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News Feed - February 10, 2009

A.D. Vassallo coolly said after Sunday's overtime win against North Carolina State that he knew if Virginia Tech forced overtime, it would win. This could easily have been chalked up as a confident player -- remember Vassallo arguing with Coach Seth Greenberg about defensive assignments against Clemson? -- but there was legitimacy to Vassallo's claim.

Virginia Tech is 8-2 in its last 10 overtime games. By the time a game reaches overtime, it is well established that both teams have played nearly as well. And a sample size of 10 games that spans a few seasons suggests Virginia Tech's success is not coincidence. For the basis of comparison, Duke -- a successful, well-coached program -- is 3-7 in its last 10 overtime games.

"We try to embrace overtime," Greenberg said. "We try to embrace the first 40 minutes, but it doesn't always work, either. Getting off to a good start has been the key. Getting stops. We never come into an overtime, saying 'Oh, we got to go into overtime.' I say, 'Hey, this is basketball. this is greatest sport in the world, and you get to play five extra minutes. It's tremendous. Go out there and play.' And that's the mindset I always try to sell them in that timeout going into overtime."

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