Another frustrating road loss has the Hokies back on the bubble. Virginia Tech must take care of business at last place Wake Forest to make Saturday’s matchup against #1 Duke as meaningful as possible. The Demon Deacons, losers of 11 of their last 12, present the perfect opportunity for the Hokies to get their confidence back. Tech is averaging 89.3 points per game in conference play after a loss, but all 3 games have come at home. Can the Hokies regain their scoring prowess on the road or will the Deacons push the Hokies to the brink?
| Starting Lineups | ||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | Wake Forest | |||||||||
| Pos. | Player | Ht. | Cl. | PPG | RPG | Player | Ht. | Cl. | PPG | RPG |
| G | Green | 6’4” | So. | 11.1 | 2.3 | Harris | 6’3” | So. | 10.7 | 3.7 |
| G | Delaney | 6’3” | Sr. | 19.2 | 3.2 | Terrell | 6’3” | Fr. | 11.8 | 2.1 |
| G/F | Bell | 6’7” | Sr. | 7.0 | 5.4 | Clark | 6’4” | Sr. | 10.6 | 2.3 |
| F | Allen | 6’7” | Sr. | 13.7 | 10.4 | McKie | 6’7” | Fr. | 12.6 | 7.5 |
| F | Davila | 6’8” | Jr. | 7.9 | 5.4 | Desrosiers | 7’0” | Fr. | 4.2 | 3.5 |
Game notes:
- Virginia Tech is averaging only 56.6 points in it’s 8 losses this season, and has never scored more than 61 points (@UNC).
- Wake Forest players have a combined 145 career starts. Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen have 237 alone and the rest of Tech’s starting lineup has 146.
- The Deacons are 9th in the nation with 5.9 blocked shots per game.
- Wake is dead last in the ACC in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, assists per game, assist-turnover ratio, and turnover margin.
- Malcolm Delaney needs 26 points to pass Sean Singletary, Johnny Dawkins, Tyrese Rice, Travis Best and Rod Griffin to enter the top 10 in ACC career scoring.
| Team | VT | WF |
|---|---|---|
| ACC Record | 7-5 | 1-11 |
| RPI | 65 | 245 |
| PPG | 72.0 | 68.6 |
| Opp. PPG | 62.5 | 72.0 |
| Reb. Margin | +2.5 | -4.8 |
| Turn. Margin | +2.2 | -3.9 |
| FG% | 46.2% | 42.6% |
| Def. FG% | 40.9% | 46.2% |
| 3PT% | 33.7% | 37.5% |
Flashback: The Hokies bounced back from a tough road loss at North Carolina to rout the Demon Deacons 94-65 on January 15th inside Cassell Coliseum. Manny Atkins led the Hokies with 16 points and was one of six Hokies to reach double figures. Tech shot 58.6% from the floor on a season high 23 assists, including 9 from senior Malcolm Delaney.
Wake was not a good basketball team when they visited Cassell in January, and they haven’t shown much signs of improvement since. The Deacons have gone 1-8 since then, with their only victory coming at home against Virginia. 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 (215) and Stetson (304).
C.J. Harris is the Demon Deacons’ lone returning starter and is a capable point guard, averaging 3.8 assists per game (although he averages 3.4 turnovers too). The Deacs’ biggest offensive threat is 6-3 guard J.T. Terrell, who leads the team in field goal attempts despite playing just 24.6 minutes per game. Guard Gary Clark must be guarded tightly on the perimeter, he’s shooting 58.2% from three and hit 3-of-4 versus the Hokies in January.
Looking at the Home/Away splits, the numbers would suggest that Wake would have a decent shot at making an upset run against the road offense challenged Hokies. But looking at just conference numbers, Wake Forest is still giving up 77.6 points and getting outrebounded by nearly 7 per game at home. Unlike Virginia, the Deacs play up-tempo, so don’t expect many fade away threes with the shot clock expiring Tuesday night . The Hokies should be able to force turnovers and work the offensive glass in this one to get enough easy buckets.
Prediction: Hokies 77 Wake Forest 63
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