Hokies Earn Sixth Seed In Upcoming ACC Tournament After 77-62 Trouncing of No. 7 Miami

Mark Gottfried won 5 games in the ACC this season. Jamie Dixon and Jim Boeheim mustered just 9 apiece. But Buzz Williams, mired in a rebuilding job that many thought impossible, bested them all, the 43-year old coach's latest victory a 77-62 trouncing of No. 7 Miami that clinched the Hokies the sixth overall seed in next week's ACC Tournament.

Raise your hand if you saw that coming.

Nobody? Didn't think so.

"It's just a collection of scraps, all kind of thrown together, and we've learned how to make it into a meal," said Williams. "I don't know that anybody in that mix could have thought that this would happen."

The runaway victory over yet another top-ten foe marked the Hokies' tenth conference win of the season, a number that seemed laughably unattainable four months back after Tech's season-opening stumble to Alabama State. But slowly and surely, this Hokies team grew, their latest five-game winning streak coinciding with the sudden emergence of freshman point guard Justin Robinson.

"He's playing at a very high level," said Williams. "Five's fun to coach. Five's really fun to watch if you're a fan. I have to be careful that I don't become a fan of him because he's got little-man syndrome like a lot of guys his size, but I don't know that you can quantify the competitiveness coupled with the IQ that he plays with. He makes the right decision at a very high rate. He has a skillset to back that up. It's his IQ that's coming to life more and more."

Robinson dazzled from the opening tip Saturday, mixing in an array of highlight-reel assists with a productive scoring night that had the diminutive point guard looking the part of best player on the floor.

"He just grew big balls," joked forward Zach LeDay. "He's taking big shots. Making great moves. I told him the whole game that he had control of the other point guard on Miami...He was crisp. He didn't turn it over. He made the right plays when he had to. He's really growing up."

LeDay had the unenviable task of matching up with Miami's physical frontcourt led by hulking senior center Tonye Jekiri, but the undersized South Florida transfer pillaged the Canes inside to the tune of 16 points and 3 boards. LeDay's fiery personality was on display for 40 minutes, his trademark scowl seemingly glued to his face as the Hokies raced out to an early first-half lead.

"I like guys that most people think are no good," said Williams of the unheralded LeDay. "That means you can coach them however you want. Typically, I'm best coaching guys that allow me to coach them however I want. I don't think that Zach or anybody could have thought he would do what he's done."

Justin Bibbs paced the Hokies from behind the arc with five triples on just six attempts and finished with a game-high 19 points. Fellow backcourt mate Seth Allen had a far less efficient afternoon, but the Maryland transfer repeatedly darted into the lane and got to the line against a Miami team known for their tough defense.

The Hokies went with a matchup zone for the majority of the contest, mixing in a few possessions of man-to-man to keep the ultra-talented Canes honest. Without the bench support of Ja'Quan Newton, Miami relied heavily on star guards Davon Reed and Sheldon McClellan for their offensive firepower, but the Hokies limited the duo nicely aside from a brief second half run.

"We turned the ball over 5 times in the second half in the first 5 minutes," said Williams. "And no matter what you're trying to accomplish defensively, teams as talented as they are, if they're playing in a broken floor, they're gonna score. I thought we did a better job today of our offense helping our defense."

Miami struck first in the game's opening minutes with five quick points from Reed, but Jalen Hudson and LeDay teamed up to send the Hokies into the first media timeout nursing a 7-5 lead in a high-energy first four minutes at Cassell. The Hokies never looked back from there, extending their lead to nine just 11 minutes into the game. Miami responded with a brief 4-0 run, but the Hokies proceeded to push their lead back into double digits heading into the break.

Miami ratcheted up the pressure early in the second half and cut the Hokies' advantage to just six before Williams called a timeout with 14:15 to play. Williams' timeout chat clearly hit home for the Hokies as Allen and LeDay each buried triples to maintain the Tech lead. The Hokies kept their momentum with big buckets from Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Robinson, and Bibbs hit back-to-back threes with just over 8 minutes to play to give Tech a 62-45 lead. Miami head coach Jim Larranaga burned a timeout in an attempt to quell the Hokies' momentum, but the Canes never seriously threatened from that point on as Tech coasted to a 15-point victory down the stretch.

Shane Henry scored just two points on his senior day — a two-handed slam early in the second half — but the Decatur, Georgia product received one last ovation from the Hokie faithful as he kissed the Virginia Tech logo at midcourt before exiting for the final time with just over a minute to play.

The Hokies clinched the sixth overall seed in the ACC Tournament with the victory and thoroughly boosted their postseason resume in the process. The NCAA Tournament remains a ways off — the NIT is still the more likely landing spot — but a few wins in Washington, D.C. this week could have bubble talk in Blacksburg for the first time in a half-decade. Florida State and Boston College will square off Tuesday for the rights to play the Hokies in the late game Wednesday evening, and if the Hokies were to get past their second-round foe, the third seed would await on Thursday.

But bracket talk aside, the Hokies' underdog mentality headed into the postseason remains unchanged.

"If you're picked 14th and you finish 6th, what other mentality should we take?" asked Williams rhetorically. "If you could google my story or anything I've been involved with, I'll always be able to answer that question the same way."

And regardless of what transpires in Washington, D.C. this week, Williams knows that this season will hold prime real estate in his memory bank for years to come.

"What has been as good as I've ever seen particularly as a head coach is the spirit and love that they have for one another and how they play for one another. That's rarefied air that you find that anymore in the millennial generation, that you can get everybody in one room and everybody's pulling in the same direction," said Williams. " That everybody in there, regardless of their title, are pulling, 'How can we get a little bit better? How can we get a little bit better?'"

"It's been a lot of fun."