Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Stock Report After Half-Court Heartbreaking Loss to SMU

Virginia Tech lost last night on a buzzer-beater half-court look from Boopie Miller.

Jan 14, 2026; Dallas, Texas; SMU guard Boopie Miller (2) follows through on a game-winning half-court shot as Virginia Tech guard Ben Hammond (3) defends. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

After five contests, Virginia Tech men's hoops sits at 2-3 in the ACC. The Hokies will subsequently enter their contest against Notre Dame this Saturday off the following a heartbreaking loss to SMU, a 77-76 loss where Virginia Tech led by four points with 29 seconds of game time remaining.

SMU wins 77-76

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 15, 2026

Guard Ben Hammond and forward Tobi Lawal both missed crucial free throws at the charity stripe, allowing SMU (13-4, 2-2 ACC) to close the gap to just two points. This set the stage for guard Boopie Miller to take a dramatic final shot as time ticked away. From two steps behind the half-court line, he launched a shot over the outstretched arm of Hammond that was nothing but net. With that stunning three-pointer, Virginia Tech (13-5 ACC) endured its third loss of January in heart-wrenching fashion.

Earlier in the month, against Wake Forest, Nate Calmese had similarly crushed the Hokies' spirit with a trey over Hammond with just 6.5 seconds remaining on the clock. In a previous showdown with Stanford, Virginia Tech once again fell victim to a game-defining three-pointer, this time from guard Ebuka Okorie, who poured in an impressive 31 points, 26 of which came in the second half of the contest.

And Wednesday night, it happened again. 20 of Miller's points came in the first half. Virginia Tech arguably executed for 39 minutes and 31 seconds, barring a cold stretch from the field that lasted five minutes. With less than a minute to go, it was in position to win.

It is not a death knell for the Hokies’ postseason hopes. Virginia Tech climbed four spots in the NET rankings, moving from No. 59 to No. 55, while SMU dropped seven spots from No. 25 to No. 32 following the Hokies’ near-upset. Still, the reaction skews negative, not because it was a season-ending loss, but because it represented a missed opportunity for Virginia Tech to add a resume-defining win.

Virginia Tech was the better team for the majority of yesterday's contest. After being outscored, 21-14, in the opening 10 minutes, the Hokies outscored the Mustangs, 46-35, in the next 20 minutes of ball. Yet, when it came down to it, the Hokies couldn't close out. Virginia Tech claimed over a 50% win probability on KenPom around a fourth of the way into the second half. It sat nearly at 100% with time ticking away. Yet, it didn't make its free throws and left itself susceptible to Miller's game-winning triple.

Call the half-court shot improbable. Call it unlikely. Call it whatever you please. However, Virginia Tech had multiple chances to avoid being in that position, if the free throws had been knocked down or if Amani Hansberry's inbound pass along the baseline hadn't knocked off the body of Neoklis Avdalas. The cuts added up.

But as I've said earlier, it's not a season-ender nor is it a significant dent in the Hokies' resume. Rather, it's an oh-so-close miss to having a serious and significant Quad 1 win on the resume to utilize for the NCAA Tournament committee come March. There are 13 games left — plenty of season remaining for the Hokies to secure Quad 1 victories. Virginia Tech has eight Quad 1 games left on its slate, while it has a chance at home on Feb. 21 to avenge its loss to Wake Forest earlier this January.

In the meantime, the Hokies must continue to claim the games that it's projected to win, doing so in games like Notre Dame this Saturday, Georgia Tech (Jan. 27), Florida State (Feb. 14) and Boston College (March 3). That, and snag away as many Quad 1 opportunities as possible. Syracuse, coming next Wednesday, offers a solid opportunity for Virginia Tech to add to its Quad 1 resume. At the time of writing, the Hokies currently possess a 1-3 record in Quad 1 games, a 5-2 record in Quad 2 contests and an unblemished 7-0 mark in Quad 3/4 matchups.

Virginia Tech men's basketball next takes on Notre Dame on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 12 p.m. ET; coverage will be available on the ACC Network as the Hokies look to raise their conference record back up to an even .500.