March 1, 2003

Brian Chase, getting the start on Senior Day, buried four 3-pointers and scored 12 points as Virginia Tech took a step closer toward the BIG EAST tournament with an 88-63 rout of Villanova on Saturday afternoon in front of 3,079 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

With the win, Tech - which beat Villanova for the first time (0-5) - improved to 11-16 on the season, 4-10 in the BIG EAST, and snapped a five-game losing streak. Tech and Miami were tied for last place in the East Division heading into Saturday's match-ups, but the Hokies moved into sixth place pending Miami's game with BC later in the day. The last-place team in each division stays home for the tournament. Meanwhile, Villanova fell to 15-12, 8-6.

"It's been an up-and-down season for us," said Chase, the senior point guard from Washington, D.C. "But there's light at the end of the tunnel. We can still accomplish our goal of getting to the BIG EAST tournament. If we take care of our last two, we're there."

The Hokies got off to a slow start in this one, hitting just one basket in the first six minutes of the game. But Tech rallied to take a three-point lead at halftime and then blew the game wide open with a huge spurt to start the second half.

Tech opened the final 20 minutes with a 27-6 run, scoring on 12 of its first 15 possessions. Chase hit two 3-pointers in that span, and Bryant Matthews scored six of his game-high 21 points during that time period as well to lead the Hokies.

Both Matthews and center Terry Taylor finished with double-doubles. Matthews had 11 rebounds, while Taylor finished with 15 points and 10 boards. The double-double for Taylor marked his team-leading seventh, while Matthews has four now on the season.

Villanova struggled from the floor the entire day as Tech turned it up on the defensive end. The Wildcats - playing their third game in five days - shot just 34.7 percent from the floor and got outrebounded 50-34. Derrick Snowden led Villanova with 11 points.

"This was just a great team victory for us," Tech head coach Ricky Stokes said. "On Senior Day, there's a lot of emotions and you never know how the kids will play. We got off to a slow start, but I thought we were patient on offense and aggressive on defense and I give our seniors a lot of credit. It was great sending them out with a win."

Tech, which shot 46.8 percent from the floor, got an emotional lift from Carlos Dixon, who had missed the previous four games with a broken bone in his left foot. Dixon played eight minutes against Villanova, scoring three points, and he'll see more time as the Hokies close out the season.

Tech held Senior Day on Saturday to allow the families of Tech's seniors - Chase, Taylor and Eric Branham - to make the trip to Blacksburg. Tech's final home game is next Wednesday when Miami comes to town. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.