, who never trailed after scoring the game's first 11 points. The Hokies ran out to a 20-point lead before halftime, then turned away Miami's last serious push early in the second half with a 20-5 run that increased the margin past 20 again.Virginia Tech shot 50 percent, including 11 of 27 on 3-pointers, to beat the 12th-seeded Hurricanes for a third time this season - all by double-figure margins.Chris Lykes scored 19 points for Miami (14-18) which beat Wake Forest in Tuesday's first round. But the Hurricanes never gave themselves much of a chance on Day 2, falling behind big from the jump.BIG PICTUREMiami: The Hurricanes' win against the Demon Deacons ensured they would win at least one game in the ACC Tournament in seven of Jim Larranaga's eight seasons as coach. That turned out to be the only highlight in a two-day stay in Charlotte at the end of a frustrating season, which included Lykes - the team's 5-foot-7 leading scorer at 16.2 points - behind helped off after he suffered an apparent right-leg injury when landing on a layup with 3:24 left. Larranaga has his first losing season since going 9-18 in his first year at George Mason in 1997-98, and he had won at least 20 games in six of his first seven seasons with the Hurricanes.Virginia Tech: The Hokies won't have point guard Justin Robinson for the ACC Tournament as he continues to deal with a foot injury that has sidelined him since late January. That wasn't a problem in their tournament debut in a game they were expected to win.UP NEXTThe Hokies will face 12th-ranked and fourth-seeded Florida State in Thursday's quarterfinals.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://www.twitter.com/-Top25---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap)
Mar 12, 2019The regular season turned out spectacular at times for No. 16 Virginia Tech.Now, the Hokies will try to build on that in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, opening play Wednesday afternoon against Miami at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N. C.Virginia Tech (23-7) tied a school record for regular-season victories, a fact that seemingly went under the radar."I think it's off the chart," Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said. "I think if I was a little more media-centric, I think there'd be a little more (publicity) about it, but I kind of like that there's no (pub)." The ACC Tournament provides a chance for the Hokies to show how they stack up with some of the elite teams in the country. Virginia Tech is one of five nationally ranked teams in the event.The Hokies have excelled despite an injury to senior point guard Justin Robinson, who missed nine straight games prior to a ceremonial start on Senior Night last Friday -- a game in which he played just one second. So they've been without one of their top players for nearly one-third of the season."At some point, maybe you should say, 'Look at what they're doing without him,' " Williams said.Virginia Tech sophomore Nickeil Alexander-Walker has shown his versatility, playing at the point guard during much of Robinson's absence.In Friday's regular-season finale, Williams secured his 250th career coaching victory."I think about all the people who helped me when there were no strings attached," Williams said of the milestone.That accomplishment came in an 84-70 home victory against Miami, so the Hurricanes will serve as the Virginia Tech opponent on back-to-back games.Virginia Tech earned a first-round bye for the fourth consecutive season. As a No. 5 seed, it's the Hokies best positioning for the league tournament since 2010, when they were the fourth seed.Miami (14-17), the 12th seed, advanced by defeating 13th-seeded Wake Forest 79-71 in the first game of the tournament Tuesday afternoon.In that game, DJ Vasiljevic scored 21 points and Anthony Lawrence II added 20 points."People underestimate the lower-seeded teams," Vasiljevic said. "Once they go on a run, it's hard to stop, so we're going to try and do that this tournament." Vasiljevic scored in a variety of ways in the Wake Forest game, supplementing what often has been considered a perimeter-oriented option."DJ has always been able to do that," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "We never considered him just a spot-up three-point shooter. I think in his mind, he's so good at that one thing, he looks for it all the time. But he'll tell you, I've encouraged him to utilize his all-around game." With Lawrence also grabbing 10 rebounds, he has five double-doubles across the last six games.Miami is the No. 12 seed for the third time in the tournament. The last time was in 2010 when the Hurricanes notched an upset of the fifth seed (Wake Forest) and then surprised fourth-seeded Virginia Tech in the next round.The Hurricanes have at least one victory in ACC Tournament play in seven of eight seasons under Larranaga.Virginia Tech has won at least one game in three of the past four ACC Tournaments.The winner of the Miami-Virginia Tech game meets fourth-seeded Florida State in Thursday's quarterfinals.
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