VT Beats Miami in OT: Box Score of the Day

CHN now features a live scoreboard, stats, standings, etc.. here. Occasionally, we'll be featuring a box score of the day, with some commentary on why the box score is interesting. It might be involve a huge upset, a big personal effort, some odd statistical occurrences, or other intriguing tidbit.

Box Score of the Day:

Today's pick is.. Virginia Tech's OT win over Miami.

At the top of the ACC sits new #1 Duke, and then.. Virginia Tech? At 4-1, the Hokies are now ahead of powers North Carolina and Wake Forest, not to mention Clemson. After knocking off former unbeaten Wake earlier in the week, the Hokies validated that win by toppling Top 25 hopeful Miami in overtime.  It seems like just a few weeks ago that VT's path to the NCAA Tournament seemed highly unlikely.. a 5-4 start can do that to you. But after 9 wins out of 10, VT is suddenly back in the bracketology picture. As far as the ACC goes, VT's remaining schedule is highly favorable as well. Sure, they have Duke & UNC remaining, but both are at home. Their toughest road game is at Clemson, and they still get to face second tier teams Georgia Tech, NC State, UVA, and Maryland. All in all, things are looking up for Seth Greenberg's team.

As you'd expect from a hard-fought overtime game, the statistics match up relatively evenly. Both teams took virtually the same amount of FG's & FT's, rebounds were basically even, as were fouls and turnovers. Just 1 steal from Miami stands out, as the lack of ball pressure might account for VT's higher shooting %'s. Both teams were dominated by 3 players, and VT's Malcolm Delaney was named CHN's Player of the Week.