After a gutsy effort fell short on the road versus North Carolina, Tech returns home for the first of two 48-hr turnaround games this season. Thankfully for the Hokies, both are at home, and this one is against Wake Forest, a team that’s been struggling under first year coach Jeff Bzdelik this season. The Hokies have won 6 of the past 7 matchups between the two schools, including a 78-71 road win when Wake was ranked #1 in 2009.
A quick note about the UNC loss: A lot has and will be said about Tech losing a big lead on the road to North Carolina again. Yes it was a missed opportunity, but a road loss at North Carolina (ranked #19 in the RPI) does not singlehandedly kill Tech’s NCAA hopes. Tech will need to continue to win the games they’re supposed to win and they will still have chances to get the big wins they need. It’s unfortunate that the Hokies have had downright abysmal luck with injuries but if you can’t appreciate the tremendous effort the players are giving to try and overcome the circumstances then you’re probably watching for the wrong reasons.| Starting Lineups | ||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | Wake Forest | |||||||||
| Pos. | Player | Ht. | Cl. | PPG | RPG | Player | Ht. | Cl. | PPG | RPG |
| G | Green | 6’4” | So. | 9.4 | 1.9 | Harris | 6’3” | So. | 10.5 | 3.7 |
| G | Delaney | 6’3” | Sr. | 19.3 | 3.2 | Clark | 6’4” | Sr. | 11.5 | 2.5 |
| G/F | Bell | 6’7” | Sr. | 6.1 | 6.0 | McKie | 6’7” | Fr. | 13.2 | 7.8 |
| F | Allen | 6’7” | Sr. | 12.7 | 9.6 | Mescheriakov | 6’8” | Jr. | 5.3 | 2.3 |
| F | Davila | 6’8” | Jr. | 6.7 | 5.1 | Desrosiers | 7’0” | Fr. | 4.3 | 3.6 |
Game notes:
- The Hokies lead the nation in free throw percentage defense (57.8%). You might say that’s a “dumb” statistic but it shows that Tech doesn’t commit many “dumb” fouls (fouling a jump shooter).
Team VT WF Conf. Record 1-2 0-2 PPG 70.2 71.9 Opp. PPG 60.0 74.8 Reb. Margin +0.4 -2.8 Turn. Margin +2.7 -2.8 FG% 46.2% 44.2% Def. FG% 39.8% 43.9% 3PT% 33.1% 38.7% - Malcolm Delaney ranks 7th in the nation having played 93.6% of the team’s total minutes.
- Wake Forest has lost 6 of their last 7 games, the lone win coming at home over High Point.
- The Deacons are 8th in the nation with 6.2 blocked shots per game.
- Only 3 active Wake players have faced Tech before. Clark, Harris, and Stewart have combined for 2 ppg and 1.5 rpg on 20% shooting in 6 career games.
To get straight to the point, Wake is not a good basketball team this season. Their best win was at home against Iowa, a team which they trailed by 18 at one point. This is a team that returned the least of any ACC squad this season and turnovers and rebounding have been a real struggle for the Deacs as a result. Wake Forest has 5 losses to teams ranked 100 or higher in the RPI, including Winthrop (147) and Stetson (212).
C.J. Harris is the Demon Deacons’ lone returning starter and is a capable point guard, averaging 4.0 assists per game. The Deacs’ biggest offensive threat is 6-3 guard J.T. Terrell, who has averaged 13.8 points off the bench in the last 8 games. Guard Gary Clark must be guarded tightly on the perimeter, he leads the country in 3-point field goal percentage (28-of-44, 63%).
Looking at more recent numbers, Wake has been doing even worse lately now that they are playing some better teams. The Hokies have been giving up only 55.6 points per game, while the Deacs are shooting only 39.2% from the field. Things get worse for Wake Forest on the road where they are giving up 87.7 points per game and being outrebounded by 12 boards per game. Despite the Hokies’ lack of height, Tech has a major talent advantage in the post, so expect both Allen and Davila to have big scoring days thanks to Wake’s poor defensive rebounding. Tech should win this one fairly easily despite the short turnaround.
Prediction: Hokies 78 Wake Forest 56
Also see:
- The Key Play: Wake Forest Preview
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