Improving Hokies Come Up Short

More than an hour before tipoff, a ticket scalper outside Cassell Coliseum was wondering if he'd be able to unload his entire stash for Tuesday night's Virginia-Virginia Tech game, asking a reporter what type of crowd the Hokies were expecting.

No matter the mark-up, any customers he found got their money's worth.

For the fourth straight home game, the improving, emerging Hokies played their opponent to within a basket.

For the first time in that stretch, Virginia Tech was on the wrong side of the narrow margin, falling 61-59 to rival Virginia.

The last possession Tuesday? Maybe the Hokies' worst of the night. It included a near turnover on the wing, followed by freshman forward Dorian Finney-Smith turning the ball over with 3 seconds to go.

It was playing out like Virginia Tech's last three home wins — until the final horn sounded with the Hokies down on the scoreboard.

Tech dropped Clemson 67-65 on Feb. 4 to start the home win streak. The Hokies nipped Boston College on a Dorian Finney-Smith stick-back in the final seconds on Feb. 12. Saturday, they clipped Georgia Tech in overtime on Dorenzo Hudson's buzzer-beating 3-point heave off a broken play.

Monday, Virginia coach Tony Bennett pointed out the Hokies "are dangerous at home." And Tuesday, his Cavaliers were in peril in the waning seconds, with Tech having the ball and a chance to win yet again.

For a while, the frustrated fans at Cassell Coliseum could see why Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg keeps telling anyone and everyone how much he likes this Hokies team.

Against one of the ACC's — and the nation's — premier defensive teams, the Hokies, looked, well, surprisingly effective in the first half. They shot 55 percent from the floor in before the break, hitting six of their nine 3-point attempts. That's stunning long-range production from a team that came in averaging six 3s a game.

And it was some of the youngest Hokies who helped get them off to the fast start. Finney-Smith scored all eight of his points in the first half. Same for freshman guard Marquis Rankin.

And in the second half, Tech's veterans stepped up. Junior guard Erick Green, the closest thing Tech has to a go-to scorer, put up 17 of his 19 points after intermission.

In the final moments, it was the Cavaliers missing free throws — something that has plagued the Hokies, most notably in their road loss to Florida State — and keeping Tech in it.

But a cold stretch in the final 13 minutes of the second half, helping UVA to an 11-0 run, made Tech a tough loser, failing to return the favor for last year's Cavaliers' sweep of the Hokies.

Still, it was worth the price of admission.