Chances are, if you have been watching this Virginia Tech team play recently for the first time this season, you might be surprised to know they started the season 2-7. Don’t look now though. On Friday night, they now get the chance to play North Carolina in the semifinals of the New York Life ACC Tournament. According to Virginia Tech Twitter’s own, Deablo Fan Account, out of the last 540 teams since 2014 that started conference play 2-7 or worse, Virginia Tech is the first one to finish with a winning record. Quite the turnaround for Mike Young and company.
Although the Hokies have been able to turn the tides throughout the year, the last time they beat the Tar Heels was over two years ago in January of 2020. North Carolina is 2-0 against the Hokies this season, having won both games by a combined 18 points.
The Heels have also won the last two meetings between the two teams in the ACC tournament both in 2020 and 2021. But this will be a different Virginia Tech team Carolina will be dealing with later tonight. Before the Hokies last lost to North Carolina, they were on a six-game winning streak, and now they come into tonight’s ACC Tournament semifinal game as winners of 11 of their last 13.
What To Know - Virginia Tech
So how’d they get here? A tough overtime victory over Clemson on Wednesday when Darius Maddox hit the game-winning three at the horn certainly gave the Hokies a spark. The shot from Maddox and the confidence Young and company had in removing Keve Aluma from the floor, clearly going for the victory. That had to light a fire under this team. The Hokies came out last night and led the entire game against Notre Dame from start to finish, with a lead as large as 16.
In tonight’s game, Tech will need its shooters to be firing on all cylinders to have a chance against Carolina’s size. Hunter Cattoor is still not quite yet right for the Hokies, but as he finds his rhythm again from beyond the arc, guards Sean Pedulla and Storm Murphy have picked up the slack recently. The scoring from Murphy has been one of the most welcomed sights for the Hokies recently. Tech fans often wanted more from the graduate transfer, and recently he has delivered.
Against Clemson and last night against the Irish, Murphy has hit some clutch three-point shots down the stretch for Virginia Tech. Smooth, and confident with his shot, the Wofford graduate transfer has gone 10-for-16 in the last two outings, including 7-of-12 from three.
What To Know - North Carolina
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels are winners of eight of their last nine games. Of course, that includes the big win against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium to close out the regular season and they built off that momentum last night, smacking Virginia by 20, 63-43.
The Tar Heels bring a balanced attack on offense. Their defense (giving up 71.7 PPG) is not as stingy as the Hokies (62.2 PPG), but they can outscore their opponents by getting most of their starters involved, averaging around 81 points per game as a team. The Heels have three starters that are all in the top half of the ACC in scoring. Armando Bacot (16.4 points per game), Caleb Love (15.6 points per game) and Brady Manek (14.6 points per game) are a lot to handle for any defense. Bacot is a force inside, leading the conference in total rebounds per game (12.4 per contest) as well as offensive rebounding (3.8 per game).
The first time the Hokies matched up with North Carolina, their whole starting five scored in double figures, showing just how dangerous this group can be. Both times, the Hokies struggled to contain Bacot, just as many opponents have this season. The star forward followed up a 20-rebound performance in their first meeting with a 15-board performance in the next.
Prediction
The Hokies will be desperate for a victory tonight. There have been mixed reviews on whether Virginia Tech has earned the right to go dancing in the NCAA Tournament. But all things considered, the Hokies would feel a lot more confident in their hopes if they win tonight.
In their prior two meetings against the Tar Heels, the Hokies have shot a combined 12-for-44 (.272) from beyond the arc, which is far below their season average as a team (.389). Storm Murphy and Hunter Cattoor can keep the Hokies in the game shooting the ball like they have, and Sean Pedulla and Darius Maddox need to provide the same kind of lift off the bench that they have recently for the Hokies to have a shot at winning this game.
Tech will need production from everywhere but especially in their starting five. Mutts and Aluma cannot be expected to carry the entire offense or else Carolina will outscore the Hokies easily.
Beating the Heels will be a tall task for Virginia Tech, and although I think they will have a better shooting performance than in games past, I believe Bacot will still be too much down low for Tech to contain. The Hokies lose in a close, hard-fought game to the Tar Heels.
