Wake Forest-Virginia Tech hoops notes
** Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg had an ongoing discussion with expressive referee Ted Valentine for much of Sunday's first half, which ended with the Hokies trailing Wake Forest 45-36.
"It’s not about the old men; it’s about the kids," Greenberg opined.
"I've had it up to here with you," Valentine responded. "I'm fed up with you. I’ve had enough of you already. I’ve been trying to talk to you and won’t listen."
Shortly thereafter, Valentine gave Greenberg a technical foul for further discussion, none of which was profane.
** Turnover margin decided this one. The Hokies went 29-for-32 from the foul line and outrebounded Wake 39-32, but the visitors' 22 turnovers against Wake's 11 proved critical.
** Wake coach Dino Gaudio went with the hot hand in the final seconds. The recently hot hand, that is. After a 1-for-6 start from the floor, Ishmael Smith went 6-for-8 down the stretch.
"I'll live and die with the ball in his hands. At any time," Gaudio said.
Four nights earlier, Smith was benched against South Florida, having been deemed a liability because of a 4-for-20 free-throw performance to that point in the season.
He was 2-for-3 against Tech.
"At the end of the South Florida game, he wasn't on the floor for us," Gaudio said. "But he kept working. He deserves the success he had tonight because of how much time he had put in at the gym."
** Chas McFarland on his late defense against Jeff Allen: "I knew I was not going to let him score. I wasn't going to help us lose the game. I was going to at least foul him."
McFarland and Harvey Hale distracted Allen's shot and the Deacs' center claimed the rebound.