ACC Opener: Virgina Tech Preview

Today is definitely a big day for Demon Deacon basketball. So far we've played a lot of awful opponents, a few mediocre ones, and one pretty good one, but none of those mean as much as any ACC game. Late this afternoon the important games start at home in the Joel against Virginia Tech. Although I won't be blogging the game live, I'll have my post-game thoughts up sometime tonight (might not be until late).

Virginia Tech comes into this game with a 6-4 record and an 0-2 record on the road with losses to Butler and Penn State. They also have neutral site losses against Gonzaga (no shame in that) and Old Dominion.

For a bit of a stats comparison:
VT shoots 45% to Wake's 41%
VT makes 38% of 3pt shoots to Wake's 31%
VT averages 13 Turnovers to Wake's 18
Nonetheless, VT only scores 67 ppg to Wake's 70 - mostly because Wake takes significantly more shots.

Point spreads for the game are anywhere from -2.5 to -3.5, with most at -3 in favor of Wake.

Virgina Tech has three players averaging double figures, including Guard/Forwards A.D. Vassallo and Deron Washington and Freshman forward Jeff Allen. Vassallo is definitely the biggest threat from long range, but 6th man Malcolm Delaney can shoot as well. Even though Allen also leads the team in rebounds and steals, he's also clearly a freshman making freshman mistakes with the most turnovers on the team and the most fouls.

The Deacs come into this game off of Wednesday night's strong win over USF. So far though the team has seemed unable to string together really strong performances. They'll have to change that tonight to start this ACC campaign off on the right foot.

I have yet to see VT play, so any comments I make are based almost exclusively on those stats. I think the oddsmakers are right in predicting a close game, and since Wake hasn't lost at home while VT has struggled on the road I'm going to give us the advantage. Hopefully we'll capitalize and come out with a victory.

My prediction: Wake 67, VT 62

Go Deacs