Virginia Tech BB Preview: UVA & GA Tech

After a monumental win against the Terps to stay unbeaten at Cassell, the Hokies turn road warriors this week at UVA and Georgia Tech. Who’s waiting out there on the road? Check it out:

VIRGINIA (10-4, 0-1 ACC)

Biggest Win: at Arizona, 75-72

Worst Loss: Seton Hall, 74-60

The instate Cavs are near the bottom of the ACC ledger right now, but the conference campaign is just one game old, and the standings certainly won’t stay that way. UVA is a dangerous, poised team with some quality senior leadership that will be a tough, tough out in February and beyond. Let’s look at some of the Hoos’ main weapons.

As he has for three years now, senior guard Sean Singletary paces the Cavs. Singletary is a beast, plain and simple, a 6-foot dynamo that fills up a box score, averaging 17.9 points, 3.9 boards and a career high 6.6 assists per game. Singletary has been in double figures every game this year, and has dropped in 20+ on 6 occasions in his senior campaign. Singletary shoots, passes, and attacks well. The only significant chink in his armor is an increasing propensity to commit turnovers. He’s been asked to handle a bigger portion of the ball handling duties this year, and that responsibility has resulted in bumped up numbers in both assists and turnovers. Singletary averages nearly 5 turnovers a game, so Tech will likely have to pressure him and hope it can force a few gaffes.

Adrian Joseph has been UVA’s best front court player this year, and Joseph has certainly been a pleasant surprise. A contributor in years past, the senior has answered the bell this season, seeing his rebound numbers leap from 3.5 to 7.8 a game, and adding a few more points to go with the boards, scoring 11.9 up from 7.2 a game last year. Joseph is a dangerous player because of his nose for the ball and his ability to hit the outside shot. This is a 6-foot-7 man who shoots 40% from beyond the arc, and nearly 80% from the stripe. He’s not quite the size of ACC big men that have burnt Tech big time in recent years, but if any Cav is going to kill the Hokies singlehandedly, my money is on Joseph, not Singletary. UVA has lost 4 games this year, and in three of those games, Joseph has scored 6 points or less. If that doesn’t tell you that stopping Joseph is the key to this game, nothing will.

The Cavs have an ace sharpshooter in Mamadi Diane, the Potomac product that has drained a three-ball in 12 of 14 outings this season. Diane is hitting 48% of his threes on the year, and while that number just can’t last until March, Diane is certainly hot lately, with 16 of his last 36 made in competition. I’m always amazed when stud three-point shooters struggle at the free throw line, but Diane is only 70% from the charity stripe. If the game is tight late, the Cavs would be much better suited to foul Diane than let him get a clear look at the hoop from long distance.

Prediction: I don’t like this matchup for the Hokies. There’s certainly the momentum factor in Tech’s favor coming off the thrilling Maryland win, but UVA is really tough at home, and I don’t think VA Tech can keep up with the Hoos’ 79 points a game scoring pace. The Hokies take one on the chin. UVA by 12.

GEORGIA TECH (7-8, 0-2 ACC)

Biggest Win: at Notre Dame, 70-69

Worst Loss: UNC Greensboro, 83-74

If the Hokies are going to grab a road win in the ACC, this is their best chance. Tech is 7-8 and will be 7-9 after the Tar Heels come to town Wednesday night. The Jackets were hit hard by defections after last season, and come Saturday, will likely be experiencing the inevitable hangover the game after playing the nation’s top team. GA Tech is the perfect team against which Greenberg’s Gang can reach up and grab one away from Cassell.

It’s safe to say the Jackets are still trying to find their best rotation. Not a single GA Tech player averages more than 30 minutes per game, and 11 average 10 minutes or more. That’s an astounding amount of balance in minutes. Anthony Morrow, Tech’s senior guard, is the team’s most experienced player, and Morrow has had an up and down career. After a breakout sophomore campaign that saw Morrow average 16 points and 4 boards a game, he saw his minutes, points and rebounds all dip dramatically during last year’s campaign. But Morrow is back this year, leading the team with 15 and 5 a night, and an improved A:T ratio to boot, 1.21:1. Morrow has one of the sweetest touches you’ll see outside a massage parlor. The senior is shooting 47% from threeland, and small sample size isn’t a problem. He’s already buried 36 bombs in 15 games: 2.4 a game. Face guarding him and denying the ball is Tech’s biggest challenge in this game.

In the post, GA Tech will run out a rotation of several bigger guys who will come in with fresh legs and a hunger for the glass. Jeremis Smith is a senior averaging 10 points and 7 boards a game, who isn’t nearly as prone to turnovers as most other big men. Putting an early foul or two on Smith’s sheet would help a lot, because the longer he’s in the game, the harder Hokie post men have to work to keep up. Zach Peacock is another 6-8 banger, but he’s younger and less experienced. Still, he uses his height well, and unlike Smith, can drop in the occasional outside shot. And as long as we’re counting big men, we can’t forget Alade Aminu, a 6-foot-10 mountain from Stone Mountain, Georgia. At just 225 lbs., he’s not the strongest player on Tech’s roster, and it’s shown the last few weeks. After roaring out of the gate, Aminu has averaged only 4.7 points a game the last 9 outings; keeping him out of the box score and on the bench is another VA Tech key to victory.

Prediction: What hurdle will be hardest for the Hokies to leap, the sum total of GA Tech’s post men, or the sole force of Anthony Morrow? I’m not sure, but I think if VA Tech can win the battle in one of the two areas, it can get the win. Call it a gut feeling, but I don’t think the Hokies are going winless this week. Hokies by 5.