weren't always able to capitalize on their chances, but Buzz's bunch did exactly what they needed to do to beat the opposing D. The ball whipped around the zone, one time beautifully ending up in van Zegeren's hands for an easy slam. Against man pressure, Jalen Hudson and Bibbs were each able to consistently take their defender off the dribble and create plays close to the basket.

I think this game will serve as the cold shower that many casual observers needed to lower their expectations of Buzzketball year one. It's going to be a grind and the conference schedule could get even uglier than previously thought.

Don't get me wrong, this team is still getting better. They're just getting better in pieces and growing at different rates. Hudson has gotten a ton better since game one, showing a serious athletic ability that translates on defense. Bibbs was always going to come down to Earth as a shooter, he went 1-3 from deep today, but his ability to get in the paint and facilitate has been impressive. Ahmed Hill has shown a nice ability to see the floor and make plays over the last couple of games as well, and he had four assists on Sunday.

That being said, Malik Mueller has looked rather pedestrian after two games of my Umlaut man-crush. He still does the little things, but his lack of quickness limits him when he has the ball. Satchel Pierce looks like he's going to be a non-factor for most of these games, only seeing a single minute of action against the Highlanders.

The Hokies have four more games against non-power five teams, and I'm sure that Williams will use that time to smooth things out as much as possible. I hope he's able to, because covering this team is going to get disheartening quickly if not.