Boston College vs. Virginia Tech: The ACC Battle for Second Place (Because UNC is first)

Tonight Virginia Tech faces Boston College in what is the the night’s most meaningful game, and would be the most intriguing game if not for 1) UNC vs. NC State and 2) Va. Tech’s Sunday loss to the Wolfpack which took them out of potential first place. However, a lot is at stake for both teams coming off losses particularly for BC after their two home losses to Duke and UNC. This is perhaps their toughest stretch of the season. It is important the the Eagles find a way to stop Zabian Dowdell. If they do that, they will likely win this game.

7:03 pm: 2-0, BC. Shamare Spears is fouled on the opening possession and hits his free throws.

7:04 pm: Interesting fact: both of the teams coaches are bald. I have no idea what it means for this game.

7:05 pm: 4-2, BC. Coleman Collins dunks with two hands to open scoring for the Hokies, but Tyrese Rice Rice drives into the lane and gets a layup to give the lead back to the Eagles. Few can drive the ball better than Rice and Dowdell.

7:06 pm: 6-4, BC. Collins again gets an easy dunk, but John Oates fights for another basket inside after his first shot was blocked by Dowdell.

7:07 pm: 9-4, BC. Deron Washington makes an unbelievable play. First he blocks a three pointer by Sean Marshall, and then he leaps out of bounds to save the ball. But Rice catches it and tosses it back to Marshall for the easy three. All that effort just made it easier for the opponent. The lesson: don’t try.

7:12 pm: 10-6, BC. Jaman Gordon picks up his second foul already, but VT is 3-for three on FG attempts, provided they are Collins dunks.

7:13 pm: 12-8, BC. A.D. Vasallo gets a nice inside basket to cut the lead to two, but we finally hear from Dudley today, courtesy of a nice pass by Rice.

7:14 pm: 12-9, BC. The Hokies is starting to run the press, and the Eagles seem to be fazed by it.

7:16 pm: 14-13, BC. Their defense pays off as Dowdell gets an easy basket in transition. The two teams then exchamge defensive lapses, which leads to quick inside baskets.

7:18 pm: 15-14, VT. The Hokies get the lead thanks to great hustle to the ball by Dowdell, and goaltending by John Oates.

Why are there empty front seats in this stadium? This is one of the biggest games of the year for Virginia Tech, and front seats go unused? That is embarrassing.

7:21 pm: 18-16, VT. Dudley gets a tough basket inside, but Vasallo is wide open for a 3-pointer that gives the lead back to the Hokies.

7:23 pm: Doesn’t Tyrelle Blair look like a tall, awkward Chris Brown?

Well, maybe not.

7:25 pm: 25-16, VT. The Hokies are absolutely dominating this game both defensively and on the boards. Their defense forces bad shots and passes, which lead to a quick change in possession, and in turn easy offensive opportunities, the latest a three by Zabian Dowdell.

7:30 pm: 27-16, VT. The BC defense seems to be sitting back, reacting rather than acting. The Tech guards are picking them apart. This reminds me eerily of UNC’s first half in Blacksburg.

7:33 pm: 29-19, VT. Marquez Haynes finally stops the bleeding by getting three the hard way. Before that the Hokies outscored the Eagles 21-4.

7:34 pm: 31-21, VT. Jared Dudley is getting beat up in this game, but that hasn’t stopped him from performing effectively in the offensive paint.

7:36 pm: 31-23, VT. Boston College is fighting back by making their presence felt inside. The Hokies keep missing layups; eventually that’s going to haunt them.

Vasallo gets his third foul.

7:40 pm: 36-23, VT. Deron Washington is the go-to guy right now for Virginia Tech. Boston College seems to have no answer for him. Sean Marshall certainly doesn’t.

7:42 pm: 36-28, VT. Well, that was lucky. Sean Marshall shoots a three, hits nothing but iron, and them the ball bounces straight up and into the net.

7:44 pm: 36-10, VT. Rice commits highway robbery, and it leads ultimately to an easy basket by Dudley. Suddenly BC has a chance to go into halftime only one possession down.

7:46 pm: 36-32, VT. Rice lets the clock run down in the first half. He then proceeds to floor it down the lane and get a layup over Collins as time expired. Once down 13, Boston College is back in striking distance. They need to continue to play good defense and crash the boards to get the lead back. Virginia Tech needs to stay agressive and create turnovers. And of course, Zabian Dowdell must have the ball.

8:07 pm: 46-32, VT. Uh…wow. A.D. Vasallo has led the Hokies to a 10-0 run in the forst two minutes of the second half. They are just storming out of the gate.

8:08 pm: 48-32, VT. Dowdell gets an easy basket inside and gives the Hokies a 16 point advantage.

8:10 pm: 50-32, VT. What is wrong with Boston College? Why are they playing so badly? This calls for a bizarre video clip. We miss you Dave.

8:17 pm: 54-34, VT. Deron Washington is on fire. And that’s about all I can say right now. I am just in shock. It looks like either Virginina Tech is a clearly superior team, Boston College has stopped trying, or they are completely gassed and the Hokies are running laps around them.

8:21 pm: 58-34, VT. In 8 second half minutes, VT has outscored BC 22-2. That is simply unbelievable. I can’t believe that this is the same Boston College team that beat the Hokies by 21 earlier in the year, and I can’t believe this is the same Va. Tech team that go swept by NC State.

8:23 pm: 58-36, VT. Boston college finally stops the bleeding with its first field goal of the second half. Their collapse in the second half is nothing short of schocking. Just this time last week they were in control of the ACC and facing a team on a 4 game skid. WTF?

8:27 pm: ESPN is determined to kill any sport that isn’t on their network. I’m sure of it. You’re laughing now, but you’ll be crying when you see 10 minutes of Major League Soccer analysis every night on SportsCenter this summer and the entire NHL playoffs get 10 minutes of coverage. Oh, joy.

8:31 pm: 66-36, VT. When you are getting badly beaten, that’s one thing. When you’re being outscored in conference 30-4 in 12 minutes, it shows a complete lack of effort on your part. I am really disappointed by the Eagles in this game. You have to question how viable a team is in the NCAAs when they lack effort in big games.

8:36 pm: 68-41, VT. So that’s it. Rice hits a three pointer, but more importantly, for the first time in this half I am reminded that he exists.

8:40 pm: 70-48, VT. Boston College is finally hitting their shots, but it appears far too little, far too late.

8:47 pm: 73-53, VT. Tyrelle Blair commits a blatant intentional foul on Washington. I like Boston College, but he should be ejected for that. It looked like he may have been trying to hurt the guy.

8:56 pm: The game goes final: Virginia Tech wins, 79-62. The Hokies were impressive in victory, but more importantly Boston College was horrendous in defeat. I was not so much that they got blown out, it was that they seemed not to give any effort when they needed it most. That really disappointed me. They need to close out the season well, getting at least two victories (including at least one ACC tourney victory) before NCAA tournament time, to right the ship.