BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Zach LeDay scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Seth Allen added 15 points and Virginia Tech beat the Virginia Military Institute 88-72 on Saturday night.We were much more purposeful with our dribbles and passes in the second half in the pace we want to play, said Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams.Virginia Tech (3-0) took the lead for good with 6:44 left in the first half on Khadim Sys layup. The Hokies led 44-34 at the break on the strength of 57 percent shooting and a 19-12 rebounding edge.I think we played real good pushing the ball, said LeDay, but we have to be better on the defensive end. We want to be playing in March.Tech led by 20 points on several occasions in the second half but VMI kept chipping away.QJ Peterson scored 29 points (23 in the second half) with three 3-pointers and eight rebounds for the Keydets (1-1).Hes a really good player and whats nice is that hes our hardest worker as well, said VMI head coach Dan Earl. His decision making . was really good.Were recognizing when someone has the hot hand and were trying to get them the ball, Peterson said of his big night in a losing effort. They trusted me more in the second half. They wanted me to keep on attacking and make the plays.Adrian Rich and Trey Chapman added 10 points apiece for VMI.Virginia Tech finished shooting 60 percent from the floor (33 of 55) and hit 7 of 17 3-pointers. VMI shot 44 percent from the floor and was outrebounded 34-28.Justin Bibbs and Chris Clarke each added 13 points for Tech.Allen said he is not looking ahead to the ACC portion of the schedule.We have to think about how to get better now, hopefully it will get to that level, he said. I feel pretty good -- off the court (and) on the court we love each other.Three games into the season Williams said he likes his team a lot.I think theyre playing for each other, he said.TAKEAWAYSVirginia Tech: Tech is now 91-43 all-time against the VMI Keydets in a rivalry that dates back to the 1908-09 season. The Hokies have won the last six games in the series. Tech doesnt begin the ACC portion of its schedule until a New Years Eve noon home game against Duke.VMI: The Keydets havent beaten Virginia Tech since Dec. 4, 2004.STAT OF THE NIGHTThe Hokies shot 51.7 percent from the free throw line -- 41 percent in the second half. We could easily have scored 100 if we made our typical free throw percentage, said Williams. Hopefully its an aberration; I dont think Seth Allen (1 of 5) is a 20-percent free throw shooter.UP NEXTVirginia Tech hits the road for their next game against New Mexico on Thanksgiving Day in Fullerton, California, competing in the Wooden Legacy tourney. ESPN will carry the 4:30pm contest. Williams noted the 10-day, 2 time zone trip: I dont know that Virginia Tech has ever done that.VMI is on the road Tuesday night against Presbyterian College. Well find out a lot about ourselves in these next four games, said Earl of a stretch that also includes Campbell and Radford. Fake Football Jerseys . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Fake Baseball Jerseys .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. https://www.fakejerseys.us.com/ . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Fake Soccer Jerseys .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Replica Jerseys . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons finally clamped down on defense, in plenty of time to secure their third straight win.Tobias Harris scored 25 points and Marcus Morris added 22 to lift the Pistons to a 102-89 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. Detroit closed the game with eight straight points, and the Knicks didnt score after Derrick Roses bank shot with 5:40 remaining.I thought our offense in the first half was excellent, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. Defensively, I thought we finished the game real well.The Pistons have won three in a row -- all by double digits -- since dropping their season opener. They held New York to 10 points in the fourth quarter.Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points for the Knicks, and Rose added 19.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 19 points for Detroit, and Andre Drummond had nine points and 13 rebounds.Its been an encouraging start for Detroit, which has been playing without injured point guard Reggie Jackson. The Pistons shot 55 percent from the field in a smoothly played first half, and Detroit was up 64-55 after two quarters.I have been very amazed about how we move the ball, Caldwell-Pope said. Everybody is getting equal shots. Nobody is being selfish. We are being a little too unselfish, but thats good.The offenses bogged down in the second half, and the Knicks had chances to close the gap in the fourth quarter. Down 94-89, New Yorks Lance Thomas missed from the perimeter. Morris made two free throws at the other end with 3:22 remaining.A 3-pointer by Caldwell-Pope put the Pistons up by 10, and Harris added a three-point play with 1:11 left.It just didnt go down tonight, Rose said. When the shots arent falling, we have to depend on our defense even more. We have to play tthe type of game where if were having a hard time scoring, youre definitely going to have a hard time scoring.dddddddddddd Thats the mentality and culture were trying to build.TIP-INSKnicks: Joakim Noah had only two points, but he contributed eight assists and 11 rebounds. ... Former Detroit G Brandon Jennings scored 12 points for the Knicks.Pistons: Detroit outscored the Knicks 50-32 in the paint. ... Harris had 10 rebounds. ... Ish Smith, starting in place of Jackson (knee), had 10 points and eight assists. ... The Pistons went 8 of 13 from 3-point range.WEARING DOWN?Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said his teams stamina may have played a role in the offensive struggles late.Were not in the kind of condition that we need to be to play offense and defense for 48 minutes, Hornacek said. It looked like we did get a little tired and thats going to affect the shooting.STICKY FINGERSThe Knicks had only three turnovers in the first half, and the Pistons had only two. That was a big reason the game was so high-scoring early. New York finished with 12 turnovers and Detroit had 11.REPLACEMENTSVan Gundy wasnt totally buying the idea that the Pistons have had no problems without Jackson. Smith and Beno Udrih were a combined 8 of 23.I think anybody in the league would tell you that were playing well, but Reggies just a really difficult guy to guard in the pick-and-roll. So we miss him, and thats taking nothing away from Ish and Beno.UP NEXTKnicks: Host Houston on Wednesday night.Pistons: Detroit heads to New York as well. The Pistons face Brooklyn on Wednesday night.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '