Deron Washington AD Vassallo Coach Seth Greenberg - HokieSports

Deron
Washington
GAME 33 GAME 34
Virginia Tech 54, Illinois 52
March 16, 2007 • Columbus, Ohio
Southern Illinois 63, Virginia Tech 48
March 18, 2007 • Columbus, Ohio
Despite trailing by as many as 12 points with a
little over eight minutes to play, the Virginia Tech men’s
basketball team rallied and scored the final 12 points
of the game en route to a hard-fought 54-52 victory
over Illinois in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at
Nationwide Arena.
Tech won its first NCAA Tournament game since
knocking off Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1996 in a firstround
game played at Reunion Arena in Dallas.
Tech trailed 52-42 after Illinois’ Brian Randle scored
with 4:27 left. But Deron Washington’s 3-pointer with
from the corner with 4:18 to go started the Hokies’
game-ending surge. Washington scored eight points in
that 12-0 run, including another 3-pointer and a jumper
from inside of the free-throw line that he banked off
the glass. That jumper gave Tech a 53-52 lead with 45.5
seconds left in the game.
The Hokies took a 54-52 lead when A.D. Vassallo
make the second of two free-throw attempts with 23.1
seconds to go. Illinois called timeout with 17 seconds
left to set up a final attempt, and Randle misfired
on a 3-pointer with seven seconds to go. He got the
rebound and was fouled by Washington with four ticks
left.
Randle stepped up to the line and clanked the oneand-one.
A wild scramble ensued for the rebound and
Coleman Collins tied up Randle in a loose ball situation
with under a second remaining. The possession arrow
favored the Hokies, who inbounded the ball and ran
out the clock for the victory.
The 54 points marked the fewest by Tech in an
NCAA Tournament game and Tech’s lowest output
of the season, and the shooting percentage was the
Hokies’ third-worst of the year. The 52 points allowed by
Tech were the second-fewest allowed by the Hokies in
NCAA Tournament play.
Virginia Tech’s NCAA Tournament run came to an
end as Southern Illinois used a big run at the end of
the first half to take the lead and never trailed again,
knocking off the Hokies 63-48 in a second-round game
played at Nationwide Arena.
The loss marked the end of an incredible season
for the Hokies, who finished with a 22-12 overall mark.
They fell to 6-8 all time in the NCAA Tournament.
The Hokies looked to be in good shape toward
making a Sweet 16 appearance midway through the
first half. Tech took an 18-15 lead on a 3-pointer by
Jamon Gordon with 5:50 left in the half, but Southern
Illinois dominated the rest of the half. The Salukis,
thanks to some sharp shooting by guard Jamaal Tatum,
closed out the half with a 13-2 run to take a 28-20 lead
at the break. Tatum drilled three 3-pointers in that run,
while the Salukis’ defense held the Hokies at bay with
Tech making just one of its final eight shots in the half.
Tatum got the Salukis going again in the second
half. He opened the half with a 3-pointer that gave SIU
an 11-point lead and the Hokies got no closer than
seven the rest of the game. Tatum led the Salukis with a
game-high 21 points, hitting 7-of-15 from the floor and
6-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Tech struggled to get anything going offensively
against an SIU defense that ranked third in the nation in
scoring defense (56.3 ppg).
Playing in his final collegiate game, Tech guard
Gordon paced the Hokies with 16 points and eight
rebounds, while junior Deron Washington added
15 and five rebounds. Seniors Zabian Dowdell and
Coleman Collins finished with seven and four points,
respectively, with Dowdell scoring just one point in the
second half. Collins fouled out of his final game with
7:50 remaining.
2006-2007 GAME-BY-GAME
Jamon
Gordon
Illinois (23-12)
Player MP FG FT R A PF TP
Carter 34 6-12 2-3 5 2 2 15
Randle 28 3-4 1-5 12 2 4 7
Pruitt 20 3-8 0-0 4 0 4 6
Frazier 36 0-5 0-0 7 6 2 0
McBride 32 4-9 2-4 1 1 4 14
Meacham 13 1-2 1-1 0 0 2 4
Brock 17 0-1 2-2 3 1 1 2
Arnold 20 2-4 0-0 2 0 3 4
Team 3
Totals 200 19-45 8-15 37 12 22 52
Virginia Tech (22-11, 10-6)
Player MP FG FT R A PF TP
Washington 31 5-10 1-2 3 0 4 14
Vassallo 37 3-11 1-2 9 3 3 9
Collins 31 2-4 9-12 3 0 0 13
Dowdell 38 3-9 1-2 2 1 1 8
Gordon 34 2-6 6-9 0 7 3 10
Munson 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Witcher 7 0-1 0-0 2 0 1 0
Sailes 10 0-0 0-1 2 0 0 0
Diakite 9 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Team 1
Totals 200 15-42 18-28 22 11 13 54
Illinois 29 23 — 52
Virginia Tech 21 33 — 54
Halftime: IL 29, VT 21. FG% VT 35.7%, IL 42.2%. 3FG% VT
42.9% (6-of-14), IL 35.3% (6-of-17). FT% VT 64.3%, IL 53.3%.
Turnovers: VT 9 (Dowdell 5), IL 21. Blocked Shots: VT 4
(Washington 2), IL 1. Steals: VT 11 (Gordon 7), IL 3.
Officials: Rose, Vinovich, Thidodeaux.
Attendance: 19,916
Virginia Tech (22-12, 10-6)
Player MP FG FT R A PF TP
Washington 38 6-12 2-4 5 0 4 15
Vassallo 29 0-6 2-2 3 0 3 2
Collins 15 2-2 0-0 3 1 5 4
Dowdell 35 3-9 1-2 4 1 1 7
Gordon 37 7-9 1-5 8 1 2 16
Munson 14 1-4 1-1 0 0 2 3
Witcher 10 0-3 1-2 3 0 1 1
Travis 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sailes 9 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Diakite 9 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0
Tucker 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0
Team 1
Totals 200 19-46 8-16 29 3 21 48
Southern Illinois (29-6)
Player MP FG FT R A PF TP
Falker 34 4-9 2-4 12 3 3 10
Boyle 20 0-1 0-0 3 0 4 0
Tatum 31 7-15 1-3 3 2 3 21
Mullins 35 3-5 4-6 1 3 2 11
Young 36 4-11 5-6 3 0 3 17
Smith 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Bone 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Armstrong 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Acquah 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Coopwood 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Green 24 0-0 0-2 4 2 4 0
Clemmons 13 1-1 1-2 3 0 0 4
Team 1
Totals 200 19-43 13-23 30 11 19 63
Virginia Tech 20 28 — 48
Southern Illinois 28 35 — 63
Halftime: SI 28, VT 20. FG% VT 41.3%, SI 44.2%. 3FG% VT
15.4% (2-of-13), SI 57.1% (12-of-21). FT% VT 50%, SI 56.5%.
Turnovers: VT 11 (Collins 3), SI 9 (Boyle 3). Blocked Shots: VT
2, SI 3 (Falker 3). Steals: VT 3, SI 5 (Falker 3).
Officials: Lopes, Higgins, Rose.
Attendance: 19,916
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2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 8 V I R G I N I A T E C H M E N’ S B A S K E T B A L L