Hoops Preview: Notre Dame Vs. Virginia Tech
NOTRE DAME (12-5, 3-2 ACC) VS. VIRGINIA TECH (12-6, 4-1 ACC)
Where: Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind.
Rankings: Neither team is ranked.
Time/TV: 7 p.m. ET on RSN
Last Meeting: This is the seventh matchup between the two programs. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 5-1, and the Irish won the last meeting 85-60 on Jan. 22, 2015.
Notre Dame Notes
The Irish are coming off an electric 95-91 win over Duke Jan. 16, which advanced their record above .500 (3-2) in the conference ahead of home games against Virginia Tech and Boston College.
Sophomore forward Bonzie Colson came off the bench to lead the Irish with 31 points. Notre Dame is 2-0, though, since starting freshman forward Matt Ryan over Colson — so head coach Mike Brey said the plan is to stick with that lineup.
Another interesting rotation change against Duke included expanded clock for freshman guard Rex Pflueger. The Irish rookie totaled only 22 minutes combined in Notre Dame’s first four ACC contests, including sitting out the opener against Virginia. But in Saturday’s contest, Pflueger played an encouraging 23 minutes that included a crucial late three-point make, finishing with seven points, two blocks and two steals.
Going forward into Wednesday night’s game, the challenge is to see if Notre Dame can avoid patting themselves on the back too much from the huge victory over the Blue Devils. The Irish are favored to beat the Hokies by double digits, but any sort of a letdown could trim that deficit to a closer margin.
“I’m really impressed with them,” Brey said of Virginia Tech. “I think what Buzz does a great job of is getting new guys to play fearlessly, and really make them feel like they belong.
“I saw it at Marquette after one year in the Big East, and I think that’s his leadership of instilling confidence in young guys and kind of delivering a message of, ‘You don’t have to wait to be good.’ Let it rip right now.”
Demetrius Jackson — Leads the Irish in scoring (17.5 points per game), assists (5.4 per game) and steals (1.2 per game).
Steve Vasturia — Averaging 34.9 minutes per game, the second most on the team.
V.J. Beachem — Made 42 of 95 three-point attempts (44.2 percent) so far this season.
Matt Ryan — Rated as Notre Dame’s most efficient offensive starter according to Kenpom.com’s individual offensive efficiency formula.
Zach Auguste — Finished with just one turnover in each of his last three games, after struggling with turnovers prior in the season.
Virginia Tech Overview
The Hokies have been one of the biggest surprises early in the ACC season, jumping out to a 4-1 record in league play. They’re entering the game against the Fighting Irish fresh off a 78-77 road win at Georgia Tech Jan. 16.
Despite the hot start in ACC play, they haven’t skyrocketed in the Kenpom.com rankings because a handful of those wins were very close to flipping the other way. Virginia Tech beat North Carolina State by five in overtime, Wake Forest by two, Virginia by two and Georgia Tech by one.
Of course, a win over the Cavaliers is a nice feather in the cap regardless of the margin, but the others? Not so much.
As a team, the Hokies are very balanced on both sides of the ball, ranking 126th nationally in offensive efficiency and 137th in defense. They are one of the faster teams in the country on the offensive end of the court, with an average possession length of only 15.9 seconds (41st nationally).
Offensively, their strongest attribute is getting to the charity stripe on a frequent basis, ranking second in the country at getting to the free throw line. Nearly 26 percent of their points come at the free throw stripe, which ranks 11th nationally. Interestingly enough, they actually leave a lot of points on the line — they only shoot 67.2 percent from free throws, which checks in at 257th nationally.
Virginia Tech’s focus on getting to the line contrasts strongly with Notre Dame’s defense, which ranks among the best nationally (18th) at not allowing opponents to get to the charity stripe.
The Hokies also don’t shoot many three-pointers, which bodes well for the Irish defense after struggling defending the perimeter so far this year.
Outlook
If this game was within a closer window (~48 hours) of the Duke win, I’d voice a concern about a potential letdown. But the Irish were able to take a day to stew on the win (Sunday), before refocusing and getting back to the grind on Monday at practice.
Notre Dame should have little issue improving to 4-2 in the ACC.
Prediction: Notre Dame 89, Virginia Tech 78