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Bulkier Rebels roll over Hokies

March 27, 2008 12:15 am

BY JIM McCONNELL

BLACKSBURG--

Virginia Tech's defense and rebounding, which had fueled the Hokies' dramatic late-season improvement, were no match for a bigger, stronger and more opportunistic Mississippi squad.

And unlike with Virginia Tech's last two victims, the Hokies' game-opening 12-3 run and earsplitting Cassell Coliseum crowd didn't rattle the visiting Rebels.

Behind a 46-23 rebounding advantage and 64 percent second-half shooting, Mississippi ended Virginia Tech's season and advanced to next week's NIT Final Four with an 81-72 quarterfinal victory.

"We're going to hit shots, but our defense is the key to our team," Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney said. "We didn't guard the ball as well as we usually do. We let them score a lot of points and we really played into their hands."

Mostly, the Hokies had no answer for Mississippi's balanced offense. While senior post players Dwayne Curtis (6-foot-8, 262 pounds) and Kenny Williams (6-8, 240) manhandled Virginia Tech's youngsters in the paint, freshman point guard Chris Warren and sophomore wing David Huertas combined to hit 8 of 17 3-pointers.

Both Curtis (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Williams (10 points, 11 rebounds) finished with double-doubles. Warren paced the Rebels with 22 points and Huertas added 16.

"We play in a big-boy league, too," Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said, noting that his Rebels led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding margin this season. "All we had to do tonight was come out and be who we are."

Mississippi (24-10) didn't have much time to prepare for last night's game after beating Nebraska in overtime Monday, but Kennedy made sure his players watched the first eight minutes of Virginia Tech's second-round rout of UAB.

The Rebels didn't seem particularly surprised when the Hokies hit five of their first six shots, including 3-pointers by Delaney and A.D. Vassallo. And after Kennedy called a quick timeout to settle them down, they mostly made the partisan crowd a non-factor the rest of the way.

"What a terrific atmosphere. We've been in a lot of venues. I've been doing this awhile and that was as good as it gets," Kennedy added. "Once we got through the emotion of their initial run, I thought we settled in and did a better job."

Virginia Tech (21-14) had outrebounded its opponents in eight of nine games since a humiliating loss at North Carolina on Feb. 16, but its lack of interior bulk was apparent from the early stages of last night's game.

Mississippi (24-10) compensated for its slow start by pounding Virginia Tech 28-13 on the boards to lead 33-31 at halftime. Williams and Curtis combined for 12 boards, while the Hokies' starting frontcourt--Jeff Allen, Lewis Witcher and Deron Washington--totaled only four.

"We haven't played against any guys that big. It's pretty tough to play against a team like that when they're just going to push you under the basket," said Washington, who scored a season-high 23 points in the final game of his college career.

The rebounding disparity loomed even larger when Virginia Tech's perimeter game went cold. Vassallo, who had made 17 of 23 shots in the first two NIT games, was just 6 for 21 last night as the Hokies struggled to score against Mississippi's zone defense.

Tied at 46 with 12 minutes left in the game, Virginia Tech got only a three-point play by freshman J.T. Thompson over the next 3:38. Mississippi scored 14 points over the same span--half by Warren--to build a double-digit lead.

Washington scored 10 points in the final 5:04 as he single-handedly tried to keep the Hokies in the game, but their last hope came and went when Vassallo missed two free throws that would've cut the Rebels' lead to six with nearly three minutes left.

"We had some chances to get back in the game. We just couldn't get over the hump," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

"Obviously, I'm really disappointed in the way we played today. We usually don't give up 49 percent from the field. That's not reflective of who we are."

Jim McConnell: 540/374-5444
Email: jmcconnell@freelancestar.com