JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech's J.T. Thompson scores over Longwood's Dana Smith during the Hokies 85-50 win at Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday.

BLACKSBURG -- Erick Green expects to lead. He just wasn't expecting to do it this soon.

The Virginia Tech freshman had to take over as point guard just 1:22 into Wednesday's game against Longwood when leading scorer Malcolm Delaney hit the floor with an ankle injury.

Green scored a career-high 15 points and delivered four assists as the Hokies demolished the Lancers 85-50 in a foul-filled game at Cassell Coliseum.

An initial x-ray revealed no break in Delaney's left ankle, coach Seth Greenberg said. But Delaney was sent for an MRI to further assess the damage.

Greenberg said Delaney will travel with the team to Cancun, Mexico, for its game against Seton Hall on Saturday, but Delaney, who averages 30 percent of the Hokies' scoring, will not play until he's ready.

"He's a tough rascal, and he's going to want to play," Greenberg said. "But he's going to have to be healthy before he can play."

The Hokies start ACC play on Jan 10 at No. 9 North Carolina.

Delaney went down driving to the net when he was fouled by Longwood's Martiz Washington. He fell to the floor and rolled onto his back, clutching at his ankle. He had to be helped off the floor, putting no pressure on the leg.

He returned only to watch from the sideline.

The Hokies also played extended time without Jeff Allen, who was in foul trouble and played just five minutes in the first half.

Terrell Bell caused the crowd to gasp when he too went down after a foul and clutched at his ankle just after halftime. But Bell got up after only a few seconds, shook off offers of assistance and hit both his free throws.

Bell scored all of his eight points in the first half. Allen scored all of his 13 points and pulled down six of his nine rebounds in the second.

Dorenzo Hudson had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists and Ben Boggs had 10 points -- eight from the foul line -- for the Hokies (11-1).

Green said he was "kinda nervous" when Delaney first went down. He played 20 minutes in Tech's rout of UMBC, scoring 10 points, but he wasn't planning to come off the bench before the starters even worked up a sweat.

"I had to just pick it up," Green said. "I was ready. I just stepped in and played and tried to pick up and do what [Delaney] does."

Green said he wanted mainly to distribute the ball to his teammates.

"I can score the ball, I'm an aggressive point guard," Green said. "But I wanted to get the whole team involved and not force a lot."

Green blushed after that, admitting sheepishly: "I forced a couple of shots."

Greenberg said he wanted Green to lead despite his inexperience.

"I wanted him to run our team," Greenberg said. "I don't care if he is a freshman. I wanted him to be aggressive; he cannot be afraid to make mistakes. He's got to go make plays."

Most of the plays the Hokies wanted were in the paint where they had a decided advantage over Longwood in size, strength and just about any other category. Just about the only defense Longwood could pit against Tech down low was the foul.

Tech had 41 free throws to Longwood's 13, and hit just 23 of them. The Hokies shot better from the field (58.8 percent) than from the line. Two Lancers had already fouled out six minutes into the second half and two more had four fouls. Longwood had 30 fouls to Tech's 15.

"It was the game that would not end," Greenberg said. "I just wanted to get out of there before anyone else got hurt."

LONGWOOD (3-11)

Robinson Jr. 1-8 2-4 4, Smith 2-13 7-9 11, Dawson 0-1 0-0 0, Washington 4-9 0-0 10, Swecker 0-1 0-0 0, Carter 1-11 0-0 2, Shockley 0-0 0-0 0, Gee II 0-3 0-0 0, Persaud 4-8 0-0 10, Mitchell 4-12 0-0 8, van der Kooij 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 18-70 9-13 50.

VIRGINIA TECH (11-1)

Allen 6-9 1-2 13, Bell 2-3 4-6 8, Davila 2-2 2-6 6, Hudson 4-11 3-4 11, Delaney 0-0 0-0 0, Raines 2-3 2-5 6, Green 6-10 2-4 15, Witcher 0-0 0-0 0, Boggs 1-3 8-10 10, Atkins 1-4 0-0 2, Debnam 2-2 1-4 6, Thompson 4-4 0-0 8. Totals 30-51 23-41 85.

Halftime--Virginia Tech 43-21. 3-Point Goals--Longwood 5-15 (Persaud 2-4, Washington 2-5, van der Kooij 1-3, Smith 0-3), Virginia Tech 2-6 (Debnam 1-1, Green 1-1, Boggs 0-1, Atkins 0-1, Allen 0-1, Hudson 0-1). Fouled Out--Carter, Dawson, Robinson Jr.. Rebounds--Longwood 37 (Carter 8), Virginia Tech 48 (Allen 9). Assists--Longwood 10 (Shockley, van der Kooij 2), Virginia Tech 15 (Green 4). Total Fouls--Longwood 30, Virginia Tech 15. A--9,836.