Duke 100, Virginia Tech 65
by Stefan Adams, TechSideline.com, 1/30/05

Durham, NC - One reason the Virginia Tech men's basketball team has been able to surprise many basketball followers around the country with its recent five-game win streak is because the Hokie starters have been contributing from start to finish. However, that was not the case in the Hokies' 100-65 loss to the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils in Durham N.C. The loss brings the Hokies to 11-7 and 4-3 in the ACC, while Duke remains atop the standings at 16-1 and 6-1 in the conference.

Duke jumped out to a 9-2 lead 2:43 into the ball game and before they knew it, the Hokies were in severe foul trouble. At 15:43 in the first half, Tech freshman Deron Washington picked up his third foul. The floodgates never closed with respect to the fouls; by the end of the first half, Tech had committed 22 personal fouls, and four of Tech’s starters had at least two fouls.

That forced head coach Seth Greenberg to rely on a makeshift lineup for the rest of the game. Shawn Harris, Robert Krabbendam, Jeff King, Chris Tucker and Wynton Witherspoon played a significant amount of minutes for the Hokies.

Playing with an altered lineup, the Hokies were never able to establish a commanding presence on the floor that would have allowed them to get back into the ball game. The backups hung with Duke for a while, but the Blue Devils finished the first half on a 17-2 run to give them a 56-31 lead.

The Hokies opened the second half with an 11-4 run behind six points from Coleman Collins. Just 48 seconds into the second half, Tech’s lone senior, Carlos Dixon, made a layup and hit the deck hard, injuring his right arm. Dixon lay on the floor for several minutes and the training staff used his jersey as a makeshift sling to get him to the locker room.

After that, the Blue Devils mounted a 36-14 run that was highlighted by consecutive three point jumpers by J.J. Redick and Sean Dockery. The Blue Devils officially closed the door on any hopes of a Virginia Tech comeback, and Seth Greenberg was called for his second technical foul of the game with 4:50 remaining, forcing him to leave the floor, but not before he exchanged words with an official and what appeared to be a Duke fan.

Dixon was taken for X-rays, which were negative, and Dixon was able to return to the ball game, but his stint did not last long. He returned quickly to the bench, and the training staff iced his arm for the remainder of the ball game. He added two points in just eight minutes.

Zabian Dowdell led the Hokies with 15 points and King had eight rebounds to tie Coleman Collins for the team lead in that department. Against Virginia last Thursday, the Hokies only had six scorers, compared to having nine players notch points against Duke. For the game, the Hokies committed 34 fouls, sending Duke to the free throw line 49 times (35 in the first half). Redick surprisingly missed three free throws for Duke; he had been sporting a 95% average from the line coming into the contest.

Harris and Jamon Gordon were the two Hokies to foul out of the competition. Collins, King and Dixon played the majority of the game in foul trouble.

Redick led the Blue Devils with 29 points and Sheldon Williams, who dominated inside the paint, had his 29th career double-double, scoring 25 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.

The Hokies (11-7, 4-3 ACC) will return to Blacksburg, only to turn around and fly to Miami (13-6, 4-4) for a matchup against the Hurricanes on Wednesday night. (The game will not be televised.) Tech returns back to Cassell Coliseum on Saturday, February 5 for a date with Wake Forest.


VIRGINIA TECH (65)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
D Washington        26   1-5   4-4   1-3   1   2    6
C Dixon              8   1-2   0-0   0-1   0   4    2
C Collins           21   3-9   5-6   4-8   0   3   11
Z Dowdell           35  7-19   0-0   1-3   2   2   15
J Gordon             8   3-5   1-2   0-0   1   5    8
S Harris            29   4-6   0-0   2-6   1   5    8
W Witherspoon       13   0-3   1-5   0-1   0   1    1
R Krabbendam         3   1-1   1-2   0-0   0   0    3
M Cooke             30   2-6   0-0   2-3   2   2    5
A Calloway           2   0-1   0-0   1-3   0   2    0
J King              14   2-7   2-4   3-8   1   4    6
C Tucker            11   0-0   0-0   0-1   0   3    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 24-64 14-23 14-37   8  33   65
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.375, FT-.609.
3-Point Goals: 3-10, .300 (Z Dowdell 1-4, J Gordon 1-1, W 
Witherspoon 0-2, M Cooke 1-2, J King 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 5.
Blocked Shots: 1 (C Collins).
Turnovers: 16 (M Cooke 4, Z Dowdell 2, J Gordon 2, J King 2,
D Washington 2, C Dixon, R Krabbendam, W Witherspoon, S Harris).
Steals: 9 (Z Dowdell 2, D Washington 2, M Cooke 2, C Dixon,
W Witherspoon, S Harris).


DUKE (100)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
L Melchionni        26   1-4   1-2   1-6   1   2    3
S Randolph          12   0-1   3-6   1-2   0   5    3
S Williams          35  9-13  7-13  5-17   3   3   25
J Redick            36  8-19  7-10   1-3   0   0   29
D Ewing             29  6-12   2-3   1-3   2   4   17
S Dockery           25   5-9   3-4   1-1   3   4   14
D Nelson            23   1-5   3-7   2-4   2   1    5
R Perkins            1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
P Davidson           1   0-0   2-2   0-0   0   0    2
J Pagliuca           1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
T Novick             1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
P Johnson           10   0-0   2-2   4-6   3   1    2
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 30-63 30-49 16-42  14  20  100
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.476, FT-.612.
3-Point Goals: 10-26, .385 (L Melchionni 0-3, S Randolph 
0-1, J Redick 6-11, D Ewing 3-7, S Dockery 1-3, D Nelson 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 0.
Blocked Shots:  0.
Turnovers: 10 (S Dockery 3, D Ewing 2, J Redick 2,
L Melchionni 2, D Nelson).
Steals: 10 (S Dockery 3, D Nelson 3, S Williams 2, L Melchionni 2).


-----------------------------------
VIRGINIA TECH        31  34   -  65
DUKE                 56  44   -  100
----------------------------------- 

Technical fouls: Virginia Tech 1 (Team). A: 9,314.
Officials: Duke Edsall, Steve Gordon, Terry Moore


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