Michigan
Virginia Tech
Wolverines Fall to Virginia Tech After Cold Second Half
11/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team held a one-point halftime lead but could not find the mark in the second half and was outscored 35-22 by the Virginia Tech Hokies in a 65-53 loss on Sunday (Nov. 24) at the University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
| | Brown came off the bench for 14 points and six rebounds. |
Junior wing Bernard Robinson Jr. (Washington, D.C./New Hampton Prep, N.H.) chipped in 12 points, seven boards and three assists. U-M leading scorer LaVell Blanchard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) was stymied by the Hokie defense, scoring only six points on 1-of-12 shooting from the field. Leading all scorers was Hokie big man Terry Taylor with 23 points.
Both teams' defenses set the tone early by limiting the other's offensive opportunities. The Wolverine field goal shooting was cold for the first 10 minutes of the half, but then Horton jump-started the Wolverine offense. The freshman scored nine points, including two triples, to help give U-M a 19-18 advantage after 14 minutes of play.
Brown then came alive, scoring U-M's next seven points with some solid inside play, and his putback with under three minutes remaining in the half knotted the score at 26. The Wolverines then took the lead, 28-26, on a well-executed out-of-bounds play that was finished off by a Blanchard jam. The Hokies kept the score close by hitting a late three-pointer, but the Maize and Blue answered that shot with a pair of Robinson free throws to conclude the first half scoring and take a 31-30 lead into the locker room.
The freshman duo of Horton and Brown carried the Wolverines offensive load in first half, with Brown scoring 10 points and Horton netting nine. Solid shooting from the charity stripe (9-13) was the key to U-M's first-half lead because the Wolverines connected on only nine of their 26 field goal attempts (34.6 percent). The Wolverines also did a strong job on the glass, holding a 21-17 edge, with Brown leading the way by collecting four.
The scoring pace picked up in the second half with both teams trading baskets during the first three minutes, but the Hokies took a 45-38 lead with 11:37 remaining after going on a 9-0 run. A Chris Hunter (Gary, Ind./West Side HS) dunk ended a four-minute U-M field goal drought to close the Hokie lead to five. Robinson then stepped up his game by hitting two free throws and getting a steal which led to a breakaway slam to pull the Wolverines within one, 45-44.
Virginia Tech then put an end to any Wolverine comeback bid by going on a 12-0 run that was powered by five freebies and two triples to take a 56-44 lead. Lester Abram (Pontiac, Mich./Northern HS) ended that run by hitting one of two free throws to make the score 56-45 with five minutes left in the contest. That was the closest U-M would ever come, as the Hokies held on the rest of the way to earn a 65-53 victory.
U-M went ice cold in the second half and ended the game shooting a mere 27.3 percent (15-55) from the floor and 16.7 percent (3-18) from behind the arc. The Maize and Blue managed only 22 points in the second half, with Robinson netting eight of them.
The Wolverines (0-2) will conclude their trip to the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam by taking on Kansas State University in the fifth-place game tomorrow (Monday, Nov. 25) at 4 p.m. Atlantic Time (3 p.m. EST).
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
