Three Takeaways From Virginia Tech's 67-66 Loss to Miami.
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Virginia Tech came painfully close to a resume-changing road win Tuesday night, but the Hokies left Miami with a 67-66 loss after Ben Hammond's final attempt fell short at the buzzer. The defeat was a gut punch in a game Tech led for most of the contest. Here are three takeaways from the game.
— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 18, 2026
1. It happened again.
For most of the game, Virginia Tech did enough to win. The Hokies were up three at the half, and were up as much as four points in the final 2:34 of the game. But tonight's loss was an all too familar ending for Virginia Tech fans.
After Lawal put the Hokies up 65-61 with just over two and a half minutes remaining, Miami head coach called a timeout to go over the game plan with his team. The offensive possession that followed led to a Tre Donaldson step back jumper from the free throw line to bring it within two.
The following possession, Tobi Lawal grabbed his own miss and was fouled by Malik Reneau. Lawal then made one of his two free throw attempts. Now up three, Donaldson took over and swished a three to tie the game.
After a Virginia Tech turnover and missed three by Jailen Bedford, Miami found itself in a tie game with 12 seconds remaining. Lawal, wanting to perserve time, fouled Donaldson, who made one of his free throws.
Now down a point, Virginia Tech had the ball to have another statement road victory. Miami was able to drain precious seconds off the clock since they had two fouls to give. Neoklis Avdalas in bounded the ball with three seconds left and passes it to Hammond who is unable to make the buzzer beating nine-foot floater.
2. Tre Donaldson could not be stopped tonight.
No matter what Virginia Tech did defensively, it could not stop Donaldson from scoring. The senior guard finished with 32 points, shooting 13-for-24 from the field.
In the final 7:36 of the game, the Hurricanes scored 15 points, all of which were by Donaldson. He shot 54.2 percent from the field, while the rest of his team shot just 34.8 percent.
From three, Virginia Tech did a good job defensively against Miami, who shot just 25 percent from behind the arc. Of those four threes, Donaldson made three of them.
3. The path to March got even more steep.
Virginia Tech played well enough to win, but "almost" does not move the needle in February, especially for a team who is on the outside looking in for March Madness. After a road win against then No. 20 Clemson, the Hokies chances looked much better to compete in the big dance.
But after a bad loss to Florida State, the Hokies needed a win tonight. But once again, the Hokies lost composure in the final few minutes of the game and lost another close one.
Virginia Tech will head home and look to secure a must win against Wake Forest on Saturday. Tipoff for the game is at 12:00 p.m. ET, and coverage will be on the ACC Network.
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James Duncan is a senior at Virginia Tech studying Sports Media and Analytics. He is an active member of 3304 Sports, covering Virginia Tech sports, as well as a reporter for The Lead covering the Washington Commanders. James is passionate about delivering detailed, accurate coverage and helping readers connect with the games they love.