Hokies win fifth straight over Cavs

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Posted 6:10AM on Friday, January 28, 2005

BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA - Unselfish on offense. Relentless on defense. Young, for sure, but learning fast in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and making more noise than anyone really expected they could. Virginia Tech won its fifth straight game Thursday night, using a 23-10 burst to start the second half and the inspiration of almost 10,000 fans to hang on to beat Virginia 79-73 in their first game as ACC rivals. The game was the first between the teams as members of the same conference since 1936-37, when both were in the Southern Conference. Coleman Collins scored 20 points, Carlos Dixon 16 and Zabian Dowdell and Deron Washington had 14 each in the blowout that got real close late. Virginia (10-7, 1-6) rallied from 16 points down to within 74-71 in the final two minutes, but two turnovers by the Cavaliers sealed their fate, sending embattled coach Pete Gillen's team to its fifth loss in six games. The ending was more exciting than it should have been, Virginia silencing the crowd with a 17-6 run and slowly chipping away at the lead. ``I hate that. That's not our game,'' Jamon Gordon said of the Hokies (11-6, 4-2) letting a 16-point lead with 11:28 left shrink to three. ``I'll stick with the close games. We don't know what to do with a big lead.'' But they know what to do with a small one, and showed it. The victory was the fifth in a row for the surprising Hokies, who won the ACC football title but were expected to be rudely welcomed into the bottom of the league in basketball after moving over from the Big East. Instead, they moved into a tie with No. 5 Wake Forest for third with their victory and the Demon Deacons' loss to No. 22 Georgia Tech. The only teams ahead of them in the ACC are No. 2 Duke and No. 3 North Carolina. Their four consecutive ACC wins have come by a total of 10 points. But things can change quickly, coach Seth Greenberg said. ``To win four games in a row in this league is not an easy thing. The reward for this is to get Duke Sunday an angry Duke,'' the second-year coach said. ``I mean, that'll humble you in a heartbeat.'' The Blue Devils had climbed to No. 2 in the polls and were unbeaten until they lost at home against Maryland on Wednesday night. The Hokies refused to let the same thing happen to them. ``There are three things that let you win on the road: you've got to take care of the ball, you've got to rebound and you've got to make your free throws,'' Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. ``We did one of those.'' The Cavaliers outrebounded the Hokies 38-25, but had 22 turnovers 11 of them steals by Virginia Tech and were 10-for-17 from the line. The Hokies converted the turnovers into 18 points. Devin Smith led the Cavaliers with 24 points and Elton Brown had 19 and 15 rebounds. Roanoke native J.R. Reynolds had 10 in the second half, but a turnover he made erased Virginia's best chance to tie it. Smith hit four 3-pointers and was open in the left corner when Reynolds threw a bullet pass his way with the Cavaliers down 74-71, but the ball went through Smith's hands. Virginia scored just once more. ``I think I just threw it a little bit too hard,'' Reynolds said. The game was the 119th between the schools, and just the second win for the Hokies in the last eight meetings.