Boston College Eagles @ Virginia Tech Hokies Basketball Recap

Boston College 76, Virginia Tech 61

This is why Virginia Tech was not yet a lock for the NCAA Tournament, despite some people’s pronouncements. If there are any certainties in life beyond death and taxes, it’s Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team remaining on the bubble in the first weeks of March.

Boston College elevated its NCAA Tournament hopes on Tuesday night in Blacksburg, Virginia, by not only defeating Virginia Tech, but walloping them just three days after the Hokies beat top-ranked Duke on the same floor to boost their bubble credentials.

Reggie Jackson scored 20 points for the Eagles, and Corey Raji posted 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Boston College in a season sweep over Seth Greenberg’s squad. The Eagles won the first encounter by two points (58-56) at home, but completing the sweep at Cassell Coliseum by 15 points should give the Eagles and coach Steve Donahue confidence heading home to a final date against the woeful Demon Deacons of Wake Forest.

Virginia Tech led 4-0 before surrendering a 17-2 run to allow the Eagles a 17-6 lead with more than 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Behind Jackson’s hot hand, the Eagles led by as many as 18 before finishing the half leading 35-27. Tech star Malcolm Delaney - on his Senior Night in Blacksburg - started the game slowly, but began the second half with a big three-pointer to cut the Eagles’ lead to five, at 38-33. After a miserable first-half outing for Virginia Tech, it seemed that the Hokies were slowly and steadily reeling in the Eagles, but that’s when the line snapped and one very big ACC fish got away from a team that seems destined to live on the bubble until the very end of the season. That five-point deficit was as close as the Hokies got for the rest of the game. Boston College led by as many as 20 points before a disappointed crowd at Cassell Coliseum, which filed out before the final horn.

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In addition to Jackson and Raji, John Cahill – yes, the son of veteran college basketball official John Cahill – racked up 17 points for the Eagles, and Josh Southern grabbed seven rebounds in a strong defensive effort for Boston College. The Eagles dominated the boards, out-rebounding Virginia Tech 38-22.

Erick Green led Virginia Tech with 21 points, and Delaney chipped in 17 in what was probably his final home game… unless the Hokies fall all the way to the NIT in the next two weeks. Jeff Allen added 14 points. Greenberg’s final regular season task this year will be to defeat an also-hungry Clemson team on the road this Saturday. The Hokies’ hopes for avoiding a fourth straight year of bubble exclusion may depend on it.

After this game, Boston College and Virginia Tech are standing on the fourth to seventh place lines of the ACC standings, with the Hokies leading Clemson (playing at Duke on Wednesday) by a half-game, and the Eagles – one game behind – leading Maryland (at Miami on Wednesday) by another half-game. The fourth seed in the ACC Tournament receives a first-round bye. It will also improve its chances of punching a ticket to the Big Dance, an event that nobody in the ACC’s muddled middle seems to want.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer