The Hokies shot 54.8% for the game, knocking down 23-42 field goals, and they held Miami's potent guard trio of Guillermo Diaz, Robert Hite, and Anthony Harris to 33 points. The three of them were averaging 48.8 points coming in, but they shot just 11-30 against the Hokies, including only 3-12 from three-point range.

A let down from Thursday's hard-fought, emotional win over Duke was a possibility, but the Hokies quickly put that concern to rest, hitting 15-25 shots in the first half and taking a 41-28 lead into the break. Tech managed this without Carlos Dixon, who picked up two fouls in the first two minutes and spent the rest of the first half on the bench, scoring just three points before half time and just five points for the game.

Dowdell made more three-pointers than Miami's entire team, hitting 4-6 from beyond the arc. His best contributions from three-point range came after Miami's William Frisby hit two foul shots to cut the lead to 52-46 with 10:20 to go. Dowdell responded with two three-pointers in two minutes, including a rainbow from deep in the corner that put the Hokies back up by a dozen, 58-46 with 8:44 left.

Those two shots were the dagger that killed off a Miami team that played and coached uninspired basketball with so much on the line. Miami coach Frank Haith, who had an appendectomy Thursday, was cleared this morning by his doctor to fly in a private jet to Blacksburg. Haith was on the sideline but was unable to get an inspired effort out of his team. The Hurricanes switched back and forth between zone and man-to-man defense throughout the game without rhyme or reason, and Haith used some odd substitution patterns, at one point sending in five reserves at the same time in the first half.

Despite having so much firepower on the perimeter, the Canes were unable to get a consistent offensive effort going, and they shot 40% (20-50) for the game. Virginia Tech made just 18 of 30 free throws and were outrebounded by Miami 31-25, but the Hokies won the turnover battle 16-13, and outscored Miami 23-15 in points off turnovers.

Miami opened the game in a zone, which had given the Hokies trouble in their earlier game in Coral Gables. This time, Tech handled the zone easily, despite the absence of Dixon for much of the first half. In the early going, Collins hit a deep corner jumper, and Deron Washington knocked down two tough mid-range baseline jumpers. Scoreless against Duke as he suffered through foul trouble, Washington hit 3-4 field goals and had 10 points in 22 minutes against Miami.

Dixon also suffered through foul problems in the second half, playing just 12 second-half minutes after picking up his third and fourth fouls in the first five minutes of the half. Dixon's foul trouble paved the way for Tech's backups to play significant minutes, and Tech's bench outscored Miami's bench 8-5, the second game in a row that Tech's reserves have outscored their opponent's reserves.

Marquie Cooke played 17 minutes, and though he went scoreless, he had a steal, two assists, and played tough defense. Chris Tucker played 10 minutes and had three points, and Jeff King played 8 minutes, scoring a point and grabbing two rebounds. When the Hokies were suffering through a listless period in the second half, King dove out of bounds and flipped the ball behind his back to Collins, who slammed it through for a 52-42 lead with 13:03 left. King then took a charge at the other end of the floor from Diaz, and the crowd broke out in a chant of "Jeff King! Jeff King!"

Despite cutting it to six points at one point in the second half, the Hurricanes were never really in this one. Tech took a 21-9 lead ten minutes into the game, held the Canes off for the rest of the half, and scored the last four points before the break to go into half time up 41-28. Washington scored all 10 of his points to lead Tech in the first half.

The Hokies stretched the lead to 50-36 with 16:41 left on two free throws by Collins, but Miami started chipping away at it as Tech struggled with their half-court offense. Miami went on a 10-2 run, one of the few bright stretches of the game for the Canes, and two free throws by Frisby closed it to 52-46 with 10:20 left. Then Dowdell hit two straight three-pointers as described above, and the Hokies cruised from there, hitting 8 of 11 free throws in the last six minutes. As the game wound down, the Tech student section serenaded Miami with chants of "Just like football! Just like football!"

Having defended Cassell in convincing fashion during this two-game home stand, the Hokies now get a week off before playing the up-and-down NC State Wolfpack (72-71 losers to VT in Blacksburg on January 19th) in Raleigh next Saturday, February 26th. State is 15-10 overall but just 5-7 in the league and hosts North Carolina on Tuesday. The game between Virginia Tech and NC State is scheduled for 4 pm and will be televised by Raycom/Jefferson Pilot.