Virginia Tech (10-6, 2-3 ACC) at UVa (11-5, 2-3 ACC)

7 p.m., ESPNU

Losers of two in a row and four of its last six, UVa will attempt to get back on track tonight, when the Wahoos host rival Virginia Tech in a critical game for both teams.

There is still a lot of basketball to be played but if either the Cavaliers or the Hokies want to make a run at an NCAA Tournament bid, opportunities for resume improvement are dropping off by the day.

Virginia enters in a funk and looking for answers while the Hokies have had some struggles of their own. Tech has lost three of its last four heading into tonight's game in Charlottesville. The Hokies were blown out on the road at Wake Forest, lost a heartbreaker at FSU, and then another close game to Miami in Blacksburg on Saturday night. But in the middle of those losses, VT looked good in an upset win over Clemson at home. It’s three losses out of four came after a four-game winning streak, all at home and none against top-100 teams in KenPom.

The UVa/VT rivalry has been competitive in recent years, and games have been won consistently by the home team. UVa and V-Tech split the season series in 2022 and 2023, with the Hoos winning both contests in Charlottesville, and Tech winning both in Blacksburg. In 2021, the teams only played once in a COVID-shortened season, with Va-Tech winning at home. The last time one of these programs swept the other in a two-game series came in 2020, when UVa blew out Tech in Charlottesville and Kihei Clark’s late winner put the Cavaliers over the top in the road game.

VPI enters the week ranked a few spots ahead of UVa in KenPom; the Hokies are 61st nationally with the Hoos at a not-so-nice 69. The Hokies are solid on both ends of the floor this year and have scored 70+ points in seven of their last eight, and 12 of their 16 games. When they have been held under 70 points, their record this year is 1-3 with the only win coming against Campbell (60-44 on November 15th).

Tech ranks 65th nationally in offensive efficiency. The Hokies shoot 35.4 percent from 3, good for 92nd nationally, and 53.6 percent on two-pointers. Unlike UVa, they have been quite good at the free-throw line, making 78.4 percent, ninth-best nationally. VT also shares the ball well, ranking 30th nationally in assist-to-field-goals-made ratio.

Defensively, the Hokies rank 61st nationally in efficiency. They hold opponents to 32 percent from deep and 49.4 percent from two; neither of those are spectacular, but not terrible, either. Tech does a good job on the glass, ranking 31st in offensive rebound rate allowed. The Hokies don’t create a lot of negative plays, though, ranking 151st nationally in turnover rate, 234th in block rate, and 293rd in steal rate.

Sean Pedulla, Guard

Pedulla has continued to raise his game during his Hokie career and is now one of the best scorers in the ACC. And he comes to Charlottesville red hot. Pedulla scored 26 at FSU on January 6 before dropping 32 in the win over Clemson last week, followed by 33 against Miami over the weekend. He is also dangerous from 3, where he shoots 5.1 per game, making 38.9 percent of them. Pedulla has made more 3s in his last two games (11) than Virginia’s entire roster has in its last two (nine).

Hunter Cattoor, Guard

Virginia Tech was without its veteran guard on Saturday against Miami and his absence proved costly in the loss. By this point, UVa should know who Cattoor is as a player: he’s a streaky 3-point shooter that can get really hot and he can get to the rim from time to time as well. This year, Cattoor is averaging 13.5 points per contest and 41.1 percent from 3-point territory. He has been over 40 percent from deep in each of his five seasons and over 10 points per game in each of the last three campaigns.

Lynn Kidd, Center

Once again, UVa will have to prepare for a talented big man. Second on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game, Kidd has increased his production dramatically from last season when he played less than 13 minutes per contest and averaged 5 points per game. He is coming off of a 16-point effort against Miami and has scored 10+ points on 12 occasions this season. Unsurprisingly, the 6-foot-10 Kidd is also a great rebounder at 7.1 boards per game.

Tyler Nickel, Guard

A Virginia native, Nickel is back in his home state after one year at UNC. Nickel, who UVa didn’t push for as a prep or transfer recruit, is starting to come alive for Tech, and with two more years of eligibility left after this one he could develop into a very good player for Mike Young. Nickel is averaging 9.1 points per game and last week had 24 points in the win over Clemson, including a 5-for-7 night from 3.

UVa enters this game in an unfamiliar position, as the Hoos search for answers after a really rough stretch of games. The good news for them is that the game is at home. UVa is unbeaten at JPJ and Va Tech has yet to win a true road game. If UVa does win this one, we still won’t know if anything they do at home can translate to success away from home, but they need something to go their way if they’re eventually going to turn things around.

While UVa has been pretty bad of late, VPISU has lost three of four, so they’re not exactly red hot. Still, the Hokies have been better in their recent games than UVa has been, when you take opponent into consideration.

Tech has lost games but has been mostly competitive; UVa hasn’t even been close. Perhaps the home-court advantage proves to be the difference and the Cavaliers get comfortable and knock down a bunch of shots and win this one. But heading into this game, it feels like Tech has more ways to win and has been better at executing them of late.

While we understand that UVa has been much better at home than on the road, we’re taking the Hokies, who, quite frankly, look like the better team at the moment.