Virginia Tech started out as one of the best offenses in college basketball, but have struggled lately to put the ball in the basket. Can they regain their shooting touch against the top scoring defense?
TV schedule: Wednesday, Jan 3, 9:00 p.m. ET. ACC Network
Arena: Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia
The No. 8 Virginia Cavaliers 12-1 (1-0) are one of the top defenses in college basketball. Also, water is wet. With a new cast of lead characters, Tony’s Bennett’s slow-paced, strong defensive system continues to thrive, led by sophomore guards Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome.
At the beginning of the season, it was Guy who led the way on offense, but, recently, Jerome has been scoring in bunches. He scored over half of the team’s points in Virginia’s close win over Boston College, a career-high 33 in fact. There will be games where the team will struggle to score, but, overall, the offense has improved from the previous year.
Virginia is currently seeded on the four line in Busting Bracket’s first Bracketology edition, one of eight teams to get a bid. Virginia Tech 11-3 (0-1) was not one of them.
And that in itself can’t be surprising for Hokie fans, as the non-conference schedule featured many weak teams, with only Washington being anything close to a good win (blame Iowa and Ole Miss for that).
Then came the ACC opener, where the top 10 scoring offense scored just 19 points in the loss to Syracuse, another team scratching the bubble surface. Kerry Blackshear and Ahmed Hill, two of the top players on the team, struggled mightily in the defeat.
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This is a game that the Hokies need to get back into the bubble conversation. Their performance at Rupp Arena against Kentucky shows that they can score, but now it comes down to whether they can do it against a team that barely gives up over 50 ppg. The game will be in Tech’s backyard, but defense travels. And considering that the Cavaliers won’t have to travel far, they should win this one.
Prediction: Virginia 67 – Virginia Tech 61