Date: Saturday, February 28
Time: 4pm
TV: The ACC Network

Virginia Tech heads to Charlottesville to take on #2 UVA on Saturday at 4pm. The Hokies (10-18, 2-13) nearly knocked off the Hoos (26-1, 14-1) in Blacksburg on January 25. Can they play well this time on the road?

We don't know whether starting UVA point guard London Perrantes will play or not. He is a game time decision. That would be a big loss. The sophomore point guard is currently the best London on the UVA campus … er, Grounds. The Hoos list the following starting lineup in their game notes…

G Malcolm Brogdon (6-5, 215, r-Jr.): 13.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg. Brogdon will be forced into more of a ball handling role if London Perrantes can't play. He is a very good scorer from inside and outside.

G Marial Shayok (6-5, 207, Fr.): 3.9 ppg, 2 rpg. Shayok originally signed with Buzz Williams at Marquette. He could be pushed into a starting role if Perrantes can't play. He started and played 26 minutes in Wednesday's win at Wake Forest.

F Evan Nolte (6-8, 224, Jr.): 2.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg. Nolte played 30 minutes against Wake, when he normally plays 15 minutes per game.

F Darion Atkins (6-8, 241, Sr.): 7.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg. Atkins is a veteran player, and he has more experience in Tony Bennett's system than anybody else on the roster.

F Anthony Gill (6-8, 230, r-Jr): 11.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg. Gill is UVA's best post scorer and rebounder, and he'll be perhaps the toughest matchup for the Hokies on Saturday.

Without Perrantes and Justin Anderson, UVA lacks depth. However, the pace of their games means that their lack of depth doesn't affect them as much as it would hurt other teams.

With Anderson on the shelf, the Hoos are a very limited offensive team. However, their defensive numbers really can't get any better. Check out the points they've allowed in their last six games…

Louisville: 47
NC State: 47
Wake: 60
Pitt: 49
FSU: 41
Wake: 34

Only one team has cracked 50 points on them, and that was Wake Forest. When those teams met again less than two weeks later, the Hoos held the Deacons to 34 points. Their defense is as good as you'll see from anybody in college basketball. Earlier this year they held Georgia Tech to 28 points.

Buzz Williams had a very good offensive game plan in the first meeting against UVA, yet Tech could still manage just 47 points. The Hokies will have a chance in this one, though they'll have to play better on the road than they have all year. In the first meeting, Tech didn't have Justin Bibbs (concussion). If the Hoos are without Perrantes and Anderson, they'll lose two major contributors from that January 25 matchup. Here are their numbers from the first meeting in Blacksburg:

Anderson: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Perrantes: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists

Here are the advanced stats…

Offensive efficiency: VT #178, UVA #23
Defensive efficiency: VT #264, UVA #2
Rebounding rate: VT #342, UVA #4
Turnovers per possession: VT #143, UVA #7
Opp. Turnovers per possession: VT #147, UVA #280

Virginia is awesome defensively, and they are excellent on the boards. They don't turn the basketball over, and despite being boring offensively they are one of the most efficient teams in the country on that end of the court.

The Hokies haven't played well on the road this year. In fact, they haven't won a road game all season. It will take a great effort to beat the Hoos on the road, but if London Perrantes doesn't play and Tech can keep the game in the 40s, they will have a shot.

I originally typed "Tech will have to keep UVA in the 50s to have a shot." However, when you consider that five of UVA's last six opponents have failed to break 50 points, that's probably not true. If the Hokies win this game, it's probably going to be 47-45, or some other low score.