March 8, 2003

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Virginia Tech's season came to a disappointing end as border rival West Virginia went on a 19-4 run to finish the game and knock off the Hokies 71-67 on Saturday in the BIG EAST regular-season finale for both teams in front of 9,503 fans at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.

Going into the game, the Hokies needed a win over the Mountaineers and a loss by Miami on Saturday night to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST tournament since the last-place team in each division fails to make the tournament. But Tech's loss to WVU put an end to any Tech hopes of going to the tournament, and the Hokies finished their season 11-18 overall, 4-12 in the BIG EAST.

"We've given up opportunities our last two games," Tech's Carlos Dixon said. "We basically let Miami walk into the [BIG EAST] tournament. I'm disappointed for the seniors because we didn't make it to the tournament and that was one of our goals. It's just very frustrating to end the season like we did."

The most frustrating thing for Dixon and the Hokies was how they lost to the Mountaineers. Breaking open a close game midway through the second half, Tech went on a 13-0 run and took its biggest lead of the game, 63-52, on a Bryant Matthews' basket with 7:17 left. The Hokies, at that point, appeared to be in control.

But then it all slipped away. West Virginia then went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes as the Hokies missed shot after shot and free throw after free throw. The Mountaineers re-took the lead, 66-65, on two Tyrone Sally free throws with 2:36 left in the game.

West Virginia (14-14, 5-11) expanded the lead to three on a basket by Drew Schifino with 49 seconds left. Tech then called a timeout to set up a shot, but Dixon missed a 3-pointer with 28.1 seconds left. Forced to foul, the Hokies sent Schifino to the line with 23.4 seconds to go and he made one of two, giving WVU a 69-65 lead.

Matthews' follow-up dunk with 8.6 seconds left cut the lead to two. But Schifino hit two more free throws with 7.3 seconds left to give WVU a four-point lead. Tech's Chase then missed lay-up and time ran out as the teams battled for the rebound.

"Obviously, we're disappointed," Tech head coach Ricky Stokes said. "You have to make free throws and you have to make plays down the stretch and we didn't."

Matthews led Tech with a double-double, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds - eight on the offensive end. But the junior went just 7-of-16 from the free-throw line as the Hokies made just 17-of-34 from the stripe for the game.

"To me, that's the key statistic," Stokes said. "The game came down to missed free throws. And any time you're in a close game, you have to make free throws."

Terry Taylor added a double-double as well for Tech, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 boards. Taylor, though, made just 2-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Schifino led WVU with 19 points, while PitTSNogle scored 18. West Virginia shot 55 percent in the second half. In contrast, Tech shot just 34.3 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes and just 36.1 percent for the game.

"We let another one slip away," said Taylor, one of three seniors playing in their last game as a Hokie. "But you've got to live on. Unfortunately, some things aren't destined to happen."