Banged-up Virginia Tech set for tourney semifinal

If James Johnson feels like the deck is stacked against him for Virginia Tech's trip to Las Vegas this weekend, it's understandable.

The Hokies limp into the Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena for today's game against Bradley short-handed, under the weather and smarting from a 78-73 loss to Georgia Southern in last Saturday's second-round game.

Johnson, in his first year as Tech's coach after serving as an assistant to Seth Greenberg for five years, probably wishes his 8-2 team could reschedule the visit for, say, a year from now, when he'll have more than seven players on scholarship.

"The timing's not real good," he said. "We've had a (flu) bug go through our team, and we weren't deep to begin with. So I'm concerned about this weekend."

Also, freshman forward Marshall Wood broke a bone in his left foot and is out indefinitely. Wood was averaging 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds playing 18 minutes per game off the bench.

"We have so little room for error," Johnson said. "We need everyone to play at a high level."

Johnson is hoping senior Erick Green, the Hokies' talented guard who averages 24.8 points, can carry the team through the weekend.

"What I need from Erick is leadership," Johnson said. "I know he can score. But I need him running the team, taking care of the ball. He's doing a good job of getting his teammates involved, and he's more aggressive."

In today's other semifinal, Colorado State meets Portland at 7:30 p.m., with the winner playing the Tech-Bradley winner for the title at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Bradley, coming off a 7-25 record in coach Geno Ford's first season, has topped that win total during an 8-2 start.

The Braves' losses are to South Florida (82-63) and No. 2 Michigan (74-66).

"They're much improved. They're very impressive. They played Michigan right to the end," Johnson said.

Virginia Tech has a serious challenge ahead of it in trying to compete in the 12-team Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hokies were picked in a tie for 10th place in the ACC coaches preseason poll, and Johnson believes Virginia Tech's best chance is to try to outrun opponents.

"I think we're playing to our strengths," he said. "We're trying to get easy baskets instead of grinding it out and taking a lot of bumps."

That style might not be as effective playing back-to-back nights against physical teams such as Bradley and possibly Colorado State on Sunday.

"We're going to have to be smart about what we do," Johnson said. "We don't want to take that kind of pounding if we can help it."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.