Buzzketball Grinds Out a 62-61 Win Over Georgia Tech

It certainly wasn't sexy. But in front of a packed house on Wednesday night, the Virginia Tech Hokies were able to grind their way to a narrow 62-61 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Blacksburg. Down one, Seth Allen took the ball straight at GT center Ben Lammers and hit a game winning layup with 15 seconds remaining.

After clawing back from a 49-40 deficit with 11:15 to play, the Yellow Jackets had a chance to win it at the buzzer. Justin Robinson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 8 seconds left, but Georgia Tech sharpshooter Quinton Stephens was unable to bury a step-back 15-footer to win it. Stephens led all scorers with 18 points and 13 rebounds, including five three-pointers.

The Hokies began the game with a unique starting lineup. Khadim Sy and Ty Outlaw started in place of Zach LeDay and Chris Clarke; Clarke's absence from the lineup was later attributed to tardiness for Wednesday's shootaround. As a result, the Hokies came out of the gates a bit disjointed against a balanced GT squad. The Hokies trailed 12-4 and looked largely out of sync seven minutes into the game, before LeDay, Allen and eventually Clarke joined the fray.

From thereon, the Hokies started to find their rhythm by quickly converting possession changes into fast-break opportunities. After an Allen triple and a LeDay layup cut the Bees' lead to 15-9, Justin Robinson snatched a backside rebound and immediately turned upcourt to find Clarke, who finished with the first of consecutive And-1's.

The insertion of those three players highlighted just how vital they are to this team's success. Their experience, athleticism and guile adds a more aggressive and attacking dimension to the Hokies.

Despite the Hokies' newfound urgency, they continued to struggle against halfcourt sets on both ends of the floor. Virginia Tech would play 28 seconds of solid defense before a late lapse would give guys like Stephens and Josh Heath open jumpers as the shot clock expired. Those Stephens 3-pointers were killers in the first half, quelling short bursts of momentum from the home side.

On the opposite end of the floor, Josh Pastner's squad used a varied defensive set that usually originated from a 1-3-1 zone. Georgia Tech center Ben Lammers, who set the tone early by repeatedly blocking and contesting Hokie shots, manned the paint and did a great job of disrupting the Hokies' ability to get paint touches.

Against zone defenses this season (most notably versus Syracuse's 2-3), the Hokies have successfully employed a high-low set that sees Chris Clarke flash to the free throw line while Zach LeDay (or Khadim Sy) run the baseline. With an active and rangy player like Lammers planted higher in the key, the Hokies struggled to consistently get Clarke the ball with enough time to turn and face the basket.

For a long time, Lammers — who tied a record of 8 blocks by a Hokies opponent — single-handedly affected everything the Hokies wanted to do on offense. But Chris Clarke, with varying degrees of success, began taking the ball straight at Lammers. Zach LeDay backed down Lammers, using his trademark shoulder feint and jump hook with success.

Those strategies began to open up play for the Hokies. Paint touches became more common, and the Hokies were able to frazzle the Bees with quick rotations and skip passes that put them out of position. With only two men defending the perimeter, corner threes and jumpers from the wing became easier to come by, giving guys like Seth Allen and Justin Bibbs the openings they needed to drain dagger after dagger.

Regarding the Yellow Jacket's zone looks, Buzz Williams commented after the game, "You just never get into rhythm. There's not a lot of flow. When you saw flow from us, it was when we were able to get a stop and score in transition."

Despite all of the mayhem and overall lack of comfort, the Hokies trailed 29-28 going into the halftime break. In short, the first half was...ugly. Tech shot 36% from the field, including 2-11 from distance.

Coming out of the locker room, the Hokies visibly had a more attack-minded approach. The Hokies were quick up the floor, attacking the basket before Georgia Tech could set up their zone. The quick-hitting approach left Lammers particularly susceptible, as he was often out of position and in a worse position to defend the paint.

Pastner adjusted and started extending his zone to provide full and half-court pressure, while trapping and varying up the looks.

"It's 2-2-1 and sometimes they trap, sometimes they don't, and back to a 2-3 zone," Williams noted. "It's 1-3-1 and then it's 1-1-3. The 1-1-3, if you get it to the corner, turns into a 2-3. Sideline, out of bounds, you call a timeout at sideline out-of-bounds: They're going to be in a 1-1-3. As soon as you initiate offense, on the first pass, they're going to go trap it. It's just hard to have a flow, have a routine. And I do think that it impacted us and I think that's why [Pastner] does it."

Georgia Tech's defensive efforts were able to slow the Hokies down enough to keep them in the game. GT held the good guys to their lowest scoring output of the season, which was a must for an offensively-challenged team like the Bees.

As the Hokies broke down the Georgia Tech defense early in the second half, it was the sharpshooting of guards Seth Allen and Justin Bibbs that put them back in front. Both players combined to score 14 of Tech's first 16 points, including four three-pointers.

After extending their lead to as much as nine points, the Hokies began to once again fall victim to defensive lapses late in the shot clock. Josh Okogie and Stephens continued to make the Hokies pay, capped off by a Stephens three with 3:53 remaining that tied the game at 55.

Both teams traded baskets before a Lammers layup on a sweet little pocket pass from Stephens put the Bees up 61-60 with 43 ticks left.

After a Hokies timeout, the Hokies tried to find an open look before Allen took the game into his hands once again. Allen, who combined with Zach LeDay to lead the Hokies with 17 points, drove right into the chest of Lammers and made a tough layup to put the Hokies up for good.

"I just wanted to try and make a play," remarked Allen. "We had unbelievable spacing, unbelievable guys to make everything happen. That's kind of what you ask for when you're a senior and it's your last year."

Even though the Hokies struggled with their consistency on both ends, they were able to grind out a win against an ACC foe. Yes, Georgia Tech has some impressive wins against teams like North Carolina, Clemson and VCU. But they also lost to Ohio University and to Duke by 53.

Forgive me for the cliche, but if there's one thing we've learned about the ACC this season, it's that anything can happen on a given night. Notre Dame is certainly separating themselves, and Florida State and North Carolina look formidable. But no one is immune from head-scratching losses to teams at the opposite end of the conference spectrum.

So if the Hokies fancy themselves as an NCAA Tournament team, then they need to win games like these by whatever means necessary in order to give the selection committee as little fodder as possible.

With the win, the Hokies improve to 14-4 on the season and 3-3 in the ACC. They travel to Clemson on Sunday before heading to Chapel Hill on Thursday, in what Buzz considers a pivotal week for his team. "We play three games in seven days, and two of them are on the road," said Williams. "We have not been the greatest team on the road, so it's another opportunity for us. We will be forced to have to mature even more if we're going to have a chance in any of those games."

A Few Odds and Ends

SOME SCORING NOTES: In addition to playing some solid defense all night, Justin Bibbs chipped in 9 points on three triples. Chris Clarke notched his third double-double on the year, scoring 11 points and adding 11 rebounds. And Justin Robinson, who logged his second bagel in the scoring column in his last three games, pulled down a career high 8 rebounds.

Ahmed Hill continues to struggle with his consistency, scoring only 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-4 from distance). In recent games, he has tended to disappear over long stretches and then seems to force shots to get himself into the game. His discomfort is palpable and Buzz has clearly taken notice, discussing both his and Bibbs' shooting struggles after the game.

Obviously picking up his fourth foul with 12:35 to play didn't do him any favors on Wednesday night; but if the Hokies want to be successful this season, they're going to need Med to stay on the court and rediscover the confidence he oozed earlier this season.

When asked about Justin Bibbs' shooting struggles, Buzz pulled Med into the discussion and said the following:

"I think they understand, as a shooter you have to have that mentality. I would obviously like [Bibbs] to shoot better than 25 percent. I don't think that Med or he have shot the ball very well over the last two or three games. We need that. I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm very Pollyanna with those guys that are in a slump, but I would also say that I never shy away from, 'Oh don't say anything to 'em.' I think it's kind of like talking to a pitcher. I've never been a baseball coach, but I think the best philosophy is tell them the truth. They know that they need to make shots and that we need them to make shots. I don't shy away from it but I'm also...I want them to have the thought process that, 'Yeah, I'm making the next one.'"

GEORGIA TECH'S ALLEY-OOPS!: Down one with 11.1 seconds remaining, Josh Pastner drew up a potential game-winning play that the Hokies were able to snuff out. GT point guard Tadric Jackson, who was inbounding the ball in front of the Yellow Jackets bench, threw an alley-oop to center Ben Lammers that he was unable to handle. The ball bounced off the backboard and then Lammers' hands before eventually being corralled by Hokie Justin Robinson.

Regarding the inbounds play, Pastner remarked:

"We were trying to get the ball to Quinton [Stephens] and — Justin Robinson or Seth Allen, whoever was on the ball there, I think it was Seth Allen — did a good job on pressuring the ball. Then our second option was a lob to Ben [Lammers], and he was open for a split second but we threw it a little late. Quinton was open — as was Ben — at the last second, but I think the pressure by Justin or by Seth Allen was good and it made it a tough pass for Tadric. That happens. You have to give credit to Buzz and his team on that one."