Buzzketball Overcomes Slow Start, Beats Nebraska 66-53

A lot of things worked against the Virginia Tech men's basketball team heading into the consolation round of the Wooden Legacy against Nebraska.

For one, it was the Hokies' third game in four days—a stretch that wears on NBA players, let alone college kids. Secondly, it came on the heels of their 17-point collapse against Texas A&M in the previous round. So instead of a high profile litmus test against UCLA, Buzz Williams' bunch was relegated to the third place matchup against the less-than-sexy Cornhuskers.

Add in the sleepy environment of Anaheim's Honda Center, and all of the ingredients were in place for a team to fall flat. But luckily for the Hokies, Zach LeDay refused to take a moment off and led the Hokies to a 66-53 win.

The senior forward racked up 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, and also helped his squad overcome a brutally slow start. Showing weary legs and iffy shot selection, Tech began the game on a 1-14 slump. They could only muster 23 points by halftime, and were fortunate that similar issues plagued Nebraska.

But after half, Buzz's crew regrouped and completely outclassed their opponent. Instead of settling for jumpers like they did in the first twenty minutes, the Hokies used their athleticism to attack the basket. Justin Robinson repeatedly found LeDay inside to help rebound from a poor first half of his own (four of the sophomore's five assists came after intermission).

And with reliable paint presence established by their senior leader, Tech worked back outside. Robinson, Ahmed Hill, and Ty Outlaw all hit three pointers to push the lead to double digits, as LeDay continued to hold things down. The Huskers would get as close as six (due to a questionable technical foul on LeDay and a few bad turnovers), but the Hokies hit their free throws down the stretch and sealed the deal.

Up next, a Wednesday contest in Ann Arbor against Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Wolverines are also 5-1, with their lone loss coming against South Carolina last week.

A few quick thoughts

Let's start with the technical on LeDay. After a big time block with ninety seconds to go, he screamed something along the lines of "get that s**t out of here." If this was a game anywhere else, at any other time of the year, there's no call. It just so happened this came in an empty arena with ESPN mics all around, and a ref who felt like he should do something about it. Luckily for Tech, it didn't impact the result.

As far as the senior's performance on the court, this shows yet another example of how impactful he can be despite his size. The Huskers play four guys bigger than LeDay, yet he still controlled the boards.

He'll have moments where he struggles (he wasn't great against A&M), but he's perfect on nights like this. Tech looked like garbage early. Turnovers and bad shots plagued them, and they desperately needed someone to convert a few easy buckets.

That's where LeDay came in. It won't be the first time this perimeter oriented roster will struggle to hit threes, and they'll need their best big man to make up for it.

Though they couldn't catch fire early, one thing Tech's guards and wings did do against Nebraska? Defend.

It's an often overlooked thing with small ball teams, considering their obvious disadvantages in the post. But Buzz and company can roll out an extremely tough defense for an entire 40 minutes, no matter who's on the floor. Hill and Chris Clarke fly around and close out quickly on shooters, while Robinson and Seth Allen have a license to gamble in passing lanes when there's a play to be made. Accordingly, the Huskers had a hard time finding an open shot and turned the ball over 14 times.

When they're at their feistiest, the Hokies can swarm an opponent and make life tough for both ball handlers and any big man brave enough to take more than one dribble. A game like this shows that Tech can win relying on their defense, which is a vital thing fall back on when things don't go to plan on offense (like it didn't later on in their loss to the Aggies).

Michigan will be an interesting challenge. The Hokies need to clean up a few things, but are talented enough to go on the road and see how they measure up to another good team.