An ACC matchup between the no. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies and Miami Hurricanes highlights the college basketball slate for Wednesday night. Despite being on the road, the Hokies are favored by 7.5 points.
This is turning into a long season for the Hurricanes. After Sunday’s loss to Florida State, they are 1-6 in ACC play and 9-10 overall. The Hurricanes are one of four ACC teams that has just one win in league play. To make matter’s worse, Wednesday’s game begins a stretch of three of their next four games against ranked teams.
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech is riding high after their convincing win over Syracuse on Saturday night. To be fair, the Hokies have taken their lumps in lopsided losses to Virginia and North Carolina. However, Virginia Tech remains 5-2 in ACC play and 16-3 overall, as they look like a team that could be serious contenders in March.
On the Outside
The Hokies are a team of shooters. As a team, Virginia Tech is shooting nearly 50% from the field and over 42% from three-point range. Buzz Williams is only using seven players these days, but six of them are shooting over 40% from the perimeter. The Hokies are also willing to share the ball with one another. Virginia Tech excels at swinging the ball around the perimeter until someone gets an open look. It also helps that both Justin Robinson and Nickell Alexander-Walker are excellent passers who combine for more than nine assists per game.
Of course, with good perimeter play comes a lack of size. Outside of 6’10’’ Kerry Blackshear Jr., the Hokies don’t have anyone in their rotation taller than 6’6’’. However, they’ve rarely been dominated on the boards, even during ACC play. Blackshear is their leading rebounder, but all of their guards are willing contributors on the boards, which prevents their lack of size from being a huge issue.
On the Other End
For Miami, their biggest problems are on the defensive end. With a depleted roster, Jim Larranaga has experimented with a zone defense that simply isn’t working. Miami’s last three opponents have all shot 45% or better from the perimeter. In their last game against Florida State, the Seminoles made 12 of their 20 (60%) shots from deep. Against a Virginia Tech team that torched the vaunted Syracuse zone over the weekend, the Hurricanes could be in trouble on that end of the floor.
Offensively, the Hurricanes are doing just fine. Chris Lykes, a 5’7’’ guard is just 4 for 27 in his last two games, scoring a total of nine points. However, he can also give teams headaches with his quickness. Miami also has five players who average double figures in scoring, so they have plenty of capable weapons on offense. The key, of course, is getting Lykes back on track. Despite back-to-back poor games, he’s averaging over 16 points per game to lead Miami.
Bucking the Trend
The Hokies are just 1-3 in true road games this year, with their only win being a close game against lowly Wake Forest. However, the Hurricanes haven’t exactly defended their home court this season. More importantly, Miami isn’t set up to defend a team that can shoot it the way the Hokies do. Bet on Virginia Tech covering the 7.5-point spread on the road.
