March 27, 2008

• 2008 Postseason ACCtion Central
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Cold shooting, Ole Miss rebounding bounces Tech from NIT

Virginia Tech's cold shooting and Ole Miss' powerful inside game were too much for the Hokies to overcome, as they fell to the Rebels 81-72 in an NIT quarterfinal game played Wednesday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies, who came into the game having played brilliantly down the stretch in winning seven of the past nine games, wrapped up the season with a 21-14 overall mark. Tech lost for the first time in 11 NIT home games and saw its 22-game home court winning streak against non-conference opponents come to an end.

"I'm really proud of what we were able to accomplish this season," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We've accomplished some really special things. We won 21 games, got a bye in the ACC tournament, got to the semifinals, played three games in postseason - those are all tremendous accomplishments for such a young team.

"Having said that, I'm obviously disappointed in the way we played today. We just couldn't get a 50-50 ball and we didn't have a presence defensively. Their size and maturity up front knocked the crap out of us. They were tougher than us. You have to give them credit."

The Hokies simply couldn't get baskets at crucial times and ended up shooting just 39.7 percent from the floor against Ole Miss' 2-3 zone. But the Rebels combination of quick point guard Chris Warren and the burly duo of Dwayne Curtis and Kenny Williams probably hurt Tech more.

Warren - a freshman - scored 22 points and dished out six assists, and both Curtis and Williams finished with double-doubles. Curtis scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Williams scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Rebels punished Tech on the boards, out-rebounding the Hokies 46-23. It marked just the second time in the past 10 games that the Hokies had been out-rebounded.