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Hokies Basketball: West Virginia Beats Virginia Tech 82-51

By Tim Thomas

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Nov 30, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Buzz Williams looks on during the game against the Morgan State Bears at Cassell Coliseum. Virginia Tech defeated Morgan State 83-63. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech Hokies traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia to face the 17th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in a Black Diamond rivalry game. The Hokies entered this game hoping to have a positive performance and trying to pull off the upset most importantly. However, that definitely was not the case in what was a nightmare of a game.

The Virginia Tech Hokies were blown out by the West Virginia Mountaineers 82-51 in a game that was a tale of two halves with the Hokies only down by 3 at halftime, but getting absolutely trampled in the second half. The second half performance for the Hokies is undoubtedly the worst 20 minutes that Virginia Tech has played all season.

Virginia Tech couldn’t afford to have many turnovers in this game, but that did not happen as Virginia Tech a ridiculous 25 turnovers in this game. The Hokies seem flustered by the West Virginia full court press all game and could never get in any sort of rhythm. West Virginia was able to turn many turnovers into points and that helped widen the margin.

The Hokies also were dominated on the glass with West Virginia having 36 rebounds and 16 offensive rebounds compared to Virginia Tech having 22 rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds. Joey Van Zegeren and Satchel Pierce were the only two big men that played in this game for the Hokies and had a combined 7 rebounds which you can’t afford to have from your big men.

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It is surprising that the Hokies did not use Shane Henry for more than 3 minutes especially with the way he has been playing the last few games. It would surprise if Henry doesn’t start and play a lot against Syracuse especially after the rebounding struggles of Van Zegeren today.

Justin Bibbs had the worst game of his freshman season today with 4 points, 4 assists, and 8 turnovers in 27 minutes today. This is a game where Bibbs can learn a lot from, but is definitely one he should try to forget once he gets every lesson he can get from this game.

Nov 30, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies forward Satchel Pierce (21) drives towards the basket in the second half against the Morgan State Bears at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports

Satchel Pierce wasn’t actually too bad today in what was the best game of his collegiate career with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, and only 2 turnovers in 23 minutes. Pierce will definitely look to continue to improve especially with ACC play starting Saturday against Syracuse.

Adam Smith had 6 turnovers in this game while the Hokies allowed too many trips to the free throw line with West Virginia making 12 of 20 free throw attempts. The Hokies could also not contain Juwan Staten who had 18 points in this game in what was one of his highest scoring outputs of the season.

West Virginia also got points from 12 different players in this game which is quite impressive, and just shows the struggles of the Hokies in this matchup. Buzz Williams will now look to take some lessons from this blowout loss and get his team ready for Syracuse.

However, many fans will start wondering when will the Hokies win their first game in 2015? Hopefully, that question is answered sooner rather than later.

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