At 9 pm this evening, the Virginia Tech Hokies face off against the Florida State Seminoles for an ACC showdown in Blacksburg. The Hokies enter this one on a three-game losing streak, with losses coming against Duke, Miami, and Notre Dame while the Seminoles come into this game off a four-point loss against the surging Virginia Cavaliers.
These two teams have already played against each other on January 6th, where Florida State picked up a 77-74 victory on their home floor, behind a balanced scoring effort where four players hit double digits in the scoring column. Despite the loss, the Hokies got a monster performance from their lead backcourt duo as Sean Pedulla dropped 26 points, and Hunter Cattoor had 19 while going 5-6 from three-point range.
At this point, as both of these teams are unlikely to get at-large bids, this will be a big game in terms of seeding entering the ACC tournament. The Hokies are at the 11 seed in the ACC and should set a goal to at least get into the top nine to get at least one bye, while Florida State is less than a game back from getting a top four seed and a chance to get a double bye at the start of the tournament.
With both of these teams likely needing to either win the ACC Tournament or at least make deep runs to get onto the NCAA Tournament bubble, each game to end the season is massive in making that tournament opportunity just a bit easier.
Keys of the Game
Who will show up for the Hokies?
Virginia Tech has had seven players score at least 14 points in a single game this season, and have had five different players lead them in scoring. The issue for the Hokies isn’t a lack of depth, but their inability to have their top players put together good performances at the same time.
This can work to their advantage in the sense that they are almost never blown out, because one or two players always step up for each individual game. However, this also makes it so the Hokies can’t blow out teams they are much better than on paper, and makes them vulnerable to slip ups like they just had against Notre Dame.
If the Hokies can count on solid games from at least four of their seven true rotation players, then they will beat Florida State. However, if they have to rely on one guy, because everyone else has gone cold, then that is a recipe for their fourth consecutive loss.
Home Court Advantage
While most teams normally perform better at home than they do on the road, Virginia Tech has taken this to the extreme this season, with an extremely impressive 10-2 record at home, but only a 1-6 record in true road games.
To put this into perspective, on average ACC teams have won over 73% of their home games, while winning over 40% of their road games. The Hokies have been well above-average at home, winning at Cassell over 83% of the time. However their win percentage plummets on the road to just over 14%.
Fortunately for the Hokies, they are on their home court tonight, and if they are able to continue the trend, expect Virginia Tech to come out ready to play in front of their loyal fanbase.
Matchup of the Game: Lynn Kidd vs Baba Miller
The last time these two teams played, Baba Miller got the best of Lynn Kidd as Miller stuffed the stat sheet with an eight-point, ten-rebound, five-assist performance. Kidd on the other hand, struggled with just two points and eight rebounds on the night. As well as that, Lynn Kidd is coming off his worst game of the season against Notre Dame, scoring just two points and grabbing one board, with Mike Young opting for Mylyjael Poteat to man the middle for much of the second half instead of his starting center.
Kidd, an ACC Most Improved Player of the Year hopeful, will certainly be looking for a bounce back performance. Whoever wins this battle will have a massive effect on the result of the game.
When Lynn Kidd isn’t playing aggressive, the Hokies have to rely on often inconsistent outside shooting, which has been much less reliable than a Lynn Kidd pick and roll finish or jump hook so far this season. As well as that, the Hokies find themselves in last place in the ACC in terms of their work on the glass, so it is of utmost importance for Lynn Kidd to dominate the interior, if the Hokies want to knock off Florida State.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 78, Florida State 71
Lynn Kidd will bounce back from his poor performance versus Notre Dame and establish an inside presence right from the jump. His domination in the paint will force the Florida State defense to collapse, opening up three-point opportunities for the Hokies' sharpshooters. This will lead to a 15+ point night for Tyler Nickel and usual double-digit scoring nights for the Hokies star backcourt duo of Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor on their way to victory.
