NAHIEM ALLEYNE'S 28 POINTS NOT ENOUGH IN SEASON ENDING LOSS TO FLORIDA

Chris Hirons

March 19, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Keve Aluma? Nah. Tyrece Radford? Nope. Justyn Mutts? Not him either.

Nahiem Alleyne, of all players, carried No. 10-seeded Virginia Tech down the stretch in the second half. When No. 7-seeded Florida led by as many as six points, Alleyne went on a tear of his own, scoring 12 straight points within two-plus minutes of the afternoon to give the Hokies a chance with just seconds remaining in regulation.

Before the sophomore guard had taken control of the game, Tech had watched its lead dwindle from eight points to four and then to two. The Hokies lost their lead and Florida led for the first time since 17 minutes were left in the first half.

When it mattered most, though, VT battled back and pulled within three points with 30 seconds left.

All season, the Hokies had trusted Hunter Cattoor to take the last shot. After all, he sunk a three to tie Miami at the buzzer at the end of regulation in early February. And on Friday, it wasn’t that Cattoor was playing poorly — Cattoor had nailed his first three, three pointers of the afternoon — he just wasn’t on the floor with just a mere five seconds remaining when Anthony Duruji missed two free throws as the Gators led by three with five seconds remaining.

Aluma grabbed Duruji’s second miss as Alleyne streamed down the floor. He caught Aluma’s pass, took a step and a dribble before pulling up in front of a UF defenders’ face.

Splash. Alleyne found the bottom of the basket, tying the score at 64 with just a tick left on the scoreboard.

The bench jumped with joy, the fans yelled with excitement, but Allyene’s career-high 28 points was all for naught when Virginia Tech couldn’t take advantage of in the extra period, losing to Florida 75-70. The loss effectively ended the Hokies’ Cinderella season after they were predicted by most to finish near the bottom of the ACC standings in early November.

“He was terrific,” head coach Mike Young said of Alleyne. “I wish we could have done more with [his performance].”

A betting man, though, would have placed money on Virginia Tech heading into Friday’s matchup. The Hokies, after all, hadn’t lost two consecutive games all season. And after losing to North Carolina in the quarterfinal of the ACC Tournament last week — whether you’re superstitious or not — the odds seemed to be in Virginia Tech’s favor.

But after only playing four games in 39 days, the odds fell out of the Hokies’ hand late in the second half.

After Tech jumped out to a 33-27 lead at the end of the first half, where the offense shot 52.2%, the lack of condition from having its last two regular season games caught up to Young’s squad.

In the second half, not only could the Hokies not knock their shots down (37%), but they also managed to let the Gators get hot from the field. Florida shot 11-of-18 (61%) from the floor and knocked down 13 of its 19 free throws.

On top of that, Aluma, who had been the team’s leader on offense for the majority of the season and earned numerous ACC awards, struggled with foul trouble before fouling out early in overtime. He struggled against UNC, too, only scoring nine points on four-of-13 shooting.

The Tar Heels forced Aluma to take tough shots at the rim, and Florida keyed in on that too. Against UNC, three of Aluma’s layups were blocked, and against UF, the defense swatted two of his close shots in the first half.

He finished the day three-of-six but only accounted for seven total points, which was less than many expected.

Aluma was matched up with Florida’s tallest player, six-foot-11 Colin Castleton, who scored a team-high 19 points and pulled down game-highs in blocks (three) and rebounds (14).

That’s when Tech turned to the duo of Radford and Alleyne. Radford scored 18 points in the loss to Florida — two shy of his second straight 20-point game. Tech’s guard tandem combined for 46 of the Hokies’ 70 total points.

“This [game] definitely set a fire in all of us,” Alleyne said. “We’ll be back next year, for sure.”

It wasn’t the result that Tech was looking for, but for a team that finished third in the ACC regular season standings, most can be happy about the team’s success.

Young said that he doesn’t want any of his players to depart from Blacksburg this offseason. Last year, the Hokies lost six players to the transfer portal and graduation.

The team is certainly built for the future with Oklahoma recruit Sean Pedulla and veteran transfer Storm Murphy coming aboard to join a talented Hokies squad next season.

The excitement and thrill is only budding in Blacksburg. A deep run in the NCAA Tournament is coming soon.

“The future is now,” Young said.

The Mike Young era is only scratching the surface of what it can become.