NCAA Tournament First Round Preview

(This article originally appeared on www.hokiehaven.com.)

Virginia Tech will take to the court Friday night against Illinois in their first NCAA appearance in 11 years. Will the Hokies be a quick one and out or will March Madness reign in Blacksburg a little longer? Find out as Hokiehaven.com's Brian Golden takes a look ahead.

ILLINOIS (23-11, 9-7 BIG 10)
Big Wins: Indiana, Michigan State, at Indiana
Bad Losses: at Michigan

From a national runner-up finish two years ago to a 12 seed that struggled mightily in the not-so-mighty Big Ten, the Illini will come to Columbus wounded warriors, over which a win will be expected for Seth Greenberg's Hokies. Bruce Weber's troops took two from Indiana and also nabbed the Spartans, but have absolutely no marquee wins on which to hang their hat, and probably should have been omitted from the field entirely in favor of Syracuse or Kansas State.

None of that will matter when the ball is tipped early Friday evening, however, as Illinois is strong in all the areas Virginia Tech is weak and will thrive off a Big Ten friendly crowd in Columbus. Illinois is led by big men Warren Carter and Shaun Pruitt. Neither of the two upperclassmen has 'wow' talent, but after paying their dues behind more talented players, both Carter and Pruitt logged a ton of quality minutes this year. Carter, in particular, was solid, scoring double figures the last 10 games, helping Illinois finish 8-2 down the stretch. Chester Frazier is an explosive guard, and his season stats tell a beguiling story. Most games, Frazier isn't counted on to score much, only seeing double figures twice since January 4th. But occasionally, as in a 21 point outing against Penn State or a 10-rebound haul at Indiana, Frazier gets rolling and proves very difficult to stop. He's the kind of young player that can feed off a positive crowd and hurt you in a few ways; the crowd will be there Friday, Tech has to make sure Frazier isn't.

Elsewhere, the Illini operate on a fairly successful guard by committee plan; Jamar Smith (22 min./game), Calvin Brock (19 mpg) and Trent Meachem (18 mpg) have all had many ups and downs this year. Virginia Tech's goal with the Illini guards must be to force Weber's hand with substitutions. Weber is a good situational game coach, and Tech has to hassle the guard corps until one member of the unit must be replaced due to inefficiency, not at the convenience of Weber.

This game will, and should be the game this year's Hokies are remembered by. The questions that have harangued this bunch all year are all in play Friday night: Can they maintain a high level of play against a team with inferior talent? Can they play strong enough post defense to subdue active big men? Most importantly: Can they win a big game when the big game is NOT against a big team?

The crowd will be hostile early, and I think Tech goes into the locker room behind. But experience and talent will win out, and I think it is the HOKIES BY 7, in a game that could go either way until the final two minutes.