Hokies Melt Down in Second Half, Fall to Duke 81-64 (Video Included)

Virginia Tech's Hank Thorns goes for a lay up in Thursday night's game against Duke.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRIAN SEWELL

A cold chill fell over the Hokie offense in the second half Thursday night, as the #4 ranked Duke Blue Devils became the first Tech opponent this season to win at Cassell Coliseum.

The cold chill fell over the fans as well. When Duke opened up a 17-point lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game, the cold Blacksburg air could be felt as the doors opened with disappointed fans leaving the coliseum.

Fans and players felt the disappointment and frustration after they saw a 41-42 ball game early in the second half turn into a Blue Devil route. Duke used a 14-3 run in the 5 minutes before the halfway mark of the second half to silence the enthusiasm of the crowd.

After a slow first half start for Duke freshman star Kyle Singler—shooting just 1-6 from the floor—Singler came out hot in the second half, scoring 14 points and leading the Blue Devil charge.

“It was important to keep the crowd out of it. Whenever you’re playing away from home, it’s definitely hostile and a difficult environment,” said Singler.

The Hokies have won most of their games this season through defense and keeping the score relatively low. Their 38 first half points were the third most they’ve had in a first half all season.

The Tech offense started to look flustered as the highly advertised Duke defense tightened up to start the second half. The Blue Devils scored 16 points off 12 turnovers in the second half, compared to Tech’s 0.

“The whole second half was frustrating. I don’t think we were competing as hard as we could,” said Washington. “They made a hit and we couldn’t recover from it. I feel like we could play with them but we broke down at one point and they went on their run.”

The Hokies were without the services of suspended big man Jeff Allen. His 12.8 ppg and 8.1 rpg, as well as his presence in the paint may have gone a long way towards controlling Duke’s inside-out attack.

Duke started the game by focusing on easy points in the paint; which allowed them during the late first half and second half to get open shots from behind the arc.

Freshman Taylor King hit 3-4 from downtown late in the first half in some key momentum breakers against the Hokies.

“We’re trying to create some balance because we don’t have a real inside presence. If you’re just shooting three’s you become soft as a team,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

If there one positive came from missing the two-time ACC Freshman of the Week, it was the unexpected contributions of freshmen Terrell Bell and J.T. Thompson. Bell and Thompson played 23 and 25 minutes while before this game they averaged just 6 and 13 minutes, respectively.

Bell finished with career highs of 9 points and 5 rebounds while Thompson’s dunks electrified the crowd as he also finished with career highs of 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Coach Seth Greenberg and teammates said they’re proud of the effort and hope Bell and Thompson can continue to gain confidence and continue to be factors even when Allen makes his return.

After losing so many close games this season, the last two games have been losses by double digits.

Coach Greenberg was adamant that the back-to-back emotional losses would not affect the team’s play in the upcoming games--the next at Boston College--a team that has not had to play all week.

“I’ve got more of an issue on figuring out how we’re going to guard Tyrese Rice and Rakeem Sanders then with having a 48-hour turnaround. It’s not going to be an excuse,” said Greenberg.

As he was continually questioned about his team’s ability to recover both mentally and physically, Greenberg responded enthusiastically.

“We’re going to get on a plane, fly an hour and a half, eat a catered meal, watch film, come back and watch more film, have an ice cream bar and go to sleep. How tough is that?”

“We’ll wake up in the morning, have breakfast, have a shoot around, go back to the hotel and have a pre-game meal and then play ball.”

After a Saturday 4 p.m. game at Boston College, the Hokies return home for a 9 p.m. battle with Florida State on Tuesday.

Video by Neal Turnage