The Virginia Tech Hokies pulled off the upset victory over the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils, 64-60, on Saturday night. It was the Hokies' fourth victory over a No. 1 ranked team in school history. Tech now looks like a near-lock to make the NCAA Tournament.
The Hokies entered halftime with a 33-31 lead, but were down by six points as late as seven minutes left in the second half.
The Hokies' starting five scored all the points for the team. Jeff Allen had a monster game with team-highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Victor Davila added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Terrell Bell and Erick Green each had 12 points and Malcolm Delaney added 11 points and seven rebounds. Delaney's three-point shot with 2:02 left on the clock put the Hokies up, 62-57, essentially the shot that sealed the win for them.
For Duke, Kyle Singler's 22 points and 12 rebounds were not enough to give the Blue Devils the victory. Nolan Smith added 18 points. Singler and Smith accounted for two-thirds of the team's points.
This is the third week in a row that the No. 1 team in the country lost a game. Two weeks ago, the Ohio St. Buckeyes lost their first game of the season to the Wisconsin Badgers. The Kansas Jayhawks moved to No. 1 and then lost to the in-state rival Kansas St. Wildcats. The Blue Devils regained the top spot this week and then dropped a game to the unranked Hokies.
Who will be No. 1 this week? In the AP poll, Ohio St. is No. 2 and has a game against Indiana on Sunday. Kansas is No. 2 in the Coaches poll and improved to 27-2 with wins over Oklahoma St. and Oklahoma. Could the BYU Cougars, who beat San Diego St. on Saturday and improved to 27-2, be a dark horse for the spot?