The Hokies came up short late Tuesday night in their 67-66 loss at Miami.
Virginia Tech (17-10, 6-8 ACC) led for 22:47 and had a three-point cushion with 90 seconds remaining, but things unraveled as the Hurricanes (21-5, 10-3) won their fourth consecutive game.
The Hokies couldn't slow down Tre Donaldson, who dropped a career-high 32 points on 13-for-24 shooting, which included a 3-for-7 clip from behind the arc. (The last opposing player to make 13 field goals on Tech was Duke's Jahlil Okafor on Feb. 25, 2015.) He scored 24 of his points in the second half, and Miami only had 36 points as a team.
Donaldson took over the game down the stretch. He scored the Canes' final 15 points, which included two 3-pointers and the game-winning free throw. One of those triples tied the game at 66 with 1:18 left.
"He's been around since the Reagan administration," Tech head coach Mike Young said of Donaldson, who previously faced the Hokies at Michigan and Auburn. "Tre has been a part of a lot of really good basketball. He's good, he's old and big and strong and gets fouled. We don't have a great matchup for him. I thought we fought, but Tre had a good ballgame."
After Tech failed to capitalize on its next two possessions after that Donaldson trey, Miami called timeout to set things up with 30 seconds remaining. It was in the bonus with a seven-second differential with the shot clock, and Hokies forward Tobi Lawal committed a costly foul — his fifth — when hedging a ball screen against Donaldson with 12.5 seconds remaining, bailing out the home team.
"Had a bad foul on Tre, tie game, just want to play that out," Young said. "We're one stop away, we're going to have the last shot, and Tobi — who's a really good player and was saddled with fouls a lot — fouled him, and you can't do that."
Donaldson went 1-for-2, putting the Hurricanes ahead 67-66, and the Hokies raced down the court to try to win the game. However, Miami had two fouls to give, which chewed some clock and slowed things down.
Ultimately, Tech called timeout with 3.8 seconds on the clock with one final opportunity at the win. Neoklis Avdalas inbounded to Ben Hammond, who was guarded by Donaldson and expertly avoided a screen from Amani Hansberry. He bumped Hammond on his way to the lane, and the Hokies' point guard slipped and hoisted a shot as time expired, but it did not fall, cementing their defeat.
Here was the #Hokies’ final play: pic.twitter.com/Aw51wrKWNG
— David Cunningham (@therealdcunna) February 18, 2026
Tech shot 50 percent from the floor in the loss, converting 28 of its 56 field goals — it was 14-for-28 in both halves — and finished with 20 assists to 11 turnovers. It made eight of its 20 looks from deep (40%), too. Meanwhile, Miami won despite shooting just 44 percent (27-for-61) overall and 4-for-16 (25%) from three.
While rebounding was close — a 33-31 margin in the Hurricanes' favor — the difference came at the stripe. The Hokies were just 2-for-3 from the foul line. Hammond made the team's lone attempt in the first half while Lawal was 1-for-2 in the second. Meanwhile, Miami was 9-for-13, with three makes apiece from Malik Reneau and Donaldson.
Reneau wasn't as much of a factor as expected. He missed a chunk of the second half with an injury and finished with nine points and six rebounds on 3-for-6 shooting. For the most part, Tech handled the Canes' bigs, with Ernest Udeh Jr. posting just four points and nine boards.
Rather, it was Donaldson who tore up the Hokies. He reached his spots and got defenders in the air, making 10 of his 17 2-point baskets and knocking down a few long jumpers with a hand in his face. Tech defended him well in spurts, but wasn't good enough at the end.
On the other side, Hansberry paced the Hokies with 16 points while Bedford chipped in 12 and Hammond added 10. Lawal had eight points and seven boards but spent much of the game in foul trouble. They also received six points apiece at the five spot from Antonio Dorn and Christian Gurdak, while Jaden Schutt made two triples.
Avdalas led Tech in the assist category with eight, and also corralled five boards, but only took three shots in 30 minutes, making just one.
Of the 13 meetings between the Hokies and Hurricanes under Young, it's the ninth time a game has been decided by fewer than six points or in overtime. Virginia Tech is 4-5 in those games.
The Hokies were already in a tight spot, but their backs are really against the wall now with four games remaining. They close the regular season vs. Wake Forest (Saturday), at No. 16 North Carolina, vs. Boston College and at No. 14 Virginia.
Box Score: Miami 67, Virginia Tech 66