The struggling, yet surprising Wahoos (14-7, 5-3), travel to wonderfully dreary Blacksburg for a key ACC match-up Saturday evening at 8 pm (TV: Raycom/ESPN 360). If Virginia can find a way to somehow shut down All-ACC guard Malcolm Delaney (20 PPG) well then we can start the conversation about the Hoos perhaps making the NCAA field of 65 in March. But we all know that is not going to be easy. The Hokies might be the best team in the ACC right now.
The Hokies (19-4, 6-3) are a perfect 12-0 at Cassell Coliseum this season, and beat the Hoos earlier this season in Charlottesville 76-71. As we all remember, that was a game that Virginia gave away to Virginia Tech down the stretch as Delaney (27 points) and JT Thompson (17 points) carved Virginia up like a buttery piece of filet mignon at the Downtown Grille. Dorenzo Hudson has been playing splendidly for the Hokies of late, but VT is beatable as evidenced by Miami’s win January 31 in Coral Gables. In the Hokies last four games since beating Virginia, they are 3-1 with close wins over UNC and Clemson, and a blowout in Raleigh against the lowly Wolf Pack.
Since last playing the dreaded Hokies, Virginia has annihilated the terrible Tar Heels, beaten NC State, lost to Wake in Charlottesville in an overtime thriller and gotten snowed out in Maryland. Landesberg is still leading the Hoos in scoring with a sweet 18.1 points per game, and an even better 20.4 PPG in ACC play. Unfortunately for Virginia fans Mike Scott is only averaging 12.4 PPG in the ACC and he has not looked particularly tough down the stretch in the last four or five games. Virginia is still looking for a go-to third scoring option, and Zeglinski is going to need to have an excellent game on both ends of the court for the Wahoos to have a prayer in hell to win this important game.
Look for the Hokies to have an inside-out thing going on Saturday night as they try to pound the ball inside to their big guys and also try to get Virginia’s limited front-court into early foul trouble. They are not known for their three-point shooting prowess (11th in the ACC with a miserable 32%), but they can get hot. Delaney is a streaky player and he could easily hammer Virginia with three-bombs. Virginia and Tech are the #1 and #2 rated defensive squads in the conference, so I think this game will be a defensive struggle. I have the Hokies winning 66-56. Virginia might be a little rusty as they have not played since losing to Wake on February 6th. Go Hoos, damn those pesky Hokies!
