North Carolina State University Athletics
Hokies, Pack Meet Saturday
2/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - As Virginia Tech and NC State have proven, close games can contribute to either making or breaking a season. In their first year of playing Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, the Hokies have mastered the art of close shaves, winning a total of four league games by two points or less. By contrast, the Wolfpack owns three conference defeats by a total of four points. One of those was a 72-71 setback at Virginia Tech back on January 19th. The two teams will face off in a rematch on Saturday afternoon at the RBC Center.
Virginia Tech's success in down-to-the-wire games has been downright uncanny. It started with a Carlos Dixon steal and dunk that gave the Hokies a 59-57 win over Clemson on January 15. Four days later, Virginia Tech rallied from 11 points down with just over seven minutes remaining to edge the Pack. Lightning struck again the next time out when two missed free throws by Georgia Tech's Isma'il Muhammad helped Tech snatch a 70-69 triumph over the Jackets. Count `em: that's three straight wins by a grand total of four points.
Last week, the Hokies then came back with perhaps the biggest win in school history, a 67-65 victory over Duke. Needless to say, Saturday's 13-point toppling of Miami was a blowout of historic proportions by their standards.
"Obviously, it was a pretty good week," said Virginia coach Seth Greenberg. "I was really proud of our team and our ability to learn how to compete at a high level. The last two games we've really made a pretty good commitment on the defensive end. If you can guard, you can stay in games."
And as they have proven time and time again, the Hokies are awfully dangerous when they hang around in games. The end result could be the opportunity to receive an unexpected bid to the NCAA Tournament. At 14-10 overall and 7-6 in league play, Virginia Tech will clinch no worse than a .500 record in the conference with one more win. But given the fact that they sustained some rather damaging non-league defeats to the likes of VMI, St. John's and Western Michigan earlier in the season, the Hokies probably still have some work to do before they can feel comfortable about landing a spot in the field.
Either way, Greenberg doesn't want his team to become overly preoccupied with the speculation on how many more wins it might need.
"The committee doesn't listen to Seth Greenberg, Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale or Jay Bilas," Greenberg said. "They'll collect the information and try to put together a field that they feel is the best for the tournament. Concerning myself and worrying about is 8-8 good enough? Is 9-7 good enough? Do we have to win out? If I use any energy to worry about that, that's some energy I could use to prepare for NC State."
The Wolfpack's situation is even more urgent. Tuesday night's 81-71 loss to No. 2 North Carolina dropped the Pack to 15-11 overall and 5-8 in the ACC. To reach .500 in the league, NC State must prevail in its remaining regular season games against Virginia Tech, Virginia and Wake Forest.
"We flat out have to win games," said Wolfpack forward Julius Hodge, who had 23 points the first time out against the Hokies. "Virginia Tech is a team that we had to beat at their place, and we just basically gave it to them. We just have to get a win."
After building a double-digit lead on a Hodge dunk with 7:30 remaining, NC State was outscored 16-4 the rest of the way when the two clubs met in Blacksburg last month. Down the stretch, the Wolfpack was done in by some missed free throws and several shots in close that rolled off the rim. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech got a great game from center Coleman Collins, who posted 20 points and nine rebounds. It was Collins' tough turnaround jumper in the lane with 13 seconds left that provided Tech with the decisive points.
Collins, a 6-9 sophomore, continued to shine last week, recording 14 points and a career-high 18 rebounds against Duke. He then came back with an 18-point performance in the victory over Miami.
Virginia Tech's leading scorer is the 6-7 Dixon, who averages 13.6 points per contest.
Hodge averages 17.9 points and 7.1 rebounds to pace the Pack. He is the only NC State player averaging in double figures.
