January 5, 2002

Seton Hall opened the second half with a 15-2 run and walked out of Cassell Coliseum with an 80-72 BIG EAST Conference victory in front of 2,754 fans on Saturday. The Loss marked the Hokies third straight.

The Pirates improved to 8-6 overall, including a 1-1 mark in the BIG EAST. Tech fell to 6-8, 0-2 in the conference.

The Hokies trailed by only three at halftime. But the Pirates made six of their first eight shots from the floor in the second half, including two 3-pointers, and jumped out to a 52-36 lead on Greg Morton's bucket with 15:05 left in the game.

Tech scored the next six points to cut the lead to 10, 52-42. But Seton Hall then went on a 10-2 run to take a 16-point lead with under 11 minutes to go. Tech never came closer than the final margin.

The Pirates made 11 of their first 17 shots in the second half and ended up shooting 61.3 percent in the final 20 minutes. They shot 50.8 percent for the game and they also made 11 3-pointers.

"We knew they were perimeter-oriented," Tech head coach Ricky Stoke said. "They can really stretch you. [André] Barrett penetrated and kicked out a lot. We had difficulty containing him."

Barrett, the Pirates' 5-foot-8 point guard, scored 17 points and dished out 11 assists. Many of those assists went to Darius Lane, who scored a game-high 20 points and his six 3-pointers.

Tech, which shot 44.2 percent from the floor, was led by Terry Taylor, who scored 16 points. Brian Chase added 14 points and Dimari Thompkins finished with 10.

The Hokies hit the road for their next game. Tech travels to Hartford, Conn., for a game Thursday against UConn. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.