The Virginia Tech Hokies had an opportunity for their second Quad 1 win in a week on Thursday at Miami. It was a chance for Tech to put Saturday’s ugly home loss to Florida State behind them. Unfortunately, it turned out to be another heartbreaking last-second loss, as the Hurricanes came away with a 67-66 win.
Miami jumped on the Hokies early, taking a 7-0 lead. A Tobi Lawal 3-pointer put Tech on the board, and the Hokies were off to the races. After falling behind 12-5, Virginia Tech would score
seven in a row to tie it at 12. Then, Jaden Schutt nailed back-to-back 3s to put Tech up 18-14. Miami would score eight straight, and then the two teams would go back and forth before the Hokies took control, heading into halftime with a 34-31 lead.
Virginia Tech shot 50% from the field in the first half, while the Hurricanes shot 42%. Miami was only 1 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
The ‘Canes started off the second half much like they did in the first, scoring the first six points to retake the lead. It had Virginia Tech fans thinking, “Oh no, not again,” after Saturday’s ugly second-half collapse against Florida State. Fortunately, the Hokies quickly bounced back.
Ben Hammond’s bucket, followed by a Neoklis Avdalas dunk, gave Virginia Tech a 46-43 lead. The Hokies would maintain that lead for several minutes until Miami charged back with under five minutes remaining to take a 61-59 lead. Tech had no answer for Hurricanes senior guard Tra Donaldson, who scored a career-high 32 points, including Miami’s last 15 points.
The Hokies responded — again, scoring six points in a row with 2:32 remaining. Donaldson follows with another basket, and Lawal made only one of two free throws. Donaldson made them pay, draining a 3-pointer to tie the game at 66. Each team missed opportunities over the final minute, and as the shot clock wound down, the officials called a questionable blocking foul on Lawal with 11.8 seconds remaining. Donaldson made one of two, giving Tech one more shot to win it down 67-66. The ‘Canes had two fouls to give, using both on Ben Hammond, leaving 3.8 seconds on the clock. After each time called a timeout, Hammond drove hard to the hoop, drew contact, but his shot fell short. No foul. Miami wins.
Here’s the play.
That’s not a ton of contact, but if you called the Lawal foul on the previous play, you have to call this one. Virginia Tech attempted only three free throws in the entire game.
We can complain about the officiating, but the Hokies blew multiple chances. They allowed Donaldson too many open looks, something we’ve seen far too often against hot players this season. Donaldson’s scoring outburst was reminiscent of Virginia Tech’s last-second loss to Stanford in January, when it had no answer for Ebuka Okorie.
It was another blown chance for Virginia Tech. The Hokies are now 17-10 and 6-8 in ACC play. They’ll need to win all four of their remaining regular-season games (Wake Forest, North Carolina, Boston College and Virginia) to feel good about their NCAA Tournament chances. Going 3-1 would be good, but winning out is Tech’s best shot.
Amani Hansberry led the Hokies with 16 points, with Hammond and Jailen Bedford each chipping in 12 points. Avdalas scored only two points and took just three shots from the field, but he also dished out eight assists and had five rebounds versus only one turnover.
The Hokies will host Wake Forest on Saturday.
