BROOKLYN — Virginia Tech guard Hunter Cattoor walked into the postgame press conference with a piece of the net tied around his hat and hand full of confetti he hastily shoved in his sock. He just wanted a keepsake, he said. Maybe it’ll find its way into a scrapbook making a tangible memory for a magical week.
Four games in four days for the Hokies produced four wins and the program’s first ACC tournament title. Along the way, Tech became the first team in the Mike Krzyzewski era to beat North Carolina and Duke on consecutive days. The Hokies came to the Barclays Center with it all to play for, sitting squarely in the middle of the bubble. Maybe in, maybe out. They showed they weren’t content leaving their NCAA tournament hopes in the hands of the committee as they beat Duke and made sure there will be no stress this Selection Sunday with an emphatic 82-67 win.
“I don’t watch the prognosticators and bracketologists,” head coach Mike Young said after the game. “I’m thinking, you get to the ACC final, even if we lose this game, holy cow we gotta be in the tournament, aren’t we? We are now, so to heck with that stuff. Our name will be called tomorrow and we’ll be excited wherever we may go.”
