Box Score BLACKSBURG, Va. – On an afternoon when Josh Chavis (Greensboro, N.C./Dudley HS) became the 40th player in program history to reach the 700 career point plateau, it was Virginia Tech that was able to celebrate as the Hokies claimed a 64-53 victory inside Cassell Coliseum on Thursday.
With 15 minutes to play in the 2nd half, Chavis knocked down a three-pointer from the wing to record career point number 701. Chavis joins teammate Mezie Uzochukwu (Greensboro, N.C./Northeast Guilford HS) on the 40-player list. Uzochukwu surpassed the 700 point mark earlier this season at NC State (Dec. 11).
The Spartans found themselves in an 11-point hole with 14 minutes to play after a fast break layup by Erick Green. USC Upstate (2-10) used a 6-0 spurt to cut the deficit to just five points with 10:51 remaining.
The Spartan run was started by freshman Shane Porchea (Dunwoody, Ga./Dunwoody HS), who connected on a pair of free throws. Mezie Uzochukwu connected on his layup from the right side of the paint and Torrey Craig (Rock Hill, S.C./Great Falls HS) cut the deficit to five after a fast break layup.
Virginia Tech (8-4) was able to push the lead back to double digits when Terrell Bell hit a jumper to extend the lead to 11 with 7:22 to play. The Hokies were able to keep the margin between nine and 14 points down the stretch en route to the 11 point victory.
Craig led the Spartans with 12 points on Thursday and the freshman also grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Chavis finished with nine points, while Chandler Hash (Greer, S.C./Greer HS) and Uzochukwu finished with six points each.
In the first half, the Hokies opened the game on a 7-0 run over the first 2:02. Upstate answered with a 10-0 run of its own as the Spartans took the lead on a three-pointer by Hash with 14:01 remaining in the first half.
Virginia Tech was able to regain the lead at 14-12 on a three-pointer by Tyrone Garland. After Garland's trey, the Spartans used an 11-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, seven points, at 23-16 with 6:24 to play in the first half.
The run featured a trio of three pointers, one by Chavis, one by Hash as well as Babatunde Olumuyiwa's (Athens, Ga./Clarke Central) first career three from the left wing. Craig also connected on a jumper during the Spartan spurt.
The Hokies were able to capitalize on several Spartan turnovers over the final 5:58 of the first half as Virginia Tech closed the half on an 18-6 run to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room. During the first 20 minutes, the Hokies converted nine Upstate turnovers into 16 points.
For the game the Spartans shot 42.9% from the floor as they connected on 21-of-49 attempts and they owned a 38.1% (8-for-21) mark from beyond the 3-point line. The Spartans managed to knock down just three of their 10 free throw attempts against the Hokies.
Virginia Tech finished the game with a 45.3% mark from the field as they hit 24 of their 53 attempts. The Hokies managed to shoot just 14.3% from beyond the arc as they connected on just two of 14 attempts. The finished 14-for-21 (66.7%) at the charity stripe.
Virginia Tech was led on Thursday by Jeff Allen who finished with a double-double (16 points, 15 rebounds) as well as Malcolm Delaney who had 17 points behind a 6-for-13 effort from the field. However, Delaney was just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc and Erick Green also reached double-figures in the game as he scored 12.
In a game that saw three ties and four lead changes, Virginia Tech owned the advantage in rebounds (32-30), points in the paint (32-22), points off of turnovers (24-3), second chance points (10-2) and fast break points (16-8). The Spartans owned the advantage in bench points at 20-7.
Thursday's game marked the end of the non-conference slate for the Spartans who will resume conference play on Mon, Jan. 3, 2011 at Kennesaw State. Tip-off between the Spartans (1-1 A-Sun) and the Owls (0-2 A-Sun) is slated for 7:30 p.m.
