Virginia Tech Uses Strong Second Half to Down Boston College, 91-75

The Hokies entered today with a mediocre 2-11 record at Boston College, and for the first half, it seemed that Virginia Tech would suffer a crushing blow to their tournament hopes. Despite racing out to a 14-2 start and hitting five of their first six shot attempts, the Hokies allowed the Eagles to enter the break with a 40-38 lead. Virginia Tech failed to get stops defensively and were reckless with the basketball.

Momentum shifted when the game was tied at 50 in the second half. The Hokies were given a gift when Jeffers slammed the ball to the floor and got called for a technical foul. That turned into an elongated 21-6 run which cemented Virginia Tech’s position to win the game. The Hokies ended up outscoring Boston College 53-35 over the final 20 minutes.

Even though Virginia Tech won the game by a large margin, there were plenty of areas of concern. The Hokies turned the ball over a whopping 19 times, their second highest total this season, and posted a 27.1% turnover rate. They were lucky they were playing last-place Boston College, who still managed to make them pay by scoring 24 points off turnovers. Seth Allen had 15 points and 3 steals, but also committed 8 of those turnovers himself.

The Hokies are already playing with fire with their inability to control the glass for the most part, and they cannot afford to give their opponents extra possessions on top of that.

Virginia Tech was able to use Justin Robinson’s excellent vision and passing ability, as the sophomore posted his first double-double of his career with 13 points and 11 assists. Six Hokies ended the game in double figures. LeDay led the team with 18, while Outlaw was second on the team with 16 points. Outlaw has been on fire from three in his last four games, knocking down 13-of-19 of his three-point attempts in that span.

Allen scored 12 of his 15 points after halftime, while Bibbs and Hill chipped in with 13 and 12 respectively, going a combined 5-of-8 from downtown.

The Hokies were able to avoid a loss that would certainly have casted doubt on the possibility of a tournament bid. Now, it would be very difficult to see them out of the picture. Virginia Tech still has work to do however, as they host a Miami team that has beaten Duke and Virginia in the last week on Monday night.