BY DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

BLACKSBURG – The shots kept falling, and the lead grew and grew and grew some more – 15 points with 13:07 left in the first half, 27 with 5:43 left, 35 (yes, 35) with 2:17 left. And by the time Cassell Coliseum’s halftime horn sounded last night, 51 minutes after the 7 p.m. tip-off, the game was essentially finished, the second half academic, Virginia Tech’s basketball win over Miami as certain as the sheen on Hokies coach Seth Greenberg’s bald head.

The score was 81-66 when the game officially ended and four Tech starters walked off the court with at least 10 points, led by point guard Malcolm Delaney’s 28. But really, the beginning of the end for No. 23 Miami last night happened closer to the beginning of the game than the end. The first five shots the Hokies made, including three 3-pointers, rolled off the fingertips of five different starters. Like that, they were up 13-4 with 15:43 left, before many fans even settled into their seats.

Then Tech’s offensive highlights started running together.

Delaney, whose sprained left ankle appears sprained no more, zipped a two-hand over-head pass from beyond the 3-point line into the post, just past Miami’s Adrian Thomas, into the hands of Tech’s Jeff Allen, who dunked the ball. The play, which gave Tech a 26-7 lead, served Greenberg’s goal of getting Allen more involved than he was in Sunday’s 78-64 loss at North Carolina. “We’ve got to keep Jeff engaged,” Greenberg said.

Junior forward Terrell Bell, an inconsistent-at-best perimeter shooter, nailed a 3-pointer with 5:42 left (35-8), then another at 4:05 (40-10) and a third just for kicks at 2:44 (46-13). He scored 13 points, tying his career high, during the first half. In Bell’s 76 career games before last night, he made 15 of 73 3-pointers and averaged 2.7 points (5.4 this season). “I can’t explain it,” Bell said of his sudden sharp shooting.

The simple explanation: Tech, which made 7 of 9 3s in the first half, got open looks against Miami’s 2-3 zone defense by passing the ball into the middle of the zone. This drew a defender into that area and left a shooter open.

“All those things are great, but you have to make a shot,” Greenberg said. “Today, we made shots. When you make shots: good coach. When you miss shots: bad coach.”

The Hokies (1-1 ACC, 13-2) shot 62.1 percent in the first half, Miami 26.9. The Hurricanes didn’t make a field goal from the 11:53 mark to 3:12, during which they shot 0 of 7 and were outscored 23-4. DeQuan Jones ended the drought with a jumper that cut – nay, nicked – Tech’s lead to 43-13.

Tech limited the Hurricanes’ offense by holding them to 2-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in the first half. When the Hokies double-teamed in the post, they closed out “hard” on Miami’s dangerous shooters if they got the ball on the perimeter, Greenberg said. Miami (1-2, 15-2) shoots 39.9 percent on 3s and has three players who make at least 44 percent: James Dews, Malcolm Grant and Thomas. They combined to shoot 2 of 8 on 3s in the first half.

The Hokies, who led by at least 14 for all of the second half, responded impressively from the Carolina loss. “It was so important to win this game so we had no self-doubt,” Greenberg said. “We are a good team.”

Especially important for Allen, Tech’s most talented all-around player, who did practically nothing in the second half at Carolina, where he finised with four points, on 2-of-5 shooting, and seven rebounds. Last night: 5-of-9 shooting, 14 points, 10 rebounds—improvement he attributed to more consistent effort.

“I kind of dragged in the second half, kind of lost my enthusiasm,” Allen said. “This game, I just kept it all the way through. Instead of just playing one half, I played two.”

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Hokies ride big first half to their first ACC win this season.