National Basketball Association
Virginia Tech 59, Oklahoma St. 57
When: 2:30 PM ET, Friday, November 25, 2011
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials:
# Pat Driscoll, # Tim Higgins, # Mike Nance
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Erick Green scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, and Virginia Tech led the entire way after halftime in a 59-57 victory over Oklahoma State on Friday in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.
The Hokies (4-1) bounced back from a loss to Syracuse on Wednesday night, while the Cowboys (3-2) are on a two-game slide after going winless in New York.
Dorian Finney-Smith had 10 points and 14 rebounds for Virginia Tech, which moved to 2-0 all-time in this series and will travel to Oklahoma State for a rematch on New Year’s Eve.
Markel Brown scored a game-high 19 points to lead Oklahoma State, which got within striking distance multiple times in the second half but could never take the lead.
Freshmen Le’Bryan Nash and Cezar Guerrero, who came in as the Cowboys’ leading scorers, combined for only three points.
Keiton Page scored 11 for Oklahoma State, including a 3-pointer with one second left that resulted in the somewhat-misleading final score.
Virginia Tech led 32-23 at the break but the lead was cut to 40-37 on Jean-Paul Olukemi’s layup with 12:15 left. The Hokies responded with a 9-3 run over the next five minutes to stretch the lead back to 49-40 on Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer from the corner.
Later, Oklahoma State trailed 55-52 and had one final chance to tie it with less than a minute left, but a missed 3-pointer and a turnover led to Virginia Tech free throws that sealed the victory.
Top Game Performances
| Virginia Tech |
|
Oklahoma St. |
|
Erick Green 18 |
Scoring |
Markel Brown 19 |
|
Robert Brown 1 |
Assists |
Markel Brown 2 |
|
Dorian Finney-Smith 14 |
Rebounds |
Markel Brown 10 |
|
Erick Green 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Markel Brown 6 |
|
Robert Brown 2 |
Steals |
Markel Brown 2 |
|
Cadarian Raines 3 |
Blocks |
Michael Cobbins 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Virginia Tech
|
59 |
31.6 |
4-16 |
19-30 |
7 |
43 |
4 |
6 |
11 |
| Oklahoma St.
|
57 |
40.8 |
3-17 |
14-21 |
9 |
32 |
5 |
3 |
11 |