Virginia Tech Hokies vs Texas Longhorns Betting Preview
Day 2 of the NCAA tournament kicks off Friday, and one of the mid-afternoon matchups features the ACC versus the Big 12 as the No. 11 Virginia Tech Hokies (23-12) take on the No. 6 Texas Longhorns (21-11). This game will be played at Fiserv Forum, with tipoff scheduled for 4:30 pm ET.
Playing in the Eastern region, the winner of this game will square off with the winner of No. 3 Purdue and No. 14 Yale on Sunday.
Virginia Tech comes into this one red hot after winning the ACC tournament. Their road to victory included beating No. 2 Notre Dame (87-80), No. 3 North Carolina (72-59), and No. 1 Duke (82-67).
In the win over the Blue Devils, Hunter Cattoor had a game-high 31 points, while Keve Aluma had a double-double with 19 points, ten rebounds, and seven assists.
Texas did not fare near as well in the Big 12 tournament. They lost in their opening round 65-60 to No. 5 TCU. In the loss, Timmy Allen had a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds for the Longhorns, while Courtney Ramey added 15 points.
Texas is the slight favorite in this one. They are -120 to win while the Hokies’ moneyline sits at +100. The spread features Virginia Tech +1, and the over/under for total points is 123.
More Odds
In terms of odds to win the National Championship, Texas is +6000. Virginia Tech is +20000 to win it all.
By The Numbers
The Hokies have the advantage on offense. They rank 157th in the nation in scoring, averaging 70.7 points per game. For the Longhorns, they rank 230th, averaging 68.3 points.
Defensively, Texas has been one of the best in the nation. They rank fifth in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 59.6 points per game. The Hokies rank 20th overall, allowing 62.3 points.
Virginia Tech Looks To Keep Rolling
Despite finishing seventh in the ACC this season with an 11-9 conference record, the Hokies were able to steamroll through the ACC tournament knocking off the top three teams in a row. On Friday, they will try to carry their momentum into the NCAA tournament as they take on the Longhorns.
Even though Virginia Tech’s specialty is on defense, they are led by senior forward Keve Aluma on the offensive side. He is averaging 15.8 points on 53.4% shooting. He is also chipping in 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
The Hokies have two others averaging double digits in Justyn Mutts (10.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals) and Hunter Cattoor (10 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists). Nahiem Alleyne is right there, too, averaging 9.8 points and 2.8 rebounds.
Texas Has To Break Losing Streak To Move To Round Of 32
Generally, when the regular season is coming to a close, teams want to be playing their best ball. The Longhorns have been the complete opposite. They come into this game having lost three in a row and will look to snap that streak against the Hokies.
Senior forward Timmy Allen has been the Longhorns’ best weapon on offense. He is averaging 12.3 points on 50.5% shooting. He is also averaging 6.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
Other contributors for Texas include Marcus Carr (10.9 points, two rebounds, 3.2 assists), Andrew Jones (10.7 points, 2.8 rebounds), and Courtney Ramey (9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds).
Take The Points In Low Scoring Affair
With two defenses that rank in the top-20 and two offenses that rank outside of the top-100, it is likely to be a low-scoring affair on Friday night.
In what is a pretty evenly matched contest on paper, it is hard not to go with the hot hand. In this case, that means taking Virginia Tech and their four-game win streak.
There is a lot of value in taking the Hokies on the moneyline, but at the very least, take them +1 Friday night.
