Va. Tech men play at VMI’s pace, roll to 25-point win

BLACKSBURG — If you ask Virginia Tech guard Dorenzo Hudson, playing at VMI’s frenzied pace isn’t so bad.

Keeping up with the Keydets and their run-and-gun style was no big deal for the junior, who had a career high 24 points and seven rebounds in the Hokies’ 98-73 win Wednesday night at Cassell Coliseum.

He helped Tech (7-1) win its fourth straight game and continue its best start since the 1995-96 season when it won 12 of its first 13.

“I like playing a fast-paced game, and I think it helped me out a whole lot because all we had to do was break their (full-court) press a little bit and find open guys and shoot layups and pull ups,” Hudson said.

Hudson, whose previous career highs were 15 points and six rebounds, had 19 points and six boards in the first half.

He and forward Jeff Allen (season-high 24 points, 13 rebounds) carried the offensive load for the Hokies. They are the first two Tech players other than Malcolm Delaney to top the 20-point mark this season.

Allen recorded his second double-double of the season. Sophomore forward Victor Davila (season-high 13 points, 10 rebounds) had the first double-double of his career.

Those offensive breakouts helped offset a bad night for Delaney, who was bothered by a jammed thumb on his right hand and was held to a season-low nine points.

“I don’t have to score every night,” Delaney said. “I’m not worried about it. I don’t care if I had an off night. Jeff and Dorenzo stepped up and scored some points.”

Hudson’s impact not only came on offense. He helped limit Keydets leading scorer Keith Gabriel to only two points.

The Hokies held Gabriel, who was averaging four 3-pointers a game, to no long range shots on six attempts.

“We just wanted to make him drive, because he shoots 11 or 12 (actually 10) 3s a game, so we just wanted to make him a driver, and when we made him a driver, he kind of turned it over and traveled about six or seven times in a row,” Hudson said of Gabriel, who turned the ball over four times. “When we did that, we kind of got in his head a little bit.”

Tech held the sharp-shooting Keydets (4-4) to season lows in 3-pointers (eight) and 3-point attempts (25) and forced them to take more inside shots than they would have liked.

“Teams in our league (Big South) try to do that and we can finish at the rim if they get out and crowd us,” VMI coach Duggar Baucom said. “We like 3s, but we love layups, so we’ll shoot layups with teams in our league, but if you go in there and try to finish against those ACC guys, it’s a little different beast.”

The Hokies, who visit Penn State on Saturday, finished with season highs in blocked shots (15) and rebounds (59). Twenty-seven of those boards came on the offensive end.

“That team is extremely difficult to prepare for,” Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. “It goes against every defensive principle that we have. … We accomplished a lot of things, but I’m going to continue to keep challenging these guys, because to beat a Penn State, we need to be better.”