It must have been the uniforms.

NCSU 74, Guys In Orange 54

The Hokies scored the first four points on the game, NC State scored the next seventeen, and VPI would never seriously threaten again.

The Hokies shot 37.8% (adjFG% = 43.3%) while State shot 49%/60.2%. It was a very forgettable showing for Virginia Tech, as they put up their worst ACC road game performance in terms of offensive efficiency (yes, it was even worse than their performance in Cameron Indoor).

Aside from the shooting, turnovers were an interesting story. VPI is actually one of the least turnover-prone teams in the conference (their season turnover rate of 19.5% is third-best in the ACC), but today the Hokies committed 18 turnovers in 62 possessions for a rate of 29%. I don't think it was anything special that NC State did--it seemed that the Hokies made an unusual number of bad/stupid passes.

I thought the Hokies might lose the FT% battle, and indeed that was the case. Tech hit under 60% of its free throw attempts. They did a good job of getting to the line, but once there they didn't show the proficiency they displayed in the first game against NCSU.

To top it all off, Seth Greenberg decided to wear a plaid sportcoat. Sure, it was fairly understated plaid, but plaid nonetheless. One of many poor decisions made by guys from Blacksburg today.

On the positive side, Marquie Cooke went 1-2 from behind the arc, improving his season percentage to 18% (8-44). Way to persevere, Marquie. Might want to work on the free throw shooting, though.

This should officially end all the discussion about VPI's NCAA tournament chances. They haven't a prayer of receiving an at-large bid.

Side note: I happened to be in the portion of the student section behind the Tech bench, and I heard several snide comments about Herb Sendek come from the Hokie family/friends section. This from the fans of the team with Seth freakin' Greenberg (the guy with the awe-inspiring 227-181 career record) as its head coach.