February 23, 2002

Virginia Tech eclipsed its Big East win total from last season by rallying from an 11-point deficit with 16 minutes left in the game to knock off Providence 69-64 in front of 4,447 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

The win marked Tech's third Big East win this season, surpassing the two that the Hokies won all of last season. Tech is now 9-17 overall - also better than a year ago when the Hokies finished 8-19. Providence, playing without three starters, is 15-13, 6-8 in the Big East.

The win also marked the 400th win by Tech at Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies are now 400-112 in the 41-year-old building.

"I'm pleased with our effort," Tech head coach Ricky Stokes said. "And I thought the crowd was tremendous. They gave us a boost in the second half, which enabled us to come back.

"In the first half, we just had too many turnovers [12] and got beat on the boards [20-17]. But in the second half, we did a better job in those areas. It's nice to see the guys come back and have an opportunity to win."

Tech trailed 41-30 with 16:07 left after Providence's Sheiku Kabbu drained a short jumper from the wing. But the Hokies then decided to go to their inside game of Carlton Carter and Terry Taylor and it paid off.

Tech went on a 23-5 run over the next eight minutes, taking a 53-46 lead on Carter's basket with 8:15 remaining. The Hokies connected on eight straight shots over that span.

Providence tried to rally. Trailing 61-52 with two minutes to go, the Friars went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to one with 55.9 seconds remaining.

But the Hokies made their free throws down the stretch, connecting on all eight of their attempts in the final 52 seconds.

"I'm glad we came out and played hard," said Carter, who finished with a double-double (16 points and 10 boards). "I think people thought that we wouldn't play hard since we've been eliminated from the Big East tournament. But we've continued to work hard and this is another step in the right direction."

Tech overcame 20 turnovers by shooting 46.7 percent from the floor - including a 66.7 percent clip in the second half. The Hokies also outrebounded the Friars 36-33.

Taylor led the Hokies with 18 points, while Carlos Dixon added 13. Ryan Gomes paced the Friars with 15 points, while John Linehan and Leland Anderson added 14 each. Linehan recorded six assists and five steals and needs just four to become the NCAA's all-time steals leader. He has 373 career steals.

Tech will play its final home game of the season on Wednesday, taking on Rutgers at 7 p.m.