Blacksburg, VA -- Seth Greenberg's coaching debut at Virginia Tech started out the right way, as his Hokies got off to a 44-32 half time lead over New Hampshire and then ran away with the game in the second half, winning 79-49.
As expected, Bryant Matthews led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds, both game-high figures, but the story of the night was the play of freshman guards Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon, who combined for 35 points, 10 assists, 7 steals, and just four turnovers. Dowdell, Gordon, and Matthews were joined by Markus Sailes and Philip McCandies in the starting lineup, and all five players played at least 25 minutes each. Among the backups, only Allen Calloway (23 minutes) played more than five minutes, as the depleted Hokies basically went with a six-man rotation.
Gordon scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 4-of-7 from three-point range. Dowdell added 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting (3-of-7 from three-point range), and both players had 5 assists. For the game, the Hokies had 18 assists and a remarkable 16 steals, with 14 turnovers. The Hokies harassed New Hampshire into 24 turnovers and 32.8% shooting from the field.
VT jumped to a 20-11 lead, gave up 7 straight points, and then poured it on, outscoring UNH 59-31 the rest of the way. New Hampshire, winners of just 26 games over the last four seasons under coach Phil Rowe, were vastly outplayed by a Tech team wracked by injuries. The Hokies were particularly effective defensively in the second half, when they opened with an 18-4 run and limited UNH to 6-of-33 shooting (18.2%). With 14:20 to go, the Hokies were up 62-36, and the game was out of reach for UNH.
Tech is now 1-0 on the year, with New Hampshire falling to 1-2. The Hokies play Western Carolina Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.
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Virginia Tech 79, New Hampshire 49
11/22/03, Blacksburg, Va.
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New Hampshire 1-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 WALLS, Craig........ f 2-6 0-0 0-1 1 3 4 2 4 1 4 2 0 23
00 STURGILL, Ben....... c 6-10 0-0 1-1 4 4 8 3 13 0 4 0 0 32
03 BULLOCK, Marcus..... g 1-8 1-8 0-0 0 3 3 1 3 0 4 0 2 35
10 DENNIS, Ronnie...... g 4-8 1-3 1-2 0 1 1 2 10 0 2 0 0 24
40 CHILDS, Shejdie..... g 1-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 4 5 0 2 23
02 FRIEL, Jeremy....... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 2
12 KARALIS, Ioannis.... 1-8 0-6 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 19
20 WILLIAMS, Roland.... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
31 WALKER, Griffin..... 0-3 0-1 2-2 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 16
34 LIDDELL, Damione.... 2-8 0-0 4-4 3 2 5 2 8 0 3 1 0 17
45 PETERSON, Kyle...... 1-1 0-0 0-1 2 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 4 4 8 1
Totals.............. 19-58 3-22 8-11 16 22 38 18 49 6 24 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 52.0% 2nd Half: 6-33 18.2% Game: 32.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 1-13 7.7% Game: 13.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 72.7% 2
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Virginia Tech 1-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 MATTHEWS, Bryant.... f 6-12 0-1 9-12 5 5 10 2 21 3 4 1 5 36
25 McCANDIES, Philip... f 5-13 0-0 1-1 2 2 4 3 11 0 1 0 0 26
01 DOWDELL, Zabian..... g 6-12 3-7 0-0 0 2 2 0 15 5 0 0 3 35
02 GORDON, Jamon....... g 8-13 4-7 0-0 2 4 6 4 20 5 4 0 4 34
24 SAILES, Markus...... g 3-6 1-3 0-0 0 4 4 0 7 5 1 0 4 33
04 DAVIS, Fabian....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3
11 RITCHIE, Bob........ 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
15 LATTIMORE, Mykhael.. 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
21 CALLOWAY, Allen..... 2-3 0-0 0-6 3 5 8 2 4 0 2 5 0 23
42 TUCKER, Chris....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 5
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 30-62 8-20 11-21 15 24 39 12 79 18 14 7 16 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-29 51.7% 2nd Half: 15-33 45.5% Game: 48.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-12 75.0% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 52.4% 5
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Officials: Ed Corbett, Donnee Gray, Michael Stuart
Technical fouls: New Hampshire-TEAM. Virginia Tech-None.
Attendance: 5984
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
New Hampshire................. 32 17 - 49
Virginia Tech................. 44 35 - 79
2003-2004 Men's Basketball Schedule/Results