Monday, March 24th, 9:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Cassell Coliseum (9,847) -- Blacksburg, Virginia. Television: ESPN. NIT Record: UAB 12-8, Virginia Tech 19-6. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The 71st annual NIT continues tonight as the Virginia Tech Hokies play host to the UAB Blazers in the second round of the event at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg. The Hokies, who bowed to top-ranked North Carolina during the ACC Tournament by a mere two points back on March 15th, turned up the offense in the first round of this tourney with an overwhelming 94-62 victory versus Morgan State. The win was the 19th in 25 NIT postseason games for top-seeded VaTech, which has two trophies from the event from 1973 and 1995. As for the fifth-seeded Blazers, who finished third in the tournament in both 1989 and 1993, they went from losing to Tulsa by 10 points in overtime during the Conference USA Tournament (78-68), to posting an 80-77 win versus VCU during the first round of this event last Wednesday on the road. The winner of this first-ever meeting between the two will take on the survivor of the Ole Miss/Nebraska contest in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The Blazers should have cruised to the win last week versus VCU, but the visitors made it rather hard on themselves in what turned into just a three- point victory. Leading by as many as 15 points with just over six and a half minutes remaining in regulation, UAB needed a layup by Reggie Huffman with 5.6 seconds left to seal the close decision. One of four player to score in double figures for the Blazers, Huffman finished with 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the floor, while Robert Vaden tacked on 16 points and five assists. Lawrence Kinnard posted 13 points and eight boards off the bench and Aaron Johnson tallied 12 points and six assists for the victors. Vaden, who is shooting almost as well from three-point range this season (.411) as he is the field overall (.416), leads the team in scoring with his 21.4 ppg, while Kinnard comes up with 11.2 ppg while clearing a team-best 6.8 rpg for a club that is outscoring opponents by more than seven points per game heading into this round of the postseason.

Like Huffman for the Blazers, A.D. Vassallo played nearly mistake-free basketball in Virginia Tech's win over Morgan State last week, dropping in a team-best 27 points. Vassallo made all but three of his 14 field goal chances and knocked down 3-of-5 behind the three-point line for the Hokies as they shot a blistering 65.4 percent from the floor as a group. Also credited with a trio of triples, Malcolm Delaney accounted for 13 points, while Deron Washington and Jeff Allen chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, with the former contributing nine rebounds and five assists as well. After playing in the shadows of several top-flight performers last season, Vassallo has taken over the spotlight for the Hokies in 2007-08, averaging a team-best 16.9 ppg while shooting almost 40 percent from three-point range. Washington produces 12.7 ppg, but his mere 14-of-60 showing out on the perimeter begs that he stay on the inside where he collects better than six and a half rebounds per game. Allen (12.1 ppg) is another one who is best served by remaining in the paint where he is pulling down almost eight rebounds per contest.

Many thought VaTech deserved a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but now that the squad has dropped to the second tier tournament it is important that the Hokies prove they were treated unfairly.

Predicted Outcome

Virginia Tech 74, UAB 66