After an off-weekend, Virginia Tech basketball (11-6, 1-5 ACC) takes a five-game losing streak into Wednesday night's rivalry game at No. 10 Virginia (13-3, 5-2 ACC). Dave O'Brien and Jay Bilas are on the call at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
On Monday's ACC teleconference, Tech head coach Mike Young said senior Hunter Cattoor is expected to return to action against the Cavaliers. He missed the last four games after bruising his elbow at Boston College on Dec. 21.
The Hokies have lost five games in a row for the second time in Young's four seasons, and the first since 2019-20. Meanwhile, UVa has won five of its last six, including three in a row over Syracuse, North Carolina and Florida State.
Tech's won two of the last three over Virginia, but the Cavaliers lead the all-time series by a wide margin, 96-58. They've won the last three in Charlottesville, too. Tech's last victory in John Paul Jones Arena was Feb. 10, 2018, a 61-60 thriller in overtime. UVa currently leads VT in the Commonwealth Clash, 4.5-1.
Virginia
In early November, Tech Sideline split the conference in half and published two previews of the teams around the ACC. Here’s the synopsis for Virginia:Virginia Tech had a chance to win both meetings against Virginia last year but faltered down the stretch in the January meeting in Charlottesville. The Hokies had the Cavaliers’ number in Cassell, though, winning 62-53. Mike Young is 2-3 against Tony Bennett in three seasons. UVa returns six players who started ten-plus games: Kihei Clark, Jayden Gardner, Armaan Franklin, Reece Beekman, Francisco Caffaro and Kadin Shedrick. Moreover, Ohio transfer Ben Vander Plas (whom the Hokies pursued, but his dad went to college with Tony Bennett) adds some frontcourt depth. The Cavaliers signed three top-100 players as well: Isaac Traudt, Isaac McKneely and Leon Bond. Both Commonwealth Clash meetings will be highly anticipated this year.All of that still rings true. Caffaro hasn't started a game this year, appearing in just 11 of UVa's 16, but he's experienced. The usual quintet is back, and Vander Plas and McKneely have been big additions. It's a very balanced team with four freshmen and five seniors. In fact, with two graduate students in Clark and Vander Plas, Virginia is the oldest team in the conference and the fourth-most experienced in the country.
After finishing seventh in the league and missing the Big Dance last season, Tony Bennett & Co. have found more success in 2022-23. The offense is much more smooth while the defense is even better. Here are some numbers to compare the last three campaigns, which gives some context into how much of a down year Virginia experienced:
2022-23: Adj. offensive efficiency: No. 29; Defensive: No. 16
2021-22: Adj. offensive efficiency: No. 85; Defensive: No. 59
2020-21: Adj. offensive efficiency: No. 17; Defensive: No. 36
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The Cavaliers have taken care of the ball and have knocked down a bunch of treys this year. They get to the free throw line at a high rate, too, and rank 25th with a 39.6 ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts. Defensively, Virginia Tech is 32nd in D-I and allows a ratio of 24.2. However, in ACC play, that number is up to 36.5, which ranks 14th in the league.
Here's UVa's overall points distribution and ACC-only breakdown:
3-pointers: 32.9%; No. 129
2-pointers: 46.4%; No. 298
Free Throws: 20.7%; No. 62
3-pointers: 37.7%; 4th
2-pointers: 46.0%; 13th
Free Throws: 16.4%; 12th
What's UVa done well in its seven league games? Force turnovers (20.8% of opponents' possessions, No. 1 in ACC) and limit opponents inside (42.7% 2-point percent allowed, No. 2). Offensively, the team has also scored at a high rate from behind the arc - 37.7% of its points have come off threes, good for fourth in the conference.
Here are Virginia's seven conference results:
Dec. 3 vs. Florida State: W, 62-57
Dec. 20 at Miami: L, 66-64
Dec. 31 at Georgia Tech: W, 74-56
Jan. 3 at Pitt: L, 68-65
Jan. 7 vs. Syracuse: W, 73-66
Jan. 10 vs. North Carolina: W, 65-58
Jan. 14 at Florida State: W, 67-58
Two of the team's losses came on the road against quality opposition in Miami and Pitt. The other was to No. 1 Houston.
The Cavaliers' Roster
Seven different players have started a game while three average double figures. Here’s what the rotation looks like according to points per game:Armaan Franklin (6-4, 200, Sr.): 11.9
Kihei Clark (5-10, 167, Gr.): 11.0
Jayden Gardner (6-6, 233, Sr.): 10.3
Reece Beekman (6-3, 190, Jr.): 9.9
Kadin Shedrick (6-11, 231, r-Jr.): 8.3
Ben Vander Plas (6-8, 236, Gr.): 7.9
Isaac McKneely (6-4, 179, Fr.): 5.9
Ryan Dunn (6-8, 208, Fr.): 2.6
Francisco Caffaro (7-1, 254, r-Sr.): 2.0
Franklin (21.5%), Clark (22.3%), Gardner (23.6%) and Beekman (21.0%) are all significant contributors on more than 20% of possessions. In total, that's 88.4% of Virginia's opportunities.
Franklin (40%), Clark (38%) and Beekman (49%) are all solid three-point shooters, too, and they aren't the only ones. Vander Plas (33%) and McKneely (41%) have both knocked down some important treys this year.
Clark has the ninth-best assist rate in the country (37.1%). Beekman isn't far behind in 28th (33.5%). Gardner and Franklin rarely turn it over, too. And all are above 50% in effective field goal percentage, according to KenPom.
Vander Plas and Shedrick could be the x-factors on Wednesday. Syracuse ate the Hokies up in the paint in the last game, and Shedrick is 21st in D-I in 2-point field goal percentage (70.8%). Be on the lookout for McKneely to knock down a three in his time off the bench, too.
However, in last year's 54-52 meeting in John Paul Jones Arena, which came down to the wire, Caffaro was the player of the game for UVa. In 30 minutes, he had 16 points (5-of-7 FG, 6-of-10 FT) and nine rebounds, and he did a much better job defending Keve Aluma than Shedrick.
Aluma finished with 22 points for Tech, but bad play down the stretch - three turnovers and three missed field goals in the final three minutes - was the deciding factor for the Hokies. In all, they had 12 turnovers to 13 assists, but they shot better than Virginia.
At the moment, Tech's in a lull. The offense isn't efficient while the defense has been slightly above average recently. This is a UVa team that has a number of contributors. Taking care of the ball will be key, and the Hokies need to get some contributions from their role players. Most importantly, they can't allow a 20-4 run like they did up in Syracuse.
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