basketball
Robinson leads No. 15 Hokies to easy 89-68 win over VMI
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec 6, (AP): Minnesota coach Richard Pitino challenged Amir Coffey to step up Wednesday. The junior guard gave him the perfect response.
Coffey scored a career-high 32 points, Jordan Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Minnesota rallied to beat No. 24 Nebraska 85-78.
Coffey has scored in double figures in every game this year, including a season-high 19 in Minnesota’s loss to Ohio State on Sunday. But Pitino said his pregame interviews with television crews made him realize that Coffey needs to do more.
“I said, ‘You know, I’m sick and tired of going into every game and they talk about (Murphy) for us, and then they talk about all the potential pros on the other team. When are they going to start talking about you?’” Pitino recalled telling Coffey. “’And that’s on you. We’ll put you
BASKETBALL
in positions, but you’ve got to be aggressive.’ And he did that tonight.”
Isaac Copeland led Nebraska (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) with 17 points and seven rebounds. Isaiah Roby chipped in 15 points and Glynn Watson added 14 for the Huskers, who were looking to start the season 8-1 for the first time in 15 years.
Nebraska couldn’t come up with an answer for Coffey, who dominated on both ends. He made 8 of 16 shots from the field, 14 of 17 from the line, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists.
He also spent much of the night guarding James Palmer, Nebraska’s leading scorer at 18.3 points per game. With Coffey in his face, Palmer went 3 for 14 from the floor and scored 11 points.
“He got where he wanted to. He found people. Made tough shots. Got to the foul line,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “He got us on both sides of the floor. Sometimes, if a guy’s killing it on one end he might take a little vacation on the other, and Amir was really good on both ends of the floor.”
The Huskers led by as many as 13 in the second half, but the Gophers (7-2, 1-1) came back with the support of a raucous home crowd.
After Copeland picked up his fourth foul with 5:44 to go, Coffey converted a three-point play that cut Nebraska’s lead to 69-65. A minute later, Dupree McBrayer hit a 3-pointer to pull Minnesota to within 71-68.
After Watson made two free throws, Murphy and Coffey combined to score the next nine points, with Coffey’s 3-pointer putting Minnesota on top to stay, 77-73.
Coffey surpassed his previous career high of 30 with a driving layup with 53 seconds to go, and Murphy hit 4 of 4 free throws in the final 11 seconds.
Hokies 89, VMI 68
In Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech is trying to add improved defense to its already potent offense.
Justin Robinson scored 18 points and the No. 15 Hokies held Virginia Military Institute to just eight firsthalf field goals in cruising to an 89-68 victory on Wednesday night.
Robinson hit a trio of 3-pointers for Virginia Tech (7-1), which won its 21st straight regular-season nonconference game at home. The Hokies topped VMI (5-5), which has lost three straight, for the seventh consecutive time.
Virginia Tech often beats opponents with torrid long-range shooting, ranking fourth in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (44.9) and seventh in 3s per game (11.9). The Hokies turned up the defense
against the Keydets, effectively using their length against a smaller team.
“I think we’re turning the corner,” Robinson said of the defense. “We’re getting the principles down really well. We’ve been practicing really hard and learning principles of the defense we’re running. That’s really big for us. Knowing when to help, when not to help and playing hard the whole time ... that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”
Virginia Tech broke open a close game midway through the first half when it went on a 13-0 run. P.J. Horne and Nickeil AlexanderWalker scored four points each in that span, and then Jonathan Kabongo finished the run with a corner 3 that gave the Hokies a 30-13 lead with 8:11 left in the half. The Hokies led 42-21 at halftime and never were threatened.
The Hokies led by as many as 37 in the second.
Alexander-Walker finished with 15 points, and the Hokies shot 51.7 percent from the floor (30 of 58) and made 11 3-pointers. Virginia Tech also got a solid game from Horne, who made just his second start of the season and scored 12 points, hitting all six of his shots.
Garrett Gilkeson paced VMI with 21 points.
“We gave them too many catchand-shoot 3s and obviously they kind of blew the game open late first half, or mid-first half into the second half,” VMI coach Dan Earl said. “But I was proud of our guys for competing. We went with a smaller lineup late, and I think, rather than hanging our heads, we found a little confidence and competed toward the end and figured some things out.”