No. 8 Virginia (11-2, 7-0) vs. No. 20 Virginia Tech (12-3, 6-2)
Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Virginia looks for its third straight win over No. 20 Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum. Virginia Tech’s last win at home against the Cavaliers came on Feb. 12, 2017.
VETERAN PRESENCE: Senior leadership has been on display for both of these teams. Keve Aluma, Tyrece Radford and Justyn Mutts have combined to account for 44 percent of Virginia Tech’s scoring this season and 47 percent of the team’s points over its last five games. For Virginia, Sam Hauser, Jay Huff and Trey Murphy III have scored 54 percent of the team’s points this season, including 71 percent of all Cavaliers points over their last five.
ACC ADVANCEMENT: The Cavaliers have given up just 57.9 points per game across seven conference games. That’s an improvement from the 61.3 per game they gave up over six non-conference games.SOLID SAM: Hauser has connected on 43.2 percent of the 74 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 15 for 23 over his last three games. He’s also made 73.3 percent of his free throws this season.
PERFECT WHEN: Virginia Tech is a sterling 11-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 43.6 percent or less. The Hokies are 1-3 when allowing opponents to shoot any better than that.
TWO STREAKS: Virginia has won its last three road games, scoring 70.7 points and allowing 52 points during those contests. Virginia Tech has won its last six home games, scoring an average of 79.7 points while giving up 63.8.
STIFLING DEFENSE: Virginia has held opposing teams to 59.5 points per game this year, the seventh-lowest figure among all Division I teams.
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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
