Tech plays like a team on a mission in NIT opener

BLACKSBURG — A short span in the first half of Virginia Tech’s 81-61 win over Quinnipiac on Wednesday in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament provided all the evidence needed about where the Hokies’ heads were.

Nobody would have blamed Tech’s players for playing uninspired basketball, considering the letdown they suffered Sunday evening when they found out their season, which was by most accounts great, wasn’t good enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament.

An NIT letdown was expected. That’s not what happened.

During that brief spurt in the first half, guard Dorenzo Hudson chased down Bobcats guard James Feldeine, who was going up for a fast break layup, and swatted away the ball. Malcolm Delaney, Hudson’s backcourt mate, chased after it and jumped press row trying to save it from going out of bounds.

Uninspired? Hardly.

“When I think about the play where Zo busts his tail back and blocks a fast break and Malcolm’s diving over the … table to try to save the ball, that’s why it hurt so much for me for them on Sunday, because that’s who they are, and I told them before the game, ‘If you are who I know you are, then you’ll come out and play hard,’” Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

The Hokies blitzed the Bobcats, shooting 45.3 percent and out-rebounding them 42-30, to advance to the NIT’s second round, where they will host Connecticut on Monday at 7 p.m. in a game televised nationally on ESPN.

Tech improved to 24-8, just one win off of tying the single-season record (25-10 in 1994-95). It won 10 games in ACC play this season. The pundits had a point in criticizing its non-conference schedule, which was the reason it isn’t playing in the Big Dance, but naturally the Hokies think that’s a bunch of nonsense.

Their only recourse is to continue playing at a high level and prove to the doubters that they can beat quality teams.

Quinnipiac didn’t exactly fit that bill — it finished 101 in the RPI — but Tech will have plenty of opportunities to beat big time opponents if it continues to run through the NIT field.

“I feel like we’ve got something to prove, because I feel like we should have been in the tournament. … Sunday and Monday was kind of down for the team, but I feel like we did a pretty good job of bouncing back today and just going out and playing hard,” Hudson said.

Tech’s next game will be against a Connecticut team that itself seemed NCAA tournament-worthy before a late-season slide. The Huskies, who beat NCAA tournament teams Notre Dame, Texas and Villanova this season, have something to prove as well.

It’ll be tough topping the Hokies in the motivation category, however.

“We did so much (to earn a spot in the NCAAs),” said Delaney, who had 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists (no turnovers) and two steals. “I just hate when people say the schedule we played and basically 10 wins (in the ACC) was nothing, and 23 wins (overall in the regular season) was nothing.

“I heard a comment, ‘If you’re not in the NCAA tournament, then your team just can’t play.’ That’s disrespectful to our program and to our team, and I think we’re just going to take that stuff in and just play.”

Tech had a rough couple of days in the aftermath of its NCAA tournament snub, but the players said they didn’t hang their heads. They went to practice and competed as hard as they did all season, maybe even harder.

The results showed against Quinnipiac (23-10), which won the Northeast Conference regular-season title and was making its first Division I postseason appearance.

“Right now, we’re just a little down,” said Hudson, who had 19 points. “We just want to keep practice competitive, keep some fire up under us and try to keep everything going and just try to execute in practice and try to do the best we can.”

The Hokies, who are in the NIT for the third straight year, missed out on going to New York City, site of the NIT’s semifinals and championship, the previous two years.

They’ve made playing in Madison Square Garden their ultimate goal now.

“We’re trying to win every game we can, and we want to win a championship,” Delaney said. “We didn’t get a chance to go to the NCAAs, but we still have a chance to win a championship.”

-Read Warters’ blog at http://www.mynewsadvance.com and follow him on Twitter at @nathanwarters.

QUINNIPIAC (23-10)

Rutty 10-13 2-2 22, Cruz 3-5 0-2 6, J.Johnson 5-17 4-4 17, J.Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Feldeine 0-5 0-0 0, Twyman 1-8 0-0 3, D.Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Tarca 0-0 0-0 0, May-Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Light 1-2 0-0 2, E.Baker 0-2 2-2 2, Bogdan 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson 3-6 1-2 7. Totals 24-63 9-12 61.

VIRGINIA TECH (24-8)

Allen 2-8 2-3 6, Bell 2-4 0-0 5, Davila 4-5 1-3 9, Hudson 5-17 7-12 19, Delaney 9-15 3-4 25, Raines 2-2 0-0 4, Green 0-3 0-0 0, Witcher 1-2 0-0 2, Atkins 1-1 0-0 2, Debnam 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 3-5 3-4 9. Totals 29-64 16-26 81.

Halftime—Virginia Tech 39-27. 3-Point Goals—Quinnipiac 4-15 (J.Johnson 3-9, Twyman 1-1, Bogdan 0-1, D.Johnson 0-1, Feldeine 0-3), Virginia Tech 7-20 (Delaney 4-8, Hudson 2-7, Bell 1-2, Allen 0-1, Green 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Quinnipiac 30 (Rutty 7), Virginia Tech 42 (Allen 9). Assists—Quinnipiac 13 (J.Johnson 8), Virginia Tech 20 (Bell, Delaney 6). Total Fouls—Quinnipiac 17, Virginia Tech 12. A—5,264.