Resilient Gators overshadow Alleyne’s big day with victory
Sitting at a podium thanking everybody in Indianapolis for a week of cozy accommodations and great meals on his way out of town wasn’t how Virginia Tech coach Mike Young planned to cap his Friday afternoon.
He was sure he had the kind of team that could stick around a while in the NCAA tournament. Virginia Tech guard Nahiem Alleyne did his best to try to make it happen, hitting a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to tie South Region No. 7 seed Florida, but the No. 10 seed Hokies still ended up heading home early after a 75-70 overtime loss in the first round.
“I don’t know that anybody is satisfied with getting here,” Young said after the game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. “Getting here is a significant achievement, and one that we’re proud of, but I had a really good team that I thought could advance and move along, and we didn’t (Friday), and that’s frustrating.”
Alleyne’s career-high 28 points, which featured 14 consecutive Tech points at the end of regulation and early in overtime, kept the Hokies (15-7) in the game on a day when he got plenty of help from backcourt mate Tyrece Radford’s 18 points, but not much support in the frontcourt.
Forwards Keve Aluma and Justyn Mutts both fouled out in the first two minutes of overtime after Aluma had seven points and seven rebounds and Mutts contributed six points.
Tre Mann’s step-back 3-pointer with 23 seconds
left in overtime helped Florida (15-9) finally gain some breathing room, putting the Gators up 74-70. Tech’s Cordell Pemsl missed a jumper on the other end with 10 seconds left, Florida grabbed the rebound and Scottie Lewis made 1 of 2 free throws with seven seconds left to put it away.
Leading for more than 43 minutes and by as many as 10 points, Tech found answers for Florida’s pressing defense behind Radford’s drives to the basket and the sharp shooting of Alleyne and Hunter Cattoor, who made a trio of 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 11 points. Tech, which shot 42% from the floor while Florida shot 57%, went cold at the wrong time.
Missing six consecutive field-goal attempts, Tech went from leading 52-49 with 7:07 left to trailing 62-57 before Alleyne hit a jumper with 49 seconds remaining. After a Florida turnover — one of 18 the Gators had for the game — Alleyne made another jumper with 30 seconds left, cutting Florida’s advantage to 62-61.
Florida had a chance to gain a comfortable cushion in the closing seconds of regulation, but with the Gators leading 64-61, Anthony Duriji missed two free throws with seven seconds left, setting up Alleyne’s game-tying 3-pointer from the right side of the arc.
“It was a crazy feeling,” said Alleyne, who made 4 of 10 shots from 3-point range. “Everybody’s dream to hit a big shot . ... That really wasn’t the play. We were supposed to get the ball to Tyrece, but they were shading (defensively) inside, so Keve passed it to me and I knocked it down.”
What we saw
While Aluma and Mutts weren’t big offensive factors, 6-foot-11 Colin Castleton asserted himself on both ends of the floor for Florida. With less than 10½ minutes left in regulation, Castleton had just four points, but he finished with 19 points to go along with 14 rebounds and three blocks.
Young said Tech got stretched out on defense trying to guard Mann, who had 14 points, leaving Castleton open on the opposite side of the floor.
Alleyne admitted he gained motivation after he was whistled for a questionable technical foul with 18:12 left in regulation. He said an official told him he’d thrown the ball at a Florida player, but replays didn’t show the action that led to the technical.
He scored 21 points in the final 22 minutes, including overtime.
Castleton’s big day helped Florida finish with a 36-22 rebounding edge. It was Tech’s largest rebounding deficit of the season.
What’s next?
Young has a good feel for where he wants to go with one remaining scholarship he has to offer. He wants to get bigger.
“I would like to have another post player,” Young said. “I’d like to be able to move Keve to (power forward) quite a bit more. ... Mutts and Aluma on the front line — it was a really good one, but to add another body that can play, that can rebound the ball and do the things that we ask our post players to do, I think that’s very important to us.”
FLORIDA 75, VIRGINIA TECH 70 (OT) VIRGINIA TECH (15-7): Aluma 3-6 1-2 7, Mutts 2-5 2-4 6, Alleyne 8-18 8-11
28, Bede 0-1 0-0 0, Radford 7-15 4-4
18, Cattoor 4-11 0-0 11, Pemsl 0-1 0-0 0, N’Guessan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 15-21 70.
FLORIDA (15-9): Castleton 6-8 7-8
19, Duruji 4-7 1-5 9, Appleby 2-6 2-2 6, Locke 4-8 2-2 10, Mann 5-9 1-2 14, Lewis 5-8 3-4 15, Osifo 0-0 2-4 2, Lane 0-0 0-0 0, Ruzhentsev 0-0 0-0 0, Jitoboh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-46 18-27 75. Half—Tech 33-27. 3-point goals—Tech 7-23 (Alleyne 4-10, Cattoor 3-10, Mutts 0-1, Radford 0-2), Florida 5-13 (Mann 3-6, Lewis 2-3, Duruji 0-1, Locke 0-1, Appleby 0-2). Fouled out—Aluma, Mutts, Duruji, Osifo. Rebounds—Tech 22 (Aluma 7), Florida 35 (Castleton
14). Assists—Tech 11 (Mutts 4), Florida 9 (Mann 4). Fouls—Tech 24, Florida 19.
Norm Wood, 757-247-4644, nwood@dailypress.com