Hokies dominate Spiders

BLACKSBURG -- The ball had barely left Jeff Allen's hand, as Allen slammed it through the hoop, when Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg began raving on the sideline. He bent his knees and stomped his right foot. He scrunched his face and waved his arms maniacally. "Let's go!" he screamed.

Through a narrow view, it would be difficult to decipher whether Greenberg was furious or happy. This season already has given him plenty of reasons to vent his frustrations.

And while several moments of last night's game against Richmond resulted in him appearing as though he was experiencing extreme physical pain, his reaction to Allen's dunk was joy as only Greenberg can express it -- and on a night when he had plenty of reasons to feel encouraged.

The play punctuated a first half that the Hokies dominated on their way to a 62-48 win at Cassell Coliseum. Allen's slam gave them a 39-19 lead with 1:03 left. They led 41-21 at halftime. They led by at least 16 until the final minute and a half of the game.

The game was essentially over in the first 13:34, during which the Spiders (9-7) shot 2 of 21. The miserable start put them in a 24-6 hole. Richmond, which relies on its outside shooting, attempts 20 3-pointers a game and makes an average of about eight. In the first half, the Spiders were 3 of 12 on 3s and 9 of 32 from the floor.

The Hokies were driven by last season's 52-49 loss at Richmond.

"It made me sick," said Greenberg, who before last night's game told his players to think about how, as they walked off the court at the Robins Center, they could hear the Spiders celebrating in the hallway.

Over the past three days, Greenberg watched footage of Pittsburgh playing Georgetown to formulate a strategy to defend the Spiders' offense. Like Georgetown, UR relies on spacing and back-cutting. Greenberg combined that research with assistant Ryan Odom's scouting report for a plan that worked almost flawlessly.

"We didn't give up one back-door layup," Greenberg said.

Richmond coach Chris Mooney saw how the approach frustrated his team.

"I think we settled just a little bit for harder shots that we don't necessarily need to settle for," he said.

Hokies forward J.T. Thompson led the defensive effort by holding guard David Gonzalvez, the Spiders' leading scorer, to 4-of-14 shooting and nine points.

"[Thompson] was relentless throughout the game," Mooney said.

Just as important for Tech was the play of Allen, who was 4 of 9 and had 11 points and 12 rebounds. In his past two games, he was a combined 1 of 11 and scored 12 points. He said he was troubled by "family problems," which he declined to detail.

The problems are cleared up now, he said.

"Tonight was a very important game for me," he said. "It was kind of like a comeback game, pick myself back up. Also, we had to pay them back for what they did to us last year."

Looking at Greenberg with 6:13 left in the game, his team up 19, you would have thought this was a late-February ACC game. After forward Terrell Bell's errant pass led to a Gonzalvez layup, Greenberg spun around, smacked his right hand on the scorers table and stormed down the sideline as if he were going to walk out of the gym.

He spent the rest of the game rubbing his hand (a postgame exam determined no broken bones), but still pleased with the balanced play provided by Thompson (10 points, eight rebounds) and Bell (eight points, five rebounds).

"I thought Bell was solid," Greenberg said, "until he forced me to break my hand."

RICHMOND (9-7)

3-point goals -- UR (3-22): K.Smith 0-1, Harper 1-5, Giddings 0-3, Gonzalvez 0-3, Anderson 0-2, Duinker 1-2, Martel 1-2, C.Smith 0-1, Butler 0-3. VT (2-14): Allen 0-1; Thompson 0-2, Vassallo 0-2, Delaney 1-5, Bell 0-2, Hudson 1-1, Thorns 0-1,

Turnovers -- UR (7): Anderson 2, Gonzalvez, Duinker, Martel, Butler, K.Smith. VT (16): Delaney 5, Allen 2, Vassallo 2, Thorns 2, Debnam 2, Bell, Hudson, Team.

Blocked shots -- UR (3): K.Smith, Harper, Giddings. VT (7): Diakite 3, Allen 2, Witcher 2.

Steals -- UR (9): K.Smith 3, Gonzalvez 2, Anderson 2, C. Smith, Duinker. VT (5): Allen 2, Bell 2, Delaney.

A -- 9,847.