No. 1 Virginia at Miami, 9 p.m. ESPN
Virginia Tech prevented a season sweep from its rival but couldn't prevent it from ascending to No. 1 in the country for the first time since December 1982.
The Hokies upset the Cavaliers, 61-60, in overtime Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, snapping UVa's 15-game winning streak and ending its undefeated start in ACC play at 12-0. But on Monday, The Associated Press made UVa its new No. 1 as the Wahoos became the first team in the poll era (don't quote me, but I think since the 1950s) to ascend to No. 1 after a loss. That's because previous No. 1 Villanova also lost at home, to St. John's, which had just beaten Duke, but was still 11-13 at the
time and is far from being an NCAA tournament team. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech was already considered to be a fringe NCAA tournament team and obviously helped its cause with one of the best wins of the year by any team in the nation. Plus, No. 3 Purdue lost as well to three-loss Michigan State, which ended up No. 2 behind UVa with 21 first-place votes. Virginia got 30.
Justin Robinson, who scored 32 points against N.C. State before the Hokies faced UVa, put up 20 points, and Tech got 12 points from Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Virginia was led by 16 points from Devon Hall, 13 from Kyle Guy, 14 from De'Andre Hunter, and 11 from Ty Jerome. Virginia Tech pulled a Virginia and packed the lane and made UVa win it from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers played into the Hokies' game plan by launching 38 3s, and they only made 11. Tech made 11 3s as well, but on 29 attempts. Guy and Jerome combined to go just 4 of 24 from downtown.
Still, UVa was up five with 39 seconds left in overtime and couldn't seal the victory, with Hall, over 90 percent from the line, missing two free throws to help leave an opening for the Hokies, including when he missed with 13 seconds left. Tech raced down, Robinson missed a layup, but Kerry Blackshear Jr. put in the rebound with a foul. But he missed the shot, and UVa had a chance to win, but Jerome missed a 3, just as he did when it was 49-49 at the end of regulation.
It was a disappointing outing for the Cavaliers, who seemed to play into the Hokies' hands by not moving the ball well and launching deep 3s. Jerome was off all night, and it seemed unimaginative for him to take the long 3s at the end of regulation and overtime.
Virginia Tech's players said all they worked on for days was defense. The Hokies aren't known as a solid defensive team. That's concerning, because tonight's opponent, Miami is, is a good defensive team and surely is going to try some of the same tactics the Hokies used. Here's more on this season's Hurricanes:
The Hokies upset the Cavaliers, 61-60, in overtime Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, snapping UVa's 15-game winning streak and ending its undefeated start in ACC play at 12-0. But on Monday, The Associated Press made UVa its new No. 1 as the Wahoos became the first team in the poll era (don't quote me, but I think since the 1950s) to ascend to No. 1 after a loss. That's because previous No. 1 Villanova also lost at home, to St. John's, which had just beaten Duke, but was still 11-13 at the
 |
| Ty Jerome and Co. were off on offense against Hokies. |
Justin Robinson, who scored 32 points against N.C. State before the Hokies faced UVa, put up 20 points, and Tech got 12 points from Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Virginia was led by 16 points from Devon Hall, 13 from Kyle Guy, 14 from De'Andre Hunter, and 11 from Ty Jerome. Virginia Tech pulled a Virginia and packed the lane and made UVa win it from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers played into the Hokies' game plan by launching 38 3s, and they only made 11. Tech made 11 3s as well, but on 29 attempts. Guy and Jerome combined to go just 4 of 24 from downtown.
Still, UVa was up five with 39 seconds left in overtime and couldn't seal the victory, with Hall, over 90 percent from the line, missing two free throws to help leave an opening for the Hokies, including when he missed with 13 seconds left. Tech raced down, Robinson missed a layup, but Kerry Blackshear Jr. put in the rebound with a foul. But he missed the shot, and UVa had a chance to win, but Jerome missed a 3, just as he did when it was 49-49 at the end of regulation.
It was a disappointing outing for the Cavaliers, who seemed to play into the Hokies' hands by not moving the ball well and launching deep 3s. Jerome was off all night, and it seemed unimaginative for him to take the long 3s at the end of regulation and overtime.
Virginia Tech's players said all they worked on for days was defense. The Hokies aren't known as a solid defensive team. That's concerning, because tonight's opponent, Miami is, is a good defensive team and surely is going to try some of the same tactics the Hokies used. Here's more on this season's Hurricanes:
Record: 18-6, 7-5 ACC
Scorers in double digits: Sophomore forward Dewan Huell (12.3), sophomore guard Bruce Brown (11.4 - out), freshman guard Lonnie Walker IV (11.3)
Leading rebounders: Brown (7.1), junior guard Anthony Lawrence Jr. (6.8), Huell (6.8), junior center Ebuka Izundu (3.4)
Assist leaders: Brown (4), senior guard Ja'Quan Newton (2.8), Lawrence (2.3), freshman guard Chris Lykes (2.2)
Notable: Sophomore guard Dejan Vasiljevic averages 9.4 points, as does Lawrence. Newton averages 8.7 and Lykes 8.4. Lawrence, Brown, Walker, and Newton all average about one steal, though, as mentioned above, Brown is out. He had ankle surgery Feb. 1 and is out until some time in March. Huell and Lawrence average about one block each.
Best win: tie between at Virginia Tech, 84-75, on Feb. 3 and home against then-No. 24 Florida State on Jan. 7.
Worst win: vs. Wake, 87-81, last Wednesday
Other wins: Gardner-Webb, Navy, Florida A&M, La Salle, North Florida, Minnesota, Princeton, Boston, George Washington, Hawaii, Middle Tennessee State, Pittsburgh (twice), N.C. State, Louisville
Best loss: vs. Duke, 83-75, on Jan. 15
Worst loss: at Georgia Tech, 64-54, on Jan. 4
Other losses: New Mexico State (which is actually 22-3), Clemson, Florida State, Boston College
What Miami does well: Miami scores 75.5 ppg (133rd) and shoots 46.9 percent from the field (65th) and 36.7 percent beyond the 3-point arc (tied-99th). The Hurricanes take pretty good care of the ball, with a +1.15 assist-turnover margin (117th), and they only average 11.8 turnovers (55th) and have a +1.8 turnover margin (75th) while getting 7.1 steals per game (82nd). Defensively, Miami holds opponents to 66.5 ppg (44th), 41.3 percent shooting (52nd), and 31.9 percent on 3s (42nd). It owns a pretty good +2.3 rebounding margin (109th).
What Miami doesn't do well: None of those offensive numbers are really eye-popping, and Miami is really bad at free throw shooting at 66.2 percent (316th). The Hurricanes have good assist-turnover numbers, but only average 13.5 assists (195th).
Miami's top 3-point shooters are Walker (35.1 percent), Vasiljevic (39.1 percent), Lawrence (48.4 percent), and Lykes (35.7 percent). Miami just lost to Boston College, snuck by Wake Forest, and also won at Virginia Tech. So the Hurricanes have had a mixed bag of results. But Miami-UVa games
in recent years have been low-scoring fights. Last year in Charlottesville, Miami won, 54-48 in overtime. Two seasons ago, UVa and Miami played three times. The Wahoos won, 66-58, at home, lost, 64-61, at Miami, and then won at the ACC tournament in Washington, 73-68.
I think the Tech loss should do Virginia some good. I was hinting that I kind of almost hoped UVa would lose at least one more time in the regular season, because then it is easier for the team to know what to focus on. I didn't want to lose to the Hokies, though, especially with No. 1 on the line. It turned out that Virginia didn't need to win to be No. 1, but that would've made it sweeter.
Unfortunately, with Miami being a solid defensive team and the game being on the road, I think this is a tough spot for the Cavaliers to find a win. I was thinking this was maybe going to be a loss anyway. UVa looked kind of tired against Tech, and this is a fairly quick turnaround. I like the Hurricanes to knock the 'Hoos off their No. 1 perch. Consider this UVa's tough stretch, and hopefully it'll just get better from here. The Cavaliers don't play again until next Wednesday at home against Georgia Tech, so the time off can probably do them some good.
Gut feeling: Miami wins by 5-10 points.
Miami's top 3-point shooters are Walker (35.1 percent), Vasiljevic (39.1 percent), Lawrence (48.4 percent), and Lykes (35.7 percent). Miami just lost to Boston College, snuck by Wake Forest, and also won at Virginia Tech. So the Hurricanes have had a mixed bag of results. But Miami-UVa games
I think the Tech loss should do Virginia some good. I was hinting that I kind of almost hoped UVa would lose at least one more time in the regular season, because then it is easier for the team to know what to focus on. I didn't want to lose to the Hokies, though, especially with No. 1 on the line. It turned out that Virginia didn't need to win to be No. 1, but that would've made it sweeter.
Unfortunately, with Miami being a solid defensive team and the game being on the road, I think this is a tough spot for the Cavaliers to find a win. I was thinking this was maybe going to be a loss anyway. UVa looked kind of tired against Tech, and this is a fairly quick turnaround. I like the Hurricanes to knock the 'Hoos off their No. 1 perch. Consider this UVa's tough stretch, and hopefully it'll just get better from here. The Cavaliers don't play again until next Wednesday at home against Georgia Tech, so the time off can probably do them some good.
Gut feeling: Miami wins by 5-10 points.
Comments
Post a Comment