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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Kerry Blackshear had 19 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 16 Virginia Tech beat Miami 71-56 in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Wednesday.
Ty Outlaw added 14 points - all in the first half - points for the fifth-seeded Hokies (24-7), who never trailed after scoring the game's first 11 points. The Hokies ran out to a 20-point lead before halftime, then turned away Miami's last serious push early in the second half with a 20-5 run that increased the margin past 20 again.
Virginia Tech shot 50 percent, including 11 of 27 on 3-pointers, to beat the 12th-seeded Hurricanes for a third time this season - all by double-figure margins.
Chris Lykes scored 19 points for Miami (14-18) which beat Wake Forest in Tuesday's first round. But the Hurricanes never gave themselves much of a chance on Day 2, falling behind big from the jump.
BIG PICTURE
Miami: The Hurricanes' win against the Demon Deacons ensured they would win at least one game in the ACC Tournament in seven of Jim Larrañaga's eight seasons as coach. That turned out to be the only highlight in a two-day stay in Charlotte at the end of a frustrating season, which included Lykes - the team's 5-foot-7 leading scorer at 16.2 points - behind helped off after he suffered an apparent right-leg injury when landing on a layup with 3:24 left. Larrañaga has his first losing season since going 9-18 in his first year at George Mason in 1997-98, and he had won at least 20 games in six of his first seven seasons with the Hurricanes.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies won't have point guard Justin Robinson for the ACC Tournament as he continues to deal with a foot injury that has sidelined him since late January. That wasn't a problem in their tournament debut in a game they were expected to win.
UP NEXT
The Hokies will face 12th-ranked and fourth-seeded Florida State in Thursday's quarterfinals.
NOTES
Virginia Tech (24-7) advanced to Thursday’s 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal game versus against No. 4 seed Florida State (25-6) … The Seminoles defeated the Hokies 73-64 in overtime in Tallahassee on March 5 in a game that decided this year’s No. 4 tournament seed and the event’s double-bye.
Virginia Tech improved to 10-14 all-time in the ACC Tournament and to 3-2 in second-round games.
Miami (14-18) slipped to 15-14 all-time in ACC Tournament play and to 2-2 in the second round.
The Atlantic Coast Conference Sports Media Association (ACSMA) recognized Virginia Tech grad student Ty Outlaw with the Bob Bradley Spirit and Courage Award prior to the opening tip … Outlaw responded by going 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the game’s first 4:25, staking the Hokies to an 11-0 lead.
With 19 points and 10 rebounds, Virginia Tech’s Kerry Blackshear Jr. recorded his eighth double-double of the season and his fourth in the last six games.
Outlaw finished with 14 points and was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc … Outlaw has made at least three 3-pointers in each of his last four games, at least one 3-pointer in nine consecutive games and in 15 of the last 16 contests.
Hokies sophomore Nickeil Alexander-Walker posted his sixth consecutive double-figure scoring game with 12 points and added six assists … Alexander-Walker has handed out at least six assists in three of the last four games.
Miami’s Chris Lykes just missed his 11th 20-point game of the season and matched Blackshear for game-high scoring honors with 19 … Lykes scored in double figures in 27 of the Hurricanes’ 32 games this season, including 20 games with 16 or more points.
The Hurricanes’ Anthony Lawrence II led all rebounders with 11 … Johnson posted his fourth consecutive game with 10-or-more rebounds and his sixth in the last seven games.
Junior DJ Vasiljevic finished with 17 points and averaged 19 points in Miami’s two 2019 ACC Tournament games … Vasiljevic entered the game eighth on the Hurricanes’ all-time 3-pointers made list and connected on four more Wednesday to give him 199 for his career.