February 18, 2005

Box Score

Virginia Tech 67, Duke 65
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BLACKSBURG - Improbable? Unlikely?

Try impossible.

That's what many people thought of Virginia Tech's chances heading into a match-up with Duke, but the Hokies pulled off maybe the biggest upset of the college basketball season, stunning the No. 7-ranked Blue Devils 67-65 in a memorable Atlantic Coast Conference game played in front of a boisterous 9,847 fans at Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night.

Tech's victory - which came with the ESPN2 cameras rolling - over Duke marked its first over a top-10 team since February of 1986 when Tech toppled No. 2 Memphis in another memorable game at Cassell. With the victory, Tech snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 13-10 overall on the season, 6-6 in the ACC.

"I couldn't be prouder of my team," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "To compete with a team that I think sets the standard in college basketball and to win is simply beyond words. We just kept playing hard and we had guys step up and make plays. It was just a special, special night. It's beyond words, and as you guys know, I usually have plenty to say."

A game that featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes essentially came down to the final 35 seconds. With the score tied at 62, Jamon Gordon tipped in a Carlos Dixon miss to give the Hokies a 64-62 lead with 32 seconds left in the game.

Duke, though, answered as J.J. Redick canned a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to give the Blue Devils a 65-64 lead.

But the Hokies refused to go away. With 16 seconds remaining, Dixon got trapped on the baseline and kicked the ball out to Zabian Dowdell, who drained a 3-pointer to give Tech a 67-65 lead.

"Zabian's not afraid to take a big shot now," Greenberg said. "He thinks every shot of his is going in. But he had some separation and got a good look and knocked it down."

"You don't think about pressure in the heat of the moment," Dowdell said. "I just caught it and squared up and shot it."

That shot turned out to be the game-winner. Duke came down and Daniel Ewing misfired on a 3-pointer with seven seconds left. Gordon and Shavlik Randolph got tied up with the rebound and officials called it a jump ball with four seconds remaining. Duke called a timeout and set up a final play, but Ewing's 3-point attempt with a second to go bounced off the iron and Dixon rebounded ball, starting a wild Tech celebration.

Tech's students and fans, who probably set a decibel level record on this evening, proceeded to storm the court. Most of them gathered around Greenberg and started jumping up and down, yelling as he did an interview with ESPN2 color analyst Len Elmore after the game.

"Tonight, they moved Lane Stadium over to the Cassell," Greenberg said of the students. "The students have really done that and I want them to know I appreciate it. They're really making a difference. They're creating an environment and taking ownership in our program. I wanted them to come out and embrace our guys and our program and that's what they did."

Tech's victory over Duke came just 18 days after the Blue Devils beat the Hokies by 35 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In that one, Duke's Shelden Williams dominated Tech inside, scoring 25 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.

This time around - thanks to the outstanding play of Coleman Collins - the Hokies got the better of the Blue Devils. Williams, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound junior, still scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but Tech's 6-8 sophomore finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds.

Collins' performance marked Tech's first double-double of the season. His 18-rebound outing enabled the Hokies to out-rebound Duke by a whopping margin of 49-32. Tech has now out-rebounded just three opponents this season. Collins also blocked five of the Hokies' season-high 12 blocked shots.

"They just out-fought us and they showed a great deal of poise," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "For us to get out-rebounded by 17 shows something about us, but more about the other team. Coleman Collins just played a phenomenal game.

"They blocked 12 of our shots and they're just an OK shot-blocking team. Rebounds and blocked shots, though, show an extra effort on their part. It was just a really good effort on their part. Seth and his staff did a great job of getting them ready and I thought their fans were great. It was just a good team effort all the way around by them tonight.

"I'm disappointed we didn't show more hunger and poise. We didn't play like a team that has some veteran players. But the story of the game was their desire and their poise."

The Hokies were led by Dixon, who scored 18 points, grabbed nine boards and dished out three assists - taking it to Redick, for the most part, and making the Duke standout work hard on the defensive end. Gordon finished with 17 and Dowdell added 11, marking the 21^st time in 23 games that he has reached double figures.

Neither team shot better than 39 percent, but the rebounding disparity aided the Hokies along with the play of Jeff King, who came off the bench and scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds in 21 minutes.

Redick, who grew up an hour from the Tech campus in Roanoke, Va., led the Blue Devils with 19 points. But he made just 7-of-16 from the floor, including 3-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Ewing added 13 for the Blue Devils.

The Hokies' postseason hopes appeared to be slipping after losing three straight, but Tech certainly remained in the hunt for postseason play with this victory. First, though -and more importantly - Tech needs just two more wins to ensure itself of a winning season, which would be a stunning accomplishment in its first season in the ACC.

The Hokies now get ready for Miami, which comes to town on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.