Going into their second ACC road game of the season, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was looking for a major résumé-building win for the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies faced a major Quad 1 opportunity in Dallas against SMU, a team that came in after dropping its last two games.
Virginia Tech appeared to be in a good position to win the game, up four points with eight seconds left. After a missed 3-point attempt by SMU, all the Hokies had to do was inbound the ball, make a couple of free throws, and they would take a big step toward the right side of the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Seven days after blowing a 13-point lead at home to Stanford, Virginia Tech outdid itself in Dallas.
A turnover, a quick SMU basket, two missed free throws, and a 48-foot Boopie Miller shot at the buzzer all turned a 76-72 Tech lead with eight seconds left into a one-point loss as time expired. Here are three observations from the crushing defeat that will be tough to overcome.
SMU WITH A HALFCOURT MIRACLE AT THE BUZZER‼️ pic.twitter.com/hdkqjDCQTY
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 15, 2026
Virginia Tech MUST close out the Mustangs
If the Hokies miss the MCAA Tournament, it'll be because of missed free throws. In blowing their lead to Stanford, Virginia Tech missed free throws down the stretch and paid for it with a game-winning 3-pointer from the Cardinal. Fast forward seven days later.
Up 76-72 after a very good defensive possession that forced a 3-point attempt off the side of the backboard and the ball out of bounds off SMU, things went sideways. The Mustangs had a foul to give and did. Then, on the ensuing inbounds, the ball went out of bounds off Neoklis Avdalas, which led to a quick Mustangs' basket on the ensuing inbounds play.
Virginia Tech then got the ball into Ben Hammond's hands, and he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 4.7 seconds left. Tobi Lawal got the rebound, was fouled, and missed the front end of a 1-and-1. SMU got that rebound, called a timeout, and had 2.6 seconds left. That was more than enough for Miller to receive the inbounds pass, take a couple of dribbles, and nail his shot from midcourt to end the game. Inexcusable.
Another crushing loss
Virginia Tech fell to 2-3 in ACC play, and its three losses have totaled a combined five points. They lost at Wake Forest by three, and to Stanford and SMU by one. You can't make up the way the Hokies are losing games in gut-wrenching fashion. Each loss was avoidable and will be crushing defeats when it comes to Selection Sunday.
The problem is this for Mike Young's team: while there are more opportunities for Quad 1 and 2 wins this season because the conference is better, it leaves very little room for error. Just winning last night's game would have been a huge feather in their cap for the NCAA Tournament. Now they face a game at home against Notre Dame that is much bigger than it should be on Saturday afternoon.
Jailen Bedford's return home wasted
In case you didn't hear, UNLV transfer Jailen Bedford returned to near his hometown with the Hokies against SMU. If you paid attention to the ESPNU broadcast, you know what that first sentence means. Anyway, Bedford had a great game and nearly carried Virginia Tech to the win. He should have.
He scored 22 points in 29 minutes and grabbed seven rebounds. He knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and made some big shots. It was a performance that was encouraging to see. He was the only Hokies' player to eclipse the 20-point plateau, with Jaden Schutt, who knocked down a huge 3-pointer as the shot clock expired for a 76-72 lead, had 15 points, knocking down four 3-pointers. All of that was wasted.