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Wisconsin holds off Vassallo, Virginia Tech

Dec 2, 2008 - 7:06 AM BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Ticker) -- A.D. Vassallo nearly pulled off the upset by himself, but Trevon Hughes wouldn't let it happen.

Marcus Landry scored 18 points and Hughes hit a runner in the lane with less than a second remaining to give 22nd-ranked Wisconsin a 74-72 victory over Virginia Tech on Monday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Vassallo kept the Hokies in the games by scoring 24 of his 30 points in the second half, including a game-tying 3-pointer with nine seconds left.

After Vassallo tied the game, Hughes rushed down the middle of the court before getting hung up around the free-throw line. He spun in the lane before floating a runner which scraped over the front of the rim and in to provide the winning margin.

"He's a lead guard and that's what he's supposed to do," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said of Hughes. "He gets it (the ball) and he pushes it. He can make a play. That's his job."

"The guy (Hughes) drove it right down our throats," Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. "We've got to stop the ball. He drove it at the rim and made a good shot, and we didn't contain him."

Vassallo finished 12-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.

"If it wasn't for my teammates getting me the ball in the right places, I couldn't score the ball," Vassallo said. "They did a great job of screening and getting me the ball, and I just did the rest."

"He was in the zone and we wanted to get him as many shots as possible," Greenberg said. "Every time he shot it, we thought it was going in."

Landry gave the Badgers what appeared to be a strong lead when his 3-pointer with 1:08 left in the game pushed the edge to 67-58.

But Malcom Delany scored five points during an 8-1 run over the next 40 seconds to pull Virginia Tech back in at 68-66.

Joe Krabbenhoft made it a two-possession game again with a pair of free throws before Vassallo cut it to 70-69 with a 3-pointer. Jason Bohannon hit a pair of free throws for Wisconsin before Vassallo's game-tying 3-pointer.

Joe Leuer added 17 points and Bohannon chipped in 12 for the Badgers (6-1).

Both teams shot 51 percent from the floor, but Wisconsin made it to the free-throw line 19 times against 12 for the Hokies.