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Men's Basketball
vs Late Night Madness
TBA
Providence College Athletics
Wednesday, February 4
Blacksburg, Va.
7:00 PM
Providence College
57
at
69
Virginia Tech
Friars Fall At Virginia Tech, 69-57
2/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 4, 2004
By CHRIS KAHN
Associated Press Writer
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenburg was pleased his Hokies finally beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season.
Bryant Matthews scored 23 points and Coleman Collins added 21 to help Virginia Tech (9-10, 2-6 Big East) beat No. 23 Providence 69-57 Wednesday night and snap a five-game losing streak.
"We've kind of gotten punched in the face at times, you hope to get off the mat and keep on competing," said Greenburg, in his first season with the Hokies after spending seven years at South Florida. "I told the guys you need to act like you've done it before."
Tech withstood a late run by the Friars (14-5, 5-3) to beat a ranked team for the first time since topping then-No. 18 Connecticut 95-74 last Feb. 5. The Hokies were 0-3 against ranked teams this season.
After Donnie McGrath hit a 3-pointer to give Providence its first lead in the second half, Matthews hit a layup and Zabian Dowdell scored two straight 3-point shots to put the Hokies up for good with 11:44 left.
After getting beat 96-60 to No. 5 Connecticut last week, Tech players said they spent a lot of time re-examing their game.
"We've been tough on ourselves to get beat that bad," Gordon said.
Providence (14-5, 5-3) was frustrated most of the game, committing 21 fouls and turning the ball over 19 times. Coach Tim Welsh slammed his jacket down with 1:15 left after complaining about trying to get a substitute in and receiving a technical foul.
"When one team gets 33 free throws and the other gets six, it's usually the ending," Welsh said. "Sometimes it's caused by one team dominating the other, but I don't think that was the case tonight."
Ryan Gomes scored 18 points and Sheiku Kabba added 13 for Providence, which was coming off a season-low output in a 55-46 loss Sunday at Seton Hall.
Tech led 27-26 points at halftime. After trailing 10-8 in the first half, the Hokies went on a 12-2 run to open an eight-point lead. Collins scored 11 points in the first half.
"Lately I've been reluctant to take shots," Collins said. "This week I've been trying to get more aggressive."
The Friars haven't won at Virginia Tech since a 75-60 victory on Jan. 20, 2001. They've now lost two straight since winning six in a row.
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