Hokies Hoops, Vol. 14 (Big Dancing edition) ...

Don’t lie. How many of you almost didn’t watch the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech game after you found out second-leading scorer Dorenzo Hudson would be out with his foot injury?

To the rest of you: How many watched out of the same curiosity you have for car crashes alongside the road? Just to see how bad it was?

Well, how ‘bout that, then? Without its best shooter, the ACC’s worst-shooting team lit up the Yellow Jackets in the first half – and withstood a late flurry that saw the lead shrink from 17 to three points in the final minute.

The Hokies hit 60 percent of their field goals in the first half, including a blistering 8 of 9 from 3-point range. Malcolm Delaney shouldered much of the load with Hudson out, dropping 17 of his 32 points and dishing seven of his nine assists by halftime.

Jeff Allen was very good again, for the third straight game. He had 17 points and 10 assists – with just three fouls. Terrell Bell was Mr. Double-Double in his return home (he’s from Stone Mountain, Ga., just outside Atlanta). Bell had 14 points and 13 rebounds and drained a pair of key threes.

But the guy everyone was worried about, freshman Manny Atkins (also a Georgia guy), played a pretty impressive game. He limited his mistakes (two turnovers) and contributed in just about every facet of the game: five points, seven rebounds, five assists, one blocked shot.

Tip of the hat to young Manny.

And so the Hokies are, against today’s long odds, almost certainly dancing. They are 23-7 overall, 10-6 in the ACC. No 10-win team in this league has ever been excluded from the NCAA tournament field.

Virginia Tech also scored its third win over a top-50 team in the RPI. Georgia Tech was No. 35 entering the game and No. 42 immediately afterward.

Here’s another fun fact: The win guaranteed that the Hokies will finish the season with single-digit losses for just the fifth time in 30 years and the first since the 1995-96 Tech team that lost to eventual national champion Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Quite a day for the Hokies. Here’s a smattering of what they had to say in the afterglow ...

COACH SETH GREENBERG

OPENING REMARKS: “I’m just so proud of our guys. They’re the most resilient group of guys I’ve ever been around. I told them before the game, ‘I know this sounds corny ... Someone is going to step up.’ ”

ON WINNING WITHOUT DORENZO HUDSON: “We made shots. Malcolm was just magnificent. (Applauded Bell and Atkins for playing well back home in Georgia). ... We have a great team chemistry. We have a great trust in each other. That’s why we’re winning games.”

ON THE CHIPPY GAME: “Well, a lot was at stake. This is a really hard time of year – for coaches, for players, for fans.”

ON GETTING HUDSON SOME REST: “How fitting. The guy gave us everything he has all year, and for those other guys to step up ...”

ON GETTING TO 10-6 IN THE ACC: “To win 10 games in the ACC is really hard. I don’t care what schedule you play (referring to the unbalanced league schedule that saw Tech notch most of its wins against the bottom of the conference). We played the schedule they gave us. You’ve got to be lucky (to win 10), be tough, have good players.”

ON THE ACC TOURNEY BYE: “The bye is just incredible.”

ON MANNY ATKINS’ PLAY: “He was unbelievable. He stayed within himself. When he was in the press, he made just the simple, right play. I had to commit to one guy for those minutes (Hudson’s). I couldn’t spread them around. (Went with Atkins because of size, to match up with Glen Rice Jr.)”

ON GOING 8 OF 9 FROM DEEP IN THE FIRST HALF: “That’s not exactly who we are. ... Malcolm was just in the zone.”

ON FINISHING STRONG: “I’m just happy for those kids. I can’t describe how happy I am for them. It’s not relief. It’s just really: I’m happy for them. I really enjoy this team.”

ON WHETHER HUDSON COULD’VE GONE IF TODAY WAS THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: “No. I had a feeling (he couldn’t go) and we were preparing to play without him. (Said Hudson usually looks him in the eye, but after the State game ...) His head was down. I knew he was in a lot of pain.”

ON HOW MUCH EIGHT DAYS OF REST WILL HELP THEN: “Significantly. Whether he can go back-to-back nights will be interesting, but (it helps) significantly. I’m going to shut him down (between now and the ACC tourney). Totally.”

ON DELANEY’S GAME: “He knew how big this game was. Our guys were locked in. ... They were so locked in during our walk-through, I walked out and said, ‘That might have been our best, most locked-in walk-through we’ve ever had.”

GUARD MALCOLM DELANEY

ON TECH’S HOT-SHOOTING START: “We had a game plan and it worked. We caught them in a lot of ball screens and then I hit a couple shots early. They started keying on me and other people had open looks. They just knocked them down. That’s just people being ready to play when their name is called.”

ON HIS MENTALITY WITH DORENZO HUDSON OUT: “I knew I had to be aggressive, but I still wanted to find people, because I knew they were going to key on me. Without (Hudson) being there, they probably just figured it would be me and Jeff (scoring). Manny (Atkins) can get his shots and Coach put him in the lineup because he knew Manny was going to play hard. That’s what he did.”

ON GEORGIA TECH CUTTING A 17-POINT LEAD TO THREE LATE: “When you’re playing desperation basketball, it’s easier to get back in the game than to hold onto the lead. We went away from attacking and we were just trying to win the game. They came back and hit some shots ... but we held onto it, finished it off.”

ON HOW SATISFYING THIS IS AFTER THE LAST COUPLE SEASONS OF BARELY MISSING THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: “We’re more relaxed now. The last two years it was always: Well, we’ve got to go into the (ACC) tournament and win a certain amount of games. Now, we get that bye, and we’re freed up. We get a couple days of rest for Dorenzo to get back out there.”

ON WHEN THEY KNEW HUDSON WOULDN’T PLAY: “He knew he wasn’t going to play. After that (N.C. State) game, he was hurting. We knew he wasn’t going to play today. Coach called me into the office the other day and said we were probably going to go with Manny. He hustles and Manny can hit some shots.”

ON GETTING BEATEN UP TODAY: (Holding up two bloody elbows) “That’s not flopping. (Lawal) elbowed me. Jeff would’ve gotten thrown out for that.”

FORWARD JEFF ALLEN

ON FINALLY CLOSING OUT AN NCAA BID, HAVING SOME CERTAINTY AFTER THE REGULAR SEASON: “It feels real good. We’ve been in this position the last two years. It’s kind of like a relief now that we got to 10-6. Maybe we might be in there this year. Maybe the (CBS) cameras are going to be in our room (on Selection Sunday) this year, you know?”

ON THE STRESSFUL ENDING: “At the end of the game, the refs, they kind of just let us play. They weren’t calling too much. That’s how we want to play.”

ON BANGING UP HIS SHOULDER: “It was Oliver. I had the rebound. He tried to hook my shoulder and throw me to the ground. But I wasn’t falling. It’s not hurting too much right now.”

ON WHETHER HE AND MALCOLM CAME OUT WITH A SHOOTER’S MENTALITY, MORE AGRESSIVE, WITH HUDSON OUT: “We came in here wanting to win regardless (of injury). It was a win that we needed. T-Bell came home (from Georgia) so you knew he was going to play good. Manny came home; he was going to play good. Malcolm caught fire. They left me open and I hit a couple of threes. That’s what you’ve got to do: players have to step up.”

ON THE REDEMPTION FOR HIM AFTER HE FOULED OUT HERE TWO YEARS AGO, THEN BUMPED AN OFFICIAL AND WAS EJECTED: “It’s probably more exciting for me than anybody. Last time we played, I had to walk up this hallway by myself with my head down. This time, I’m walking up the hallway happy.”

FORWARD TERRELL BELL

ON WRAPPING UP AN NCAA BID BACK IN GEORGIA: “It feels great. It’s been a long season and it feels great to know that we’re in. And we’ve got the bye (in the ACC tournament). I have a lot of family out there waiting, so I’m just excited all around.”

ON DOING IT WITHOUT ONE OF THEIR BEST PLAYERS: “It just shows how good of a team we are. We get team wins, and lately that’s been getting us by.”

ON HAVING AN EXTRA DAY FOR HUDSON TO REST: “Rest is everything, and we get an extra day. We’re going to use it to our advantage.”

GUARD DORENZO HUDSON

ON WHAT HE COULDN’T DO ON THE BAD FOOT: “Just not being able to plant going laterally. I didn’t want to go out there and hurt my teammates ... then be out next week.”

ON THE REST OF SITTING OUT THIS GAME AND TECH GETTING A FIRST-ROUND ACC BYE: “It’s very big, for everybody’s health. They did a good job of taking control of the game tonight and getting us the win.”

ON FINALLY GOING TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT AFTER MISSING IT AS A FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE, NARROWLY: “I think we’re pretty much in the tournament. Now we’re going to the ACC tournament to try to win the tournament. It’s a relief, but we still need to get some more games.”

ON HOW ANXIOUS HE WAS TO BE ON THE BENCH FOR THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR: “It was real tough just sitting on the bench like that. But I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my team in it from the sidelines and letting them know what we needed to do to win the game.”

ON HOW IMPRESSIVE IT IS THAT TECH SHOT SO WELL WITHOUT HIM, THE BEST SHOOTER: “We’ve got a good group of guys. Anybody can step up any day.”

GUARD MANNY ATKINS

ON HAVING ABOUT 20 FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN THE STANDS AND WHETHER HE LOOKED OVER TO THEM AT POINTS TO SETTLE DOWN: “I looked over a few times to my AAU coach. He always gave me confidence. I glanced at him a few times. He was helping me out, just telling me to keep my composure and get in the game more, do something to help the team out.”

ON AN EARLY STRETCH WHERE HE GRABBED A REBOUND, THEN BANGED IN A 3-POINTER ON THE OTHER END AND WHETHER HE FELT IN THE FLOW THEN: “Yeah, yeah. I told everybody before the game, ‘Once I knock down that first shot, I’m ready.’ I was a little bit (nervous) because it was my first start.”

ON THE CRAZY CIRCUMSTANCES OF HAVING HIS FIRST START BACK IN GEORGIA, REPLACING A STAR, AND THE TEAM NEEDING A WIN: “I had a little pressure, but at the same time, I was like: This is my home town. I’ve got a lot of people out here rooting for me. And I play basketball. That’s what I do. Once it got going, I was ready to play. This is probably the most comfortable environment for me to get my first start.”

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