Going into their second ACC road game of the season, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was looking for a major résumé-building win for the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies faced a major Quad 1 opportunity in Dallas against SMU, a team that came in after dropping its last two games.
Virginia Tech appeared to be in a good position to win the game, up four points with eight seconds left. After a missed 3-point attempt by SMU, all the Hokies had to do was inbound the ball, make a couple of free throws, and they would take a big step toward the right side of the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.