Hill leads No. 13 Hokies in rout of St. Francis
BLACKSBURG, Va.—Ahmed Hill and No. 13 Virginia Tech knew their strong finish to the first half wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy coach Buzz Williams.
The Hokies got the message at halftime and quickly pulled away from the Red Flash for a 75-37 victory on Saturday.
“Buzz came in and got on us for not playing hard, (not) playing our style of ball,” said Hill, who finished with 19 points. “The group that came out to start, we wanted to make a statement by coming out, playing hard, getting in transition and I think that’s what we did. We started playing for one another and just upped the tempo of the game.”
The Hokies (5-0) led 23-20 when a 3-pointer by Ty Outlaw sparked a 10-2 run to end the first half. Nickeil Alexander-Walker made another 3-pointer right after halftime, one of 14 for Virginia Tech, and two 3s and a basket from Hill and a three-point play by Justin Robinson pushed the lead to 47-26.
Outlaw finished with 15 points, all on 3-pointers. AlexanderWalker scored 11 for the Hokies, and Robinson had 10 points and seven assists.
Williams said he got on his team at the break for allowing 10 offensive rebounds.
“I got lost in the numbers would be what I’d say about what I said at halftime,” he said.
Myles Thompson led the Red Flash (1-4) with 14 points. St. Francis shot just 25.9 percent (15 for 58) and committed 22 turnovers.
“We challenged our guys in a couple of areas and one of them was how we finished the first half and how we started the second half,” Red Flash coach Rob Krimmel said.
Krimmel was pleased with a 7-0 run that pulled them to 23-20, but “the start of the second half, I think ultimately, when we look at it, is when we let that game slip away.”
“We’ve now played I think 10 halves of basketball and that was by far our worst half,” he said.
The Red Flash went nearly eight minutes without a point in the second half as the Hokies scored 15 straight to open a 62-30 lead.
Buffalo 76, Marist 49
AMHERST, N.Y.—As quick to shoot as any team in the country, Buffalo takes pride in its willingness to put in extra time on defense.
“We are built on defense here,” coach Nate Oats said. “We are built on toughness.”
CJ Massinburg scored 21 points, Jayvon Graves added 16 and No. 22 Buffalo brushed off Marist’s attempt to slow the pace in a 76-49 victory.
Buffalo averaged more than 88 points over its first four wins, and only Villanova scored in the 80s more times last season. The Bulls matched a school record for points in a Division I game in Wednesday’s 110-71 defeat of Dartmouth.
“We knew they were going to try to slow it down,” Oats said. “Everybody does it. Nobody wants to try to run with us so everybody is going to try to run as much clock as we can. I would hate to play like that as a player. That’s why I don’t coach like that. But that might be the best way for them to try and get a win.”
Massinburg returned after missing one game with a sprained knee. The senior guard leads Buffalo in scoring at 20.5 points per game. He got hurt in practice Monday and was expected to be out at least a week.
“We just took it day by day and today I felt like I could go,” Massinburg said. “I wouldn’t say I felt 100 percent but I didn’t feel bad. I would say about 85.”
Massinburg’s shooting percentage was almost as high as he made 6 of 7 attempts from 3-point range and was 7 of 10 from the field in 25 minutes off the bench.
Jeremy Harris had eight assists and Nick Perkins pulled down seven rebounds for the Bulls (5-0).
Buffalo found its 3-point range, making 16 of 32 from beyond the arc after shooting below 28 percent from deep over its first four games.
Ryan Funk and Austin Williams each scored 10 points to lead Marist (1-4).
Holding Marist under 41 percent shooting and forcing 16 turnovers, Buffalo scored 23 points on fast breaks.
“I thought we did a really nice job when they had to play against our set defense,” Marist coach John Dunne said. “But once you have a bad offensive possession and they get you on your heels in transition, then they are just really good. That’s where they crushed us.”
Marist led early while Buffalo struggled with turnovers and scored on only seven of its first 21 possessions. Buffalo pulled ahead with a 10-2 run and outscored Marist 23-7 over the final nine minutes of the first half to build a double-digit lead.