Fighting Gobbler
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Fighting Irish edge Virginia Tech basketball by two

By Thomas Hatcher

Jan 20, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Zach Auguste (30) celebrates as time expires in the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 83-81. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 20, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Zach Auguste (30) celebrates as time expires in the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 83-81. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Virginia Tech basketball team couldn’t hold onto their late second half lead, falling to Notre Dame 83-81.

Well, as optimistic as any Virginia Tech basketball fan should be after the recent Hokie performance, the loss to Notre Dame definitely stings. A lot of “what could have been”. If the Hokies could have held on to the lead they’d had most of the game, for just four more minutes, they’d be 5-1 in the ACC, putting them in second behind only UNC. Two points… that was how close they came.

I’m going to keep this rest of this positive though, because there are a lot of reasons why the Virginia Tech basketball team should be feeling pretty good about their team right now. Let’s start with Junior Zach LeDay. If you think I’ve been mentioning him a lot recently, you’d be correct and that’s because he has been straight up ballin’ out. Starting the year quietly, he’s hitting his stride at the turning point of ACC play, right when they need him to be. He had 22 points against Notre Dame, which is awesome, but I think the more impressive part of LeDay’s past few games is his consistency. Starting with the UVA game he’s put up 22,18,20,21,22 in the last five Virginia Tech games. That, my friends, is what you call dialed in.

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Seth Allen had a huge game as well, putting up 20 points and 8 assists, the highest assist total he’s had in a game all season. Over the last four games he has increased his point total each match up and should continue to be the efficient Seth Allen that Tech has been waiting to show up.

So let’s look ahead. The Hokies have two games against ranked opponents up next against #2 UNC and #17 Louisville, both at home. I truly believe they could beat Louisville. They’ve continued to improve every game and have been very solid in Blacksburg. Louisville could easily be looking ahead to their game against UVA three days later, which would be a huge mistake. Buzz has his team believing.

Next game is at home versus #2 UNC on Sunday at 6:30 PM ET. Go Hokies!

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