The Virginia Tech Hokies fell to 13-5 on the season and 2-3 in ACC play after Wednesday’s heartbreaking 77-76 loss to the SMU Mustangs.
The two teams went back and forth in the first half until it appeared
SMU took control at the 10-minute mark. SMU went up 21-12, but the Hokies would claw back to take a 33-32 lead with 2:32 left in the first half after a Jaden Schutt layup.
The Mustangs would head into halftime holding a 39-38 lead. The Hokies would take the lead early in the second half, and every time the Mustangs would make a run, Tech would have an answer. Jailen Bedford and Schutt were delivering clutch bucket after clutch bucket. Bedford would lead the Hokies with 22 points.
Virginia Tech did a good job of defending SMU guard Boopie Miller in the first half, but he scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half. Miller got to the free-throw line 16 times, making 11 of those attempts.
Speaking of free-throw shooting, the Hokies managed to shoot just 61% from the charity stripe, making 11 of 18. More on that later.
Tech maintained its lead, and with under one minute remaining, Miller made one of two from the line, making it 73-72. The Hokies didn’t panic, and Schutt drained a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left. It looked like Virginia Tech would hand SMU its first home loss of the year.
On the other end of the floor, Miller missed a three-pointer, and Tech pulled down the rebound. With eight seconds remaining, Amani Hansberry’s inbounds pass was mishandled by Neoklis Avdalas, resulting in a turnover. SMU quickly took advantage, making a layup, and the score was 76-74. All Tech had to do was make its free throws and it was over.
Ben Hammond, the guy you want with the ball in his hand, takes the inbounds pass and is fouled. The Hokies were in the one-and-one, and Hammond, who shoots over 84% from the line, missed it. Fortunately, Tobi Lawal was there for the rebound, and he was fouled.
Lawal, who shoots 78% from the line, also missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Mustangs pulled down the rebound and quickly called a timeout. With 2.6 seconds remaining, Miller took the inbounds pass, dribbled to half court, and launched a prayer as time expired. It went in. For the third time since ACC play opened, the Hokies shockingly lost in the final seconds.
It could have been prevented. Whether it was the missed free throws or Hansberry’s inbounds pass to Avdalas, it could have been avoided.
Speaking of Avdalas, he didn’t have the best game again. While he scored 10 points and dished out six assists, Avdalas made just four of his 12 attempts from the field. He was 0-for-7 from beyond the arc. Outside of Avdalas, Tech made 9 of its 21 attempts from the 3-point line.
There are no other ways to describe this loss. It was brutal. And that’s the third time we’ve said that in two weeks. The Wake Forest loss stung because of a late, but the Stanford and SMU losses were avoidable. Winning in Dallas on Wednesday would’ve been a resume-building victory for Tech.
Now, it’s back to Cassell where the Hokies will try to regroup before facing Notre Dame on Saturday.
