Hokies shock Cavs
Matthews propels Tech to first win over rival in more than seven years

BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 22, 2003



Bryant Matthews celebates a dunk in the closing moments of Virginia Tech's 73-55 rout of Virginia. Matthews finished with 30 points.
(AP)
BLACKSBURG - The final horn sounded, and wave after wave after wave of jubilant students stormed the court at Cassell Coliseum for a long-overdue celebration. The party started around 9:30 last night and may still be raging.

Virginia Tech vanquished rival Virginia in men's basketball for the first time in more than seven years, and it did so in stunning fashion. Tech scored the game's final 13 points and humbled the Cavaliers 73-55 before 8,152 fans and an ESPN2 audience.

The Hokies hadn't posted such a one-sided victory over U.Va. since Dec. 10, 1985, when they romped 84-66 in Roanoke.

"It's unexplainable," junior guard Carlos Dixon, who had 15 points for Tech, which outscored Virginia 25-7 in the final 10 minutes.

Unguardable would have been an apt description of Dixon's teammate Bryant Matthews last night. The 6-7 junior from Columbia, S.C., scored a career-high 30 points - 22 in the second half - to lead Tech (8-8). That's the most points by a Hokie since Troy Manns scored 30 against Xavier on March 2, 1997, at Cassell Coliseum.

He made three 3-pointers, but Matthews might have hurt the Cavaliers (10-6) more inside, where he repeatedly scored after posting up shorter defenders. Dixon burned U.Va. in the paint, too.

"Not many college teams have a 6-7 [shooting] guard," said Virginia shooting guard Todd Billet, a 6-0 junior.

A season ago, Tech blew a 19-point lead and had 27 turnovers in a 69-61 loss to U.Va. at University Hall. This time, the Cavaliers couldn't hold on to the ball.

"We knew they didn't like being pressed," said Matthews, who had five of Tech's season-high 16 steals to spark a swarming defense that forced 23 turnovers. Virginia's starting guards, 6-3 Keith Jenifer and Billet, struggled against the long arms and quick feet of Dixon and Matthews, turning over the ball six times apiece.

"You can't have 23 turnovers anywhere and win," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

The Cavaliers have lost three straight games, each defeat coming on the road. They'd won six straight over Tech and 12 of their past 14 meetings, but they crumbled down the stretch last night, scoring only three points in the final six minutes.

U.Va.'s last points came on a trey by Billet that made it 60-55 with 3:20 left. Matthews answered with a slam 12 seconds later, and he dunked twice more for good measure in the final minute.

Senior center Travis Watson, the only Cavalier to score in double figures, had 11 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 1:48 left. Tech senior Terry Taylor outplayed the more heralded Watson, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, four at the offensive end.

The victory was the Hokies' first over the Cavaliers since Dec. 28, 1995. It was also the first for Tech's fourth-year coach, Ricky Stokes, against his alma mater.

"I told him, 'Coach, this is for you. You got 'em,' " Taylor said. "We wanted to get this for him."

A tip-in by reserve center Nick Vander Laan gave U.Va. a 46-43 lead with 12:20 left, but the Hokies responded with an 11-4 run. They took the lead for good on reserve guard Eric Branham's two free throws with 9:54 left.

With 5 minutes remaining, though, Tech's lead was only four, and Virginia hadn't conceded. But the Cavs' comeback hopes absorbed a huge blow when 6-9 sophomore Elton Brown missed a point-blank shot after catching a deft pass from point guard Majestic Mapp, who sparkled in his six minutes off the bench. Tech quickly stretched its lead to eight following Brown's miss.

"That was a big play in the game," Gillen said. "I thought we had an opportunity in the second half, shots in the lane, and we didn't convert."

Tech led by 10 with 13:25 left in the first half, but Virginia ran off 11 straight points to take its first lead. The Cavaliers led 30-29 at the break.

<a href='http://www.thesabre.com/message_board/basketball/?PHPSESSID=4e9e67bfc1b7aed73ba29073902d5e64' target='_blank'>They seem to be lighting a few matches over here....</a>

Gillen should already be on the hot seat. In fact, he should already be gone.
All that money and that long term contract, and for what? No post-season wins, two home losses in the first round of the NIT, a first round loss in his only NCAA.
Whatever it would cost to buy him out, it would be worth it. His teams play no defense and have no idea what to do in the half court.
Get rid of him.

I say keep his ice. They are going down the toilet faster than when Jeff Jones was there.

HOKIES SUCK PERIOD !!!