Boston College at Virginia, 8 p.m. ACC Network
Hello Wahoos fans. I took the long Presidents Day weekend off -- plus Tuesday -- and went to the Daytona 500 with my uncle. I went to many NASCAR races at Charlotte and Richmond as a kid, and went to Bristol with my uncle in 2012, but this was my first trip to the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway, and it lived up to the hype, with Virginia resident Denny Hamlin taking the checkered flag Monday after Sunday's action was rained out. It was his third victory in the race in the past five years.
Of course, all thoughts afterward were with Ryan Newman, who was involved in a huge and horrific crash right at the end of the race as he was trying to hold off the contenders for his second 500 win. On Wednesday, everyone got great news when Newman was released from the hospital, hand in hand with his two daughters. The news Tuesday was that Newman was awake and talking and had serious injuries but they weren't life-threatening, so I was surprised to see him released that quickly. However, there is no timetable for his return to racing, as his injuries and rehabilitation schedule have not been released.
As a result of my mini vacation, I did not have time to write about the North Carolina game, but I did get to watch Saturday night from Georgia, and what a thrilling finish that was, with Tomas Woldetensae hitting the Cavaliers' game-winning 3 to take down the Tar Heels, 64-62 in Chapel Hill. Virginia has six straight wins in the series. With the way the junior college transfer has been knocking down treys and with how close UVa's games have been, I think it was inevitable he was going to eventually hit a last-second 3 to win a game. Woldetensae has now hit an absurd 20 of 34 3-pointers in the past three road contests.
To read full coverage of the big victory, check out my colleague Maize and Blue Wahoo's game story on HoosPlace.com here.
I also didn't have time to put together a complete preview for tonight's home contest against Boston College. But this is another win Virginia kind of has to have. Now, the 'Hoos have possibly cushioned themselves somewhat by winning five of their past six games and could very well be in the NCAA tournament if it started today. Losing to BC wouldn't be catastrophic, but it would be another bad loss
after the Cavaliers already fell to the Eagles, 60-53, on Jan. 7. Though UVa played well against the Tar Heels and seemingly has momentum, it doesn't mean that'll translate to playing better against BC this time around. Before that first meeting, UVa had just crushed Virginia Tech, 65-39, but then was flat in that road loss.
On top of that, in the first matchup, BC was without two of its top players in senior guard Derryck Thornton (13.1 ppg, 3.6 apg) and senior forward Nik Popovic (10.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg), and they are playing tonight, so UVa needs to be ready for a better Eagles offense.
BC is 13-13 and 7-8 in the ACC, experiencing the same up-and-down season as many teams in the conference. It has a win over Notre Dame, swept two games from the Hokies, and took down N.C. State this past Sunday in addition to upsetting Virginia. The Eagles also played Duke really tough at home recently, losing 63-55, after getting blasted by 39 against the Blue Devils earlier this season.
Virginia's defensive effort will be there, and hopefully the offense continues to take a step or two, but the difference lately has been late-game execution. UVa was losing close games, and now it is winning them. Getting better in those situations has allowed the Wahoos to gain momentum and possibly get on the right side of the Big Dance bubble. They have to keep doing it, though, and I like them to do just that in Charlottesville.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10 points.
Hello Wahoos fans. I took the long Presidents Day weekend off -- plus Tuesday -- and went to the Daytona 500 with my uncle. I went to many NASCAR races at Charlotte and Richmond as a kid, and went to Bristol with my uncle in 2012, but this was my first trip to the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway, and it lived up to the hype, with Virginia resident Denny Hamlin taking the checkered flag Monday after Sunday's action was rained out. It was his third victory in the race in the past five years.
Of course, all thoughts afterward were with Ryan Newman, who was involved in a huge and horrific crash right at the end of the race as he was trying to hold off the contenders for his second 500 win. On Wednesday, everyone got great news when Newman was released from the hospital, hand in hand with his two daughters. The news Tuesday was that Newman was awake and talking and had serious injuries but they weren't life-threatening, so I was surprised to see him released that quickly. However, there is no timetable for his return to racing, as his injuries and rehabilitation schedule have not been released.
Ryan Newman has been treated and released from Halifax Medical Center pic.twitter.com/J0twhGgQm7— Roush Fenway (@roushfenway) February 19, 2020
As a result of my mini vacation, I did not have time to write about the North Carolina game, but I did get to watch Saturday night from Georgia, and what a thrilling finish that was, with Tomas Woldetensae hitting the Cavaliers' game-winning 3 to take down the Tar Heels, 64-62 in Chapel Hill. Virginia has six straight wins in the series. With the way the junior college transfer has been knocking down treys and with how close UVa's games have been, I think it was inevitable he was going to eventually hit a last-second 3 to win a game. Woldetensae has now hit an absurd 20 of 34 3-pointers in the past three road contests.
To read full coverage of the big victory, check out my colleague Maize and Blue Wahoo's game story on HoosPlace.com here.
I also didn't have time to put together a complete preview for tonight's home contest against Boston College. But this is another win Virginia kind of has to have. Now, the 'Hoos have possibly cushioned themselves somewhat by winning five of their past six games and could very well be in the NCAA tournament if it started today. Losing to BC wouldn't be catastrophic, but it would be another bad loss
On top of that, in the first matchup, BC was without two of its top players in senior guard Derryck Thornton (13.1 ppg, 3.6 apg) and senior forward Nik Popovic (10.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg), and they are playing tonight, so UVa needs to be ready for a better Eagles offense.
BC is 13-13 and 7-8 in the ACC, experiencing the same up-and-down season as many teams in the conference. It has a win over Notre Dame, swept two games from the Hokies, and took down N.C. State this past Sunday in addition to upsetting Virginia. The Eagles also played Duke really tough at home recently, losing 63-55, after getting blasted by 39 against the Blue Devils earlier this season.
Virginia's defensive effort will be there, and hopefully the offense continues to take a step or two, but the difference lately has been late-game execution. UVa was losing close games, and now it is winning them. Getting better in those situations has allowed the Wahoos to gain momentum and possibly get on the right side of the Big Dance bubble. They have to keep doing it, though, and I like them to do just that in Charlottesville.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10 points.
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