Virginia Tech 63, UT-Chattanooga 59
by Chris James, TechSideline.com, 12/2/04

Blacksburg, VA -- The Virginia Tech Hokies survived a stern test from visiting Tennessee-Chattanooga Tuesday night at Cassell Coliseum, downing the Mocs 63-59 in a game that was not decided until the final minute of play. The Hokies were led in scoring with 19 points from sophomore guard Zabian Dowdell, who hit a key three-pointer late in the game to push Tech's lead from 57-55 to 60-55.

UTC's Alphonso Pugh hit a layup with 4:10 to play in the game, putting UTC up 55-51, and things didn’t look good for the Hokies at all. The layup by Pugh capped a 12-2 run by the Mocs. However, Tech rallied behind freshman forward Deron Washington and Dowdell. With 3:56 to go in the game, Washington rebounded a miss by Tech guard Marquie Cooke and scored on a put back to pull the Hokies within 2. In Tech’s next possession, Washington tipped in a miss by Dowdell to tie the game.

Dowdell was the next Tech player to step up, scoring the Hokies’ last 8 points of the game. With 1:16 remaining, Dowdell went to the free throw line with the score still tied at 55. He hit both free throws, and after a UTC turnover, he hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 24 seconds remaining in the game. Dowdell went on to hit 3 more free throws to preserve the win for the Hokies.

The game was tight for all 40 minutes, with the largest margin being a 31-24 lead by Tech with 2:05 remaining in the first half on a jumper by Dowdell. UTC rallied to cut the lead to 1 with 7 seconds remaining in the half, but Jamon Gordon hit a jumper as time expired to give the Hokies momentum and a 3 point lead heading into intermission.

For the 3rd time in 4 games, Virginia Tech was dominated on the boards, being outrebounded by UTC 49-28. Of Virginia Tech’s 28 rebounds, 9 were by Deron Washington, and 7 were listed as team rebounds. The other 8 Tech players who saw minutes in this game combined for just 12 rebounds. Despite grabbing 17 offensive rebounds, UTC was only able to convert them into 15 points. The best the Hokies have managed to do this season in rebounding was against Maryland-Eastern Shore, when Tech and UMES battled to a draw in rebounding.

Despite being outrebounded, the Hokies did what they do best…force turnovers and protect the basketball. Tech forced UTC into 22 turnovers and scored 29 points off of them. The Hokies turned the ball over only 8 times. Tech won the points off turnovers battle 29-8, including a whopping 19-2 in the first half.

Besides the aforementioned Dowdell and Washington, Tech also got solid contributions from guards Jamon Gordon and Marquie Cooke. Gordon scored 12 points, dished out 5 assists, blocked 2 shots and had 4 steals. Cooke scored 3 points, had 3 assists and had a steal, and committed only 1 turnover. Despite not having flashy stats, Cooke played with poise, played good defense, and passed the ball extremely well.

With the loss, UTC falls to 2-2 on the season. The Hokies improve to 4-0, and will travel to Lexington, VA this Saturday to take on VMI. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 pm, and the game will be televised by CSN.

 

CHATTANOOGA (59)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
A Pugh              37   5-8   2-6   1-7   2   3   12
M Katelynas         30   3-8   2-2  6-16   1   2    8
C Brown             35   3-7   4-5   2-4   3   2   11
S Cherry            30  4-11   1-2   2-6   1   1   11
C Long              30   4-9   5-6   2-9   3   4   14
J Crouch             9   0-2   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
K Hunt               3   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   1    0
R Hood              13   1-3   0-0   0-2   0   1    3
A Mastin             1   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   1    0
M Malone             6   0-2   0-0   0-0   2   2    0
C Anderson           6   0-0   0-0   0-1   0   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 20-52 14-21 13-45  12  17   59
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.385, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
5-21, .238 (A Pugh 0-2, C Brown 1-2, S Cherry
2-5, C Long 1-6, J Crouch 0-1, K Hunt 0-1, R 
Hood 1-2, A Mastin 0-1, M Malone 0-1). Team 
Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 2 (M Katelynas, C
Brown). Turnovers: 22 (A Pugh 6, C Long 4, R 
Hood 3, M Katelynas 3, C Brown 2, S Cherry 2,
J Crouch, K Hunt). Steals: 5 (C Long 3, R 
Hood, M Katelynas).

VIRGINIA TECH (63)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
D Washington        26   5-6   1-2   4-9   0   4   11
C Dixon             24  1-13   4-4   0-0   1   3    6
C Collins           35   3-7   2-4   3-4   0   3    9
Z Dowdell           36  6-15   5-6   1-2   2   1   19
J Gordon            40  5-12   0-0   0-3   5   2   12
S Harris             6   1-3   0-0   0-0   0   3    3
R Krabbendam         5   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
M Cooke             24   1-5   0-0   0-2   3   3    3
A Calloway           4   0-0   0-0   0-1   0   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 22-61 12-16  8-21  11  19   63
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.361, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
7-28, .250 (C Dixon 0-6, C Collins 1-1, Z 
Dowdell 2-9, J Gordon 2-6, S Harris 1-2, M 
Cooke 1-4). Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked Shots: 
3 (J Gordon 2, C Collins). Turnovers: 8 (C 
Dixon 2, Z Dowdell 2, D Washington 2, J 
Gordon, M Cooke). Steals: 14 (Z Dowdell 4, J 
Gordon 4, D Washington 2, C Dixon, M Cooke, S
Harris, C Collins).


-----------------------------------
CHATTANOOGA          30  29   -  59
VIRGINIA TECH        33  30   -  63
----------------------------------- 

Technical fouls: None. A: 8,855. Officials: Karl 
Hess, Mike Wood, Ray Natili


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