Hokies Beat Seminoles by a Fingertip 52-51, Advance to Semifinals vs Duke

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WOW. There’s not much more you can say to describe what happened late Friday night in Greensboro. Erick Green, who hit just one of his first 12 shots, made a jumper with 4.7 seconds remaining, and Derwin Kitchen’s potential buzzer-beater, originally called good, was waved off, giving Virginia Tech a dramatic 52-51 over Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

Tech trailed by five at the last media timeout, but Victor Davila made two free throws (yes, really) to bring Tech within three. After an FSU travel, Manny Atkins, who had perhaps his best game of the season, nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 49 with 3:04 remaining.

After a nearly two-minute scoring drought, Florida State’s Terrance Shannon knocked home a tip-in to give the Seminoles a 51-49 lead with 1:08 to go. Tech’s Malcolm Delaney was fouled on the ensuing possession, but made just one of the two free throws.

With just a six-second differential between the play clock and the shot clock, the Hokies didn’t know whether or not to foul, but FSU coach Leonard Hamilton inexplicably called timeout with 25 seconds remaining to allow the Hokies time to set up their defense. On the ensuing inbounds play, the ‘Noles got the ball to Michael Snaer, but Jeff Allen ripped the ball out of his hands, forcing FSU’s 20th turnover, to set the Hokies up for the potential game-winner.

After a timeout, Delaney tiptoed the baseline and found Green just to the left of the key. The sophomore guard took advantage, nailing the 18-foot jumper to give Tech its first lead since the 17:12 mark of the first half.

FSU then called timeout to set up its final attempt. After the timeout, Kitchen took the ball of the length of the court and pulled up from just inside the three-point line in the right corner and nailed the supposed game-winner for the ‘Noles. After originally calling the shot good, the referees consulted the monitor and deemed the shot did not beat the buzzer. Replays showed that the ball was just on Kitchen’s fingertip as time expired.

Tech shot just 17.9 percent in the first half, and scored just 19 points in the first 20 minutes. Luckily, the ‘Noles weren’t much better as they only scored 27 points in the first half.

The Hokies shot 31.5 percent in the game and seemed out of energy at times during the game, but persevered in the game’s critical moments. Delaney led Tech with 16 points, but made just 5 of 16 shots and played the final couple minutes with four fouls.

Aside from the ending, the big story of the game was Atkins. The sophomore swingman scored 14 points, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while playing major minutes with both Jeff Allen and Davila in foul trouble. Both of Tech’s big men played with four fouls down the stretch, but managed to stay on the court in crunch time.

With the victory, Tech earned its second win in the ACC Tournament and advanced to the semifinals to face the second-seeded Duke Blue Devils. Tech hadn’t won two games in a postseason conference tournament since the 1984 Metro tourney.

Part II—Duke Preview
The Hokies can’t celebrate for too long, as they have to turn around and face Duke this afternoon at approximately 3:30 p.m. Just two short weeks ago, Tech knocked off the then-No.1 Blue Devils in Blacksburg 64-60.

This game will be a little different, considering the lack of home court advantage in Greensboro. As many Hokie fans that were in attendance Friday night, they won’t be able to compare in size to the Duke fan base in Greensboro. On the flip side, most Carolina fans will be rooting against Duke after their semifinal with Clemson at 1 p.m.

As for the matchup, the huge question is the status of ACC Player of the Year Nolan Smith. Late in Duke’s 87-71 victory over Maryland, Smith jammed his toe and is said to be questionable for today’s game. Obviously losing Smtih plays into the Hokies’ favor, but Duke is still a very potent team.

For a look at what the Blue Devils bring to the table, take a look at the preview from the two teams’ only meeting two weeks ago by clicking here.

The key for the Hokies in this game will be how they respond from the dramatic victory late Friday night. With the game not ending until about 11:30 p.m., Tech will have to turn around and play with just 16 hours in between contests.

To win Saturday, the Hokies need to follow a similar recipe to what they did the first time against Duke. Tech was very active in its zone defense and bothered Duke from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils were 4-of-20 from deep in Blacksburg, with forward Kyle Singler going just 1-for-7. Singler led Duke with 29 points against the Terps Friday night.

In addition, the Hokies got production from all five members of its starting lineup. Tech got 0 bench points, but probably will need bench production to advance to the championship on Sunday.

Either way, Tech is more than likely in the NCAA Tournament with a win or loss to Duke. Then again, a win over a potential number one seed for the second time in a season would be a bid clincher.