Associated Press | File 2007

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Tuesday that about 150 employees of the front office will have their jobs eliminated.

ATHENS, Ga. -- It seemed like the recipe for a winning shot: a defensive mismatch on Virginia Tech's best player, A.D. Vassallo, who was open in the final seconds.

But Tech point guard Hank Thorns didn't notice, so Vassallo couldn't take advantage.

As a result, the Hokies suffered yet another close loss.

The Hokies hurt themselves with poor offensive execution and fell to Georgia 67-66 on Tuesday night.

Virginia Tech's four losses have been by a total of eight points.

The Hokies (5-4) have yet to beat a team from a significant conference, having lost to Xavier (63-62 in overtime), Seton Hall (77-73), Wisconsin (74-72) and now the defending Southeastern Conference tournament champs.

"We're not very far away from being pretty good," said Tech coach Seth Greenberg, whose team shot 32 percent from the field in the second half. "We weren't as poised in the second half as we needed to be. We just shot it too quick.

"We've got to come up with a rebound. We've got to be a little bit more poised. We've got to make free throws. ... We've got to come up with loose balls."

Cheick Diakite sank two free throws to give Tech a 66-65 lead with 57.1 seconds remaining, but Albert Jackson scored to give Georgia (6-3) a 67-66 lead with 27.8 seconds to go.

After a timeout, Thorns brought the ball down the court. He passed to Malcolm Delaney (11 points), who was trapped and passed it back to Thorns. Greenberg called another timeout with 11 seconds to go.

Greenberg said he called a play for Vassallo, who scored a game-high 23 points in front of nine NBA scouts, or Jeff Allen.

Delaney inbounded the ball to Allen, who passed to Thorns. Vassallo, being guarded by post player Chris Barnes, was open on the wing.

"I saw it. I was about to have a heart attack," Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. "There was just a little bit of indecision and lack of communication between our two guys, and [Vassallo] did have some space. Luckily, he was on the weak side of the floor and we were putting enough pressure on him out front where he wasn't easy to find."

Thorns didn't spot Vassallo. Instead, he missed about a 16-foot jumper.

Diakite got the rebound, but he missed a shot as well. Jackson got the rebound and was fouled with .5 of a second to go.

"We [were] trying to get Malcolm off a stagger," Thorns said. "They end up switching on A.D. and put a [post player] on him, but I didn't notice it till after I shot the ball.

"I just tried to do what was best for the team. I just tried to get a foul, really. I tried to draw some contact [on the jumper]. ... I got a good look. I got a little contact.

"We should've put it away a long time ago."

Diakite regretted his miss near the basket.

"It was my fault," he said. "I just feel bad. I rushed myself. I was trying to beat the ... clock."

As Jackson walked down the court to the free-throw line, an angry Greenberg scolded Thorns.

After the lecture, Greenberg stomped his foot in frustration.

"We set up a play, and A.D. was open. We missed him," Greenberg said. "We got a mismatch. ... We missed him.

"That didn't lose us the game. What lost us the game is those two back-to-back free-throw blockouts we missed and the long rebounds."

Georgia had lost by 21 points to Loyola of Chicago, by four points to Western Kentucky and by 34 points last weekend at Illinois. But the Bulldogs outrebounded Tech 43-38, and had 12 turnovers to the Hokies' 18.

Allen again got into foul trouble, and finished with eight points in 25 minutes.

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Allen 25 4-9 0-1 6 1 5 8

Hudson 13 2-5 0-0 2 1 0 4

Delaney 35 3-9 3-3 3 3 2 11

Diakite 23 1-3 4-6 5 2 4 6

Vassallo 37 8-14 3-5 7 1 2 23

Bell 17 1-3 1-2 3 0 1 3

Thorns 21 2-8 0-0 2 5 0 4

Davila 17 1-1 0-0 5 1 1 2

Witcher 12 2-3 1-2 1 0 3 5

Totals 200 24-55 12-19 38 14 18 66

Georgia MP FG FT R A F PT

Swansey 28 3-9 0-2 3 5 1 6

Butler 32 4-8 1-1 3 0 2 11

Woodbury 32 2-10 0-0 6 4 3 5

Thompkins 25 2-7 3-6 7 0 1 9

Jackson 20 3-7 1-3 5 0 2 7

Ware 13 1-6 2-2 1 3 1 4

Barnes 16 4-4 3-5 1 1 3 11

Leslie 14 4-9 0-2 8 0 3 8

Zlovaric 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Price 19 3-5 0-0 7 1 0 6

Totals 200 26-65 10-21 43 14 16 67

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by halves:

Virginia Tech 41 25 -- 66

Georgia 38 29 -- 67

3-point goals: Virginia Tech 6-20 (Vassallo 4-6, Delaney 2-7, Bell 0-1, Allen 0-2, Hudson 0-2, Thorns 0-2), Georgia 5-14 (Thompkins 2-2, Butler 2-5, Woodbury 1-2, Swansey 0-2, Ware 0-3).

Turnovers: Virginia Tech 18 (Vassallo 5), Georgia 12 (Woodbury, Price 3).

Blocked shots: Virginia Tech 7 (Diakie 6), Georgia 2 (Thompkins, Jackson).

Steals: Virginia Tech 10 (Vassallo 3), Georgia 7 (Butler 3).

Officials: Stuart, Corbett, Donato

Attendance: 6,779