Teams #102 and #103 - Texas and Virginia Tech

The second game of the day featured my 102th and 103rd Division One College Basketball teams. On this occasion, I saw the Texas Longhorns take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. Texas is the 5th team that I have seen out of the Big 12. Virginia Tech is the 6th team that I have seen out the ACC. This is the matchup I am looking forward to the most. Texas has a tendency to really crap the bed in early round tournament games. The Longhorns comes into this matchup with a 21-11 record and were given a six seed by the NCAA Committee. The Longhorns have been very consistent this year. They had very high expectations this year and have failed to meet them under new head coach Chris Beard. The leading scorer for the Longhorns has Timmy Allen, he is averaging 12.3 PPG. Virginia Tech is one of the hottest teams coming into the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies were 23-12 during the regular season and were awarded a 11 seed. At one point in the year Virginia Tech was 10-10. What a turnaround they have had. They were very impressive last week in the ACC Tournament blowing out North Carolina and Duke to win the ACC Tournament.  The leading scorer for Virginia Tech is Keve Aluma who is averaging 15.8 PPG and was second team All-ACC. 

There is always that one upset that everyone picks and then it ends up being a dud. Virginia Tech was a very popular pick to upset Texas. However, Virginia Tech never got the ship going. The first half was back and forth. I thought Texas might struggle after Virginia Tech opened with a 6-0 lead. However, Andrew Jones had different ideas. He was money from the three point line in the first half. Going a perfect 5-5. Jones is such a great college basketball story for those that know about his journey. He lead the Longhorns in scoring in the first half with 17 points. Hard kid to bet against. Keve Aluma battled foul trouble but still managed to be the leading scorer for Virginia Tech with 8 points. The best part of the game came right at the halftime horn as Marcus Carr buried a 3 pointer from beyond half court. It was so awesome to finally see a buzzer beater if only it was for the win. 

That first half momentum certainly carried the way of the Longhorns as the second half began. The Longhorns simply put were too much for Virginia Tech. They were up by as many as 15 in the second half. I couldn't believe it. I expected this to be close. Naturally this was the one 6-11 upset that did not happen in the tourney. Nothing really notable happened in the 2nd half. The last four minutes took an hour it felt like. Sean Pedulla hit some 3's for Virginia Tech but the offense was really kept in check. Virginia Tech battled foul trouble the whole game and dropped this contest 81-73. All five starters were in double figures for Texas. This was probably their best performance in a long while. The Big 12 had a great showing in the opening round and this only showcased them better. Andrew Jones was the leading scorer for the Longhorns with 21. They would go on to face Purdue.