November 18, 2000

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's basketball team opened the 2000-2001 season in impressive fashion Saturday afternoon, with a 92-68 victory over VMI.

Three freshmen provided the bulk of the scoring for Tech with forward Carlos Dixon (China Grove, N.C.) leading all scorers with 21. Dixon was 4-of-5 from three-point-land and collected six rebounds. Chris Exilus (Toronto, Canada) played all but three minutes in the game and provided the Hokies with 20 points, six assists and four rebounds. The last of the three starting freshmen, Bryant Matthews (Columbia, S.C.), finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Junior Dennis Mims (Morganton, N.C.) also had a standout performance. Mims recorded his tenth career double/double with his 17 point, 14 rebound effort Saturday. Mims also added two blocked shots and an assist to his game totals.

Leading the way for the Keydets was Eric Mann. Mann led all VMI scorers with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Daron Pressley also had 15 points for the Keydets..

The Hokies took advantage of their size down low with Mims and junior Jon Smith (Beckley, W.V.). Forty of Tech's points came in the paint, while VMI could only manage 18. The Hokies out rebounded the Keydets 59 to 32 in the game.

Tech took advantage of a 25-4 run that started at the beginning of the second half and stretched until the 11:37 mark. During the run Tech took advantage of hot shooting from Dixon, who knocked down three three-pointers to put the Hokies up 70-35 at the end of the run. Mims also provided Tech with six points during the run.

Tech shot 41 percent from the field for the game, while VMI shot 26 percent. Tech had 20 turnovers in the contest and the Keydets had 19.

Tech had not scored 90-plus points in a game since Mar. 1 1999, when they defeated La Salle in overtime by the score of 96-86. The last time the Hokies scored 90-plus points in regulation was Feb. 28, 1998, when they defeated Duquesne, 93-79.

Tech will be back in action Monday when they host William & Mary at 7:00 p.m.