Virginia Tech 95, VMI 80

Virginia Tech 95, VMI 80

Published Nov. 16, 2012 3:13 a.m. ET

In Virginia Tech's last game, point guard Erick Green had no idea he needed one more point to top his career high until a teammate told him - and then Green proceeded to miss two free throws late that prevented him from breaking it.

Heading into Thursday night's game against the Virginia Military Institute, he knew ahead of time exactly how many points he needed to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

''Twitter, man,'' he said, laughing. ''Twitter tells you everything.''

Green needed 13 points and easily took care of that, scoring 23 points to help the Hokies to a 95-80 victory over Virginia Military Institute.

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The Hokies (3-0), who had five players in double figures, used a 19-3 run early in the first half to break open a close game, take a 28-15 lead and never trail again. A Green 3-pointer started the run in which five different players scored.

Virginia Tech led 46-30 at halftime and then opened the second half with a 12-2 run to build a 26-point bulge. The Hokies, who are adapting to new coach James Johnson's fast-paced philosophies, would later lead by as many as 31.

For the second time in three games, the Hokies scored 80 points or more. A year ago, Virginia Tech scored 80 or more just three times the entire season.

''The guys are buying into it,'' Johnson said. ''They're doing a very good job. When you talk about running and talking about playing fast, everyone wants to play that way. But it's tough to do. I think the guys are buying into it, and I think they're in condition to play that way. I'm pleased with the way it's going so far.''

Green, who hit a jumper in that 12-2 run for his 1,000th point, connected on 9 of 13 from the floor as the Hokies shot 52.9 percent for the game (36 of 68). Virginia Tech made 11 of 24 from beyond the 3-point arc.

''I try not to worry about that stuff,'' Green said of his milestone. ''It's a great accomplishment, but I'm just glad we got the win.''

Jarell Eddie scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Robert Brown added 11 points, but Virginia Tech also got big games from post players Cadarian Raines and C.J. Barksdale. The 6-foot-9 Raines notched his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while the 6-8 Barksdale added a career-high 11 points. Barksdale, a sophomore, had not scored in double figures in his career.

''The bottom line is they made shots,'' VMI coach Duggar Baucom said. ''They didn't come into the game shooting 46 percent from 3, I can tell you that. They made some unbelievable shots. Eddie in the second half was very good and Will Johnston (a walk-on who hit three 3-pointers) is barely on our scouting report, and he went 3 for 6. Marshall Wood came into the game 0 for 8 and he went 2 for 3.

''So that's 15 points, and it's a 15-point game. I wasn't terribly disappointed in our defense. They broke us down some, but if they shoot it 11 for 24 in the ACC, they'll be good. Really good.''

Poor shooting plagued VMI (1-3), which shot just 40 percent from the floor (28 of 70). The Keydets, who used a 16-0 run late in the game against Virginia Tech's backups to cut the final deficit, got a career-high 23 points from D.J. Covington.

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