Virginia Tech vs Penn State Recap

Virginia Tech 66, Penn State 64

The Virginia Tech Hokies know how the Penn State Nittany Lions are feeling right now. They don't care, and frankly, they shouldn't.

Coach Seth Greenberg's group is all too familiar with the pain of a one-possession loss, so after escaping University Park, Pa., with a two-point triumph in a non-conference clash, the Hokies will give thanks that they emerged on the sunshine side of a basketball divide.

In March of 2008, Virginia Tech's hardwood heroes missed out on the NCAA Tournament by one basket, as a Tyler Hansbrough jump shot at the horn lifted North Carolina to a 68-66 win over the Hokies in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. A win in that game would have, by all accounts, punched the Gobblers a ticket to the Big Dance, but the dagger from Hansbrough - a college basketball legend - denied Tech its trip to paradise.

And then came last season.

In the 2008-09 campaign, Virginia Tech would become even more intimately associated with close-shave soul crushers. The Hokies lost five games by one possession, as a steady stream of stomach punches pulverized a team's sense of confidence. Again and again, the Hokies would pick themselves off the mat, only to be floored by more instances of last-minute mayhem.

Xavier beat last year's Hokie squad with a halfcourt heave at the buzzer in overtime.

Wisconsin toppled Tech with a tip-in at the end of the game.

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Georgia nipped Team Greenberg by one point on a basket with 28.3 seconds left in regulation.

Boston College humbled the Hokies on a stickback bucket with four tenths of a second remaining on the clock.

Florida State stopped them by two points on a basket with six seconds left.

If Virginia Tech didn't have bad luck, it would have had any luck at all. Needless to say, this new Hokie team had to learn how to pull close games out of the fire, one way or another. Losing one-possession pulse-pounders simply isn't an optional matter for the 2009-10 Virginia Tech team.

With the past as prelude, then, excuse the Hokies if they don't shed tears for a valiant Penn State squad that outfought Tech on the boards (winning 39-34 on the glass and grabbing most loose balls) but suffered at the foul line. Pardon Seth Greenberg if he displays little sympathy for PSU star Talor Battle, who led all scorers with 32 points only to go 3-of-10 from the charity stripe. Allow Malcolm Delaney - the Hokie guard who led the visitors with 27 points in Happy Valley - to exult in the wake of this result, instead of lamenting the fate of the gallant but gutted Nittany Lions and coach Ed DeChellis.

No, there won't be tears or regrets from Virginia Tech on this plane flight back to Blacksburg, Va. For once, the Hokie hoopsters have claimed a close one. If they can repeat this high-wire act with equal amounts of success, the boys from VPI will quite literally experience a "Hokie High" as this basketball season develops.

By: Matt Zemek
ACC Fans Staff Writer