Hokie ClubCORAL GABLES, Fla. – In its regular-season finale, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team fell on the road to Miami in a close one, 69-68, inside the Watsco Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Hokies (21-10, 10-8 ACC) finished the year with five ACC wins on the road, a program best, while the Hurricanes (22-8, 11-7 ACC) won their fourth straight game.
Junior Justin Robinson registered a team-high 18 points and six assists, junior Chris Clarke picked up where he left off from earlier in the week versus No. 5 Duke with 10 points and five rebounds and redshirt sophomore Kerry Blackshear Jr. tallied 11 points and five rebounds, giving the Hokies three players in double figures.
Tech started the game strong, going up 10-2 in the opening minutes behind Blackshear and Robinson getting to the charity stripe. Miami fought back and cut the deficit to three points following a dunk by Lonnie Walker IV at 21-18, but redshirt junior Ahmed Hill found his groove from downtown and nailed back-to-back triples, extending the Hokies' lead to nine points at the 6:14 mark.
Redshirt freshman Tyrie Jackson completed a put-back with a minute left before intermission, giving Tech a 39-32 lead heading into the locker room. It fell to 18-2 when owning the lead at halftime this season.
The Hurricanes began the second half with an 18-5 run, gaining a six-point advantage the first five minutes. Robinson answered with a trey and a layup to tie it at 54-all, though, at the 10-minute mark.
Miami's Dejan Vasiljevic got hot for a moment, scoring eight points in a two-minute span to give the U its biggest lead of the day with eight minutes to go. The Hokies responded with forcing a four-minute scoring drought from the 'Canes to cut it to a two-point game at 64-62.
Tied at 68-68 with 12 seconds remaining, Miami's Chris Lykes got fouled on a drive to the basket and the freshman hit a free throw to seal the win.
NOTES
• With the conclusion of the regular season, Tech recorded a winning ACC record for the third consecutive season, marking the first time Tech has accomplished the feat since joining the ACC in the 2004-05 season
• It also finished the year with a winning home record and a winning road record in the same season for the first time since joining the ACC.
• Robinson made three shots from downtown, his seventh game this season of making three or more 3-pointers. The Manassas, Virginia native hit at least one 3-pointer in 16 of 18 ACC games.
• The Hokies outscored the 'Canes 28-20 in the paint and transition, too, with a 12-7 advantage.
• Hill's two 3-pointers were his most since over a month, when he hit two 3s against Boston College on Feb. 1.
STAT OF THE GAME
• The Hokies were 4-0 in games decided by five or fewer points coming into Saturday's games, until the Hurricanes squeaked out the win in the final seconds, giving Miami the sweep on the year as the two faced each other on Feb. 3 in Blacksburg.
TWEET OF THE DAY
BACK. TO. BACK. AHMED. HILL. FROM. DOWN. TOWN. 👌
— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 3, 2018
WHAT IS NEXT
• Tech will take off to the 2018 ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, with its first game being played on Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. It will play either 10th-seeded Notre Dame or 15th-seeded Pittsburgh.