After picking up a win over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon, No. 3 UVa is back at it again tonight as the Cavaliers head to Blacksburg for a rematch against No. 20 Virginia Tech (7 p.m., ESPN).
It's the second Big Monday game in as many weeks for the Wahoos (22-2, 10-2 ACC) and the second two-games-in-three-days swing as well. In a 60-54 win over the Irish, the Wahoos didn't look especially sharp and certainly didn't play as well as they did when they rolled over Notre Dame in South Bend last month.
That could be a familiar refrain given the way Virginia also blew out the Hokies last month. In that 81-59 victory at home, the Hoos weren't tested and that was when Tech had Justin Robinson in the rotation.
Now, without their senior guard, things are different for the Hokies. They're relying on the shooting of Ty Outlaw more than ever. Needless to say, he and his teammates will have to play remarkably better in order to avenge their loss in JPJ several weeks ago.
No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies (20-5, 9-4 ACC)
Head coach: Buzz Williams, 12th year (247-151 overall, 94-65 in five season at VT)
Series: UVa leads the all-time series 92-56.
Last Meeting: The Cavaliers beat the Hokies 81-59 in Charlottesville last month.
Three Things We Know
1. Virginia shot past Tech in the first meeting.
The first matchup between these two teams was the first leg of a pivotal week for the Hoos, who were ranked fourth nationally and had back-to-back games with the Hokies and then at Duke, each ranked in the Top 10. UVa got off to a great start against the Hokies, shooting a high percentage and grabbing a big lead that was never surrendered. By the time Kihei Clark’s buzzer beater at the end of the first half hit the net and the buzzer sounded, the Cavaliers had built a 44-22 advantage. UVa had one of its best halves of the season against Tech and executed on a level that would make the Hoos nearly impossible to beat. Virginia eventually won 81-59 in a game that wasn’t competitive after the first few minutes, and shot 13-of-24 from 3 in the win. Tech shot 7-of-21 from deep and was out-rebounded 27-19.
2. Tech lost Justin Robinson in late January and is 3-2 since.
The loss in Charlottesville was only VT's second of the season and it seemed like a blip on the radar for the Hokies at the time. They did get blown out at North Carolina the following week but were 17-3 and 6-2 in ACC play by the time they took down Miami on January 30th. The unfortunate and potentially season-altering news that came out of that game was that the Hokies would lose point guard Justin Robinson for a while with a foot injury. Robinson was the team’s second-leading scorer at the time with 14.4 points per game, and the top distributor at 5.4 assists per game. He has missed the five games since Miami, and Tech understandably hasn’t looked like the same team without him. The Hokies scored 47 points in an ugly win at NC State then lost back-to-back games against Louisville and Clemson. The loss to the Cards was Tech’s first home loss in nearly a full calendar year. The Hokies have won their last two heading into tonight's clash but both games were against bottom-dwellers Georgia Tech and Pitt and both were single-digit games in the final minutes.
3. UVa hasn’t swept VT since 2015 and has lost two of its last three in Blacksburg.
Kyle Guy mentioned after Saturday’s win over Notre Dame that he was aware of Virginia Tech’s tendency to play well at home from the moment he got on Grounds. He also mentioned that they have had some issues winning in Blacksburg, and that the Hokies seem to play like a totally different team at Cassell Coliseum. Guy and the Cavaliers had no trouble in their last trip to Blacksburg, when they drilled the Hokies 78-52 last January. Tech returned the favor in Charlottesville, splitting the season series with UVa for the third straight year. In 2016 and 2017, the Hokies got the better of UVa in Blacksburg as both games came down to the wire, with Tech winning by two points both years and needing overtime and a bizarre London Perrantes shot that hung on the flange to get the win in 2017. Regardless, Tech has been a good home team in recent years under Williams and the Cavaliers will likely encounter a tough road environment. Win and UVa will earn its first sweep of Tech since 2015 when the Hokies finished 11-22 in Williams’ first season in Blacksburg.
