It’s great that sporting events can be so unpredictable, except when you bet on the wrong team. The defeat of #5 Duke by unranked Virginia Tech is an indication of the unpredictable play and results we’re going to see this season in NCAA hoop.The Duke Blue Devils (13- 2 overall, 0- 1 ACC) were stunned by the Virginia Tech Hokies (11- 4 overall, 2- 0 ACC) 67-69 today. The win puts the Hokies on top of the conference with Boston College, which is also 2- 0. Neither BC nor VT are ranked.

Although the Blue Devils shot 22 of 46 (.478) from the floor to the Hokies 26 of 60 (.433) and hit 5 of 12 (.417) from downtown, while their opponents knocked down 4 of 11 (.364) from the same distance, it was the penalty stripe and turnovers that turned the tide for Tech.

Virginia Tech was 13- 18 (.722) on fouls shots, while Duke went 18- 28 (.643).

Although the Hokies dominated the Blue Devils for much of the game, Duke managed to tie it up on a 3-pointer by guard DeMarcus Nelson (22 points) with 18 seconds left. VT guard Zabian Dowell (20 points) then tried an 18-footer, which he missed and the game went into OT.

In OT, with time ticking down, Guard Greg Paulus (0 points) threw up a 3-point try that was blocked by VT’s forward Deron Washington (5). Blue Devils’ coach Mike Krzyzewski was not happy by Paulus’ shot selection, noting, “You have to know time and score. If you’re down by three, you’re going to take a three…. You have to drive hoping you get two points, and we didn’t do that.� A frustrated Krzyzewski also observed, “We deserved more to win last year [against Virginia Tech] than we did this year. We played a lot better [last time] than we did this year.�

In the ACC, you’ve got to play well to win just about every and any night.

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