Ole Miss muscles up on Tech in NIT quarterfinals

By Nate Warters

Published: March 26, 2008

BLACKSBURG — When Virginia Tech senior forward Deron Washington walked onto the court for warm-ups before Wednesday night’s National Invitation Tournament semifinal against Mississippi, he couldn’t help but notice Rebels frontcourt players Dwayne Curtis and Kenny Williams.
“I was like, ‘These are some grown men there,’” Washington said. “They were pretty big, so I knew we had to get ready for a physical game, and it seems like we didn’t respond to it.”
Curtis and Williams, both seniors, manhandled their Tech counterparts, grabbing a combined 22 rebounds and scoring 27 points in second-seeded Ole Miss’ 81-72 victory over the Hokies in front of a near-capacity crowd of 9,615 at Cassell Coliseum.
“They knocked the crap out of us,” Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.
The Rebels, who picked up only their third road win of the season, handed Tech its first home non-conference loss since Nov. 12, 2005 (Bowling Green).
Ole Miss advances to next Tuesday’s semifinals in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Tech, which played six freshmen in its rotation this season, can finally take a deep breath and consider what it accomplished.
Picked to finish 10th in the ACC in a preseason media poll, it went 9-7 in conference play and advanced to the postseason for the third time in the last four years.
And despite an NCAA tournament snub, the Hokies (21-14) embraced the NIT and drew more than 9,600 fans in their 9,847-seat arena for all three of their home postseason games.
“We’ve been in a lot of venues. I’ve been doing this a while. That was as good as it gets,” Rebels coach Andy Kennedy said of Tech’s home environment. “I want to salute Virginia Tech and what Seth has been able to do in a short period of time.
“No. 1, he has a good team. They have good players. They play extremely hard. I’m proud for Virginia Tech, the way they embraced this NIT. What a terrific atmosphere, and that’s what college basketball is all about.”
Tech was on the short end of the rebounding battle for only the eighth time this season. The Rebels (24-10) had 46 boards, 30 on the defensive end, and scored 38 points in the paint. The Hokies had only 23 rebounds, one more than Williams and Curtis combined.
“We’re in a big-boy league, too,” Kennedy said. “The SEC is a big-boy league, and we led the league in rebounding margin, and we did that over the course of a 16-game season. All we had to do (Wednesday night) was come out and be who we are, and that’s what we did.”
The Hokies lost the hot-shooting hand that propelled it to blowout wins in the first two rounds. It shot 65.4 percent in a 94-62 first-round win over Morgan State and 47.4 percent in its 75-49 second-round win over Alabama-Birmingham on Monday.
The Hokies shot only 39.7 percent Wednesday night (32.1 percent from behind the arc). Junior guard A.D. Vassallo was 6 of 21 (4 of 13 on 3s) and scored 16 points. He had seven assists and only one turnover.
“It was just one of those nights where (Vassallo) got the shots he wanted, he got the shots he likes to take, and they just weren’t falling tonight,” Washington said. “When that happens, it makes it tough on everybody else, because when he gets rolling, it makes the game so much easier for everybody else.”
Tech made five of its first seven shots to start and led 12-3 on Vassallo’s 3-pointer three minutes in. It cooled off after that, missing 13 of its next 15 shots. That bad-shooting stretch corresponded with an 18-5 Mississippi run.
The Hokies never led in the second half. 
Washington, who scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed four points in his final career game, got a loud sendoff when he was pulled with 24 seconds to go. The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he high-fived all his teammates.
“It’s pretty tough just knowing that my career is over here, but it was a pretty fun journey, just going from the start, having the crowd support and having my mother (Denise Washington) here,” he said. “It’s been a fun ride. I’m going to miss it.”

MISSISSIPPI (24-10)
Williams 5-12 0-0 10, Curtis 8-13 1-1 17, Warren 6-13 6-6 22, Polynice 4-5 1-2 9, Huertas 4-8 4-6 16, Parnell 1-3 0-2 2, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, White 0-0 2-2 2, Gaskins 1-2 0-0 2, Graham 0-3 1-4 1. Totals 29-59 15-23 81.
VIRGINIA TECH (21-14)
Allen 3-6 1-5 7, Washington 6-11 9-10 23, Witcher 1-4 1-2 3, Vassallo 6-21 0-2 16, Delaney 5-10 1-2 14, Bell 0-0 0-0 0, Hudson 0-2 0-0 0, Thorns 0-3 0-0 0, Thompson 4-6 1-1 9, Diakite 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 13-22 72.
Halftime—Mississippi 33-31. 3-Point Goals—Mississippi 8-19 (Huertas 4-8, Warren 4-9, Graham 0-1, Gaskins 0-1), Virginia Tech 9-28 (Vassallo 4-13, Delaney 3-7, Washington 2-3, Hudson 0-1, Allen 0-1, Thorns 0-3). Fouled Out—Allen, Curtis. Rebounds—Mississippi 46 (Curtis, Williams 11), Virginia Tech 23 (Thompson 5). Assists—Mississippi 19 (Polynice 8), Virginia Tech 15 (Vassallo 7). Total Fouls—Mississippi 20, Virginia Tech 17. A—9,615.