You can shoot poorly from the floor. You can not get the calls from the refs. But you can't do both.
The Hokies had a chance to take the lead in the ACC standings Sunday night, but fell to the Blue Devils primarily because they were completely neutralized inside by Duke's Kyle Singler and Brian Zoubek. Tech settled for jump shots all night against Duke because the Blue Devils it from penetrating the paint or getting foul calls on drives and it cost it. The Hokies were also out-rebounded by nine as Singler and Zoubek combined for 26 boards.
Tech made only nine of the 28 jump shots it took according to SCACC's stats. But while the Hokies played good defense and held Duke to only 29 percent from the floor, the Blue Devils were able to get to the line and converted on 21 of 26 free throws.
We knew going in this was going to be a tough game for Tech to win. Duke wasn't that impressive, but was impressive when it counted and got a key league win. Now the Hokies have to focus on not letting Duke beat them twice. The disappointment from their loss in Durham can't carry over against one of the league's worst teams in Boston College.
Lose to BC and all of a sudden the Hokies will again be on the brink of missing the tournament and again face questions about their poor finishes in recent years. They can't let this loss snowball, they can only go out, take care of business and get a key road win before returning to the Cassell.
While the game against Duke was ugly and the loss was disappointing, this team has to move on or they could be sweating it out again on Selection Sunday.
