March 21, 2009

Virginia Tech's season ends with NIT loss to Baylor

Virginia Tech’s cold first-half shooting turned out to be its undoing, as the Hokies fell to the Baylor Bears 84-66 in a National Invitation Tournament second-round game played Saturday morning at Cassell Coliseum.

With the loss, Virginia Tech closed out its season with a 19-15 record. The Hokies lost for just the second time in an NIT game played at Cassell Coliseum (now 11-2 all time). Baylor advanced to the quarterfinals to play Auburn on Tuesday night in Auburn, Ala. The Bears, who have won five of their past six games, including three in the Big 12 tournament and two in the NIT, moved to 22-14 overall on the season.

The Bears never trailed, jumping out to a 22-5 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game in part because the Hokies made just one of their first 17 attempts from the floor against the Bears’ 2-3 zone. Baylor, which shot 67 percent in the first 20 minutes, got 12 points from 7-foot center Josh Lomers and led by 20 at the break. Lomers came into the game having scored in double figures just twice all season.