Buzzketball Holds Off Wake Forest 81-74

For the first time in four years Virginia Tech basketball is relevant in late February. With postseason aspirations and a nose toward a .500 conference record, the Hokies came into Sunday night's game against Wake Forest with serious goals.

And in their 81-74 win over the Demon Deacons in the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Tech kept everything within reach. They improve to 8-8 in the ACC with two more to play and beat a struggling Wake team, a necessity to keep their slim chance at the NIT alive.

Justin Bibbs jolted his guys early on with 11 points in the first eight minutes of play, resuming his familiar tormenting of the group in gold. Bibbs finished with 22, bringing his scoring total to 54 in two games against the Deacs this season. Guards Seth Allen and Justin Robinson threw in 14 apiece, and Zach LeDay locked up the result at the free throw line down the stretch.

It was another confident victory for the Hokies on the road, their second in a row away from Blacksburg, and another step forward in the progression of the Buzz Williams era. It's one thing to beat Boston College in their place on a sleepy Tuesday, but in the Joel on senior night? It was a hostile environment, and it was handled well by the youngsters.

"As the month has played itself out, I think that we're playing better," Williams said. "I think that they're playing for one another more. I think they better identify the recipe from which we have to play. I think they're more accepting of the negative margin that we have to start with. I think that all of those things are good signs relative to our maturity."

It wasn't all sunshine and warm feelings, however. The Hokies failed to take command for the first 20 minutes, running sloppily with their equally careless opponent. Even up seven at one point in the first half, turnovers and bad shots let the lead slip away almost as fleetingly as it came.

But as simple as it may seem, Tech was just the better team as time wore on. The Demon Deacons evened the score at 44 with 14 and change to go, and never got as close again. Bibbs and company scored a few quick baskets, were up nine just a few moments later and never looked back.

Now sitting at 16-13, they head back to Cassell Coliseum with two more to play. First up, a rematch against Pittsburgh on Wednesday and then a second showing against Miami to finish off the year.

To be more than a NIT afterthought, the Hokies probably need to win one of those, a tall task considering they already lost to each by sizeable margins. But a goal can only be achieved one step at a time, and without a positive result on Sunday, the rest of the schedule is irrelevant.

Anything Buzz and his staff want to accomplish between now and season's end is still in play, in large part because they've taken care of business against the bottom of the league. And with their game in Winston-Salem, they look ready for a larger test.

A few quick thoughts

Allen and LeDay may be the present, but Robinson and Chris Clarke are the future. The duo plays fast on both ends, gets out and run when they can, but also play within a halfcourt offense. The best part about watching them as freshmen is they get to figure things out without major ramifications on their minutes.

Clarke may not have had an overly impactful performance in the box score, but his energy and movement was too much for Wake to handle. One of his baskets came off his own miss where he landed, jumped back up faster than anyone else, and got a hand on the ball for a tip in. His shot's still in need of major renovations, but he can still make the defense worry without one.

And Robinson added another entry in his case to become the starting point guard until his eligibility runs out. He's active with and without the ball, and has become a confident shooter, especially in giant moments. He has a cool control over everything, and while his assist numbers aren't high, he still has a hand in the outcome of most possessions.

Bibbs scored 22, but only hit a trio of threes. He was aggressively looking for his shot, got into the paint and caused problems, drew a few fouls and was the best player on the court for long stretches. It's nights like this that make me want to shake him, why can't he always play like this?

"As the season has played itself out, I'm not as concerned with Bibbs as maybe I should be," Williams said. "He's the most offensive efficient player we have. He's the most defensive efficient player we have. He's never, ever, ever going to play out of the scouting report. I don't know that I take him for granted, but I don't ever even want to sub him."

And maybe it's who he is. A guy who'll do a lot of things right, always helps the team, but will never take over three or four times in a row. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but selfishly I want more.

These schools were in the exact same spot two years ago, stuck on the underside of the ACC elite like gum on a shoe. Both were in major need of a revamp (Tech having never recovered from the Seth Greenberg firing, Wake after living through four seasons of the terrible Jeff Bzdelik), and both looked for young coaches to reenergize their programs.

Danny Manning won five conference games in his rookie campaign, a nice start to build on. Williams, as we all know, watched his group struggle as their talent deficit was too large to overcome almost every time out. Going into 2016, if you were to make a bet as to which one was going to vie for a mid-tier spot and first round bye, it probably wouldn't have been Buzz. Yet here he is, as we watch his guys grow whenever they hit the floor while Wake has the same issues they've had for the last half decade.

This isn't necessarily a condemnation on the job Manning's done in Winston-Salem, it's more so an acknowledgement of one of the most important steps on Tech's path to relevancy. If they ever want to head back to the NCAA bubble, the Hokies have to be better than all the other teams rebuilding around them. They need to develop faster than Wake, BC or Georgia Tech, and leap into the Florida State/NC State/Clemson zone of the standings (where bids to the dance can be found once in awhile).

And it looks like it's happening. Buzzketball is growing faster than anyone, possibly even Williams himself, could have anticipated.

"I think what is healthy is to improve, to not be satisfied, to not be content," Williams said. "I'm very transparent with them. I tell them where we're at. I tell them what's happening within the league. I don't know that that's necessarily the right thing for a coach to do, but within our culture, team rule number one is: Always tell the truth, no matter your emotional state. Secrets are lies. That's team rule number one, so I just tell them the truth."

It's impossible to say what will come, because the future tends to throw curveballs to a program on the rise. But with the a little luck and the continuation of what's currently cultivating, the job Buzz and his staff are doing is impossible to ignore.