In some ways, the scene at BankUnited Center Thursday night resembled a big-time college basketball game. A bunch of ESPN2 trucks were parked outside, commentators Mike Patrick and Len Elmore sat courtside, and fans were still buzzing about the University of Miami’s overtime win at Duke Sunday.

But the empty seats in the student section (despite a school-sponsored pregame buffalo wings party) and the rest of the arena were reminders that the Hurricanes still have work to do to win over fans.

UM ranks last in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 4,467 fans per game, and though there were more fans than usual Thursday night in spite of the 9 p.m. start, the UM team was surely hoping for a better welcome home reception.

The Hurricanes certainly had the attention of Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg, a former UM assistant.

Greenberg was serving up delicious pregame tidbits for reporters and Tweeters to munch on.

Greenberg on UM’s 6-10, 293-pound Reggie Johnson, who scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds at Duke: “Well, he’s a mountain masquerading as a man. He’s a massive mass of humanity.

“Again, it’s like a different time zone when you get from one side to the other side. So he has the ability to create an angle and finish around the basket, not by getting up, but by creating angles because of the size of his body.”

And he wasn’t done.

“A lot of times there is a direct correlation between the size of someone’s rear end and their ability to score. But he’s like SpongeBob SquarePants. The guy is square. It is impossible to get around the guy.”

Johnson was averaging 11.8 points and seven rebounds heading into Thursday’s game. The Hokies had contained him in years past. Last season, he was held to six points and 10 rebounds in the Hokies’ 72-68 win at Blacksburg. Two years ago, Johnson averaged 6.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in three game against the Hokies.

Johnson said he was especially motivated to play well against Virginia Tech because it was one of the schools that recruited him and chose to go with center Victor Davila instead. The 6-8 Puerto Rican was expected to be defending Johnson on Thursday, making for an interesting matchup.

The Hurricanes (14-7, 5-3 ACC) were hoping to build on the Duke win against the Hokies (13-10, 2-6). UM won four consecutive games, five of six, has an RPI of 38, and a few more ACC wins would put them on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.