Collegiate Times

They have won three of the last four against the Demon Deacons. A.D. Vassallo, who is peaking at the right time, has averaged 21 points per game in his career against Wake Forest, and the game is at Cassell Coliseum where the Hokies are 5-2 against ACC opponents this season. On top of all that is the stinging feeling leftover from the loss earlier in the season at Wake Forest, in which Ishmael Smith hit a jumper with one second left to cap a last-minute comeback 77-75 win over the Hokies.

"We've definitely got a little bad taste in our mouth about that game, and we're waiting for them to come up here and take advantage of it," said Vassallo.

Tech's players were quick to discount the notion that they might look ahead to the March 9 trip to Clemson. They insisted that they are focused on taking it one game at a time, but the prospect of playing the third best team in the conference on the road in what will be the most important game of the season looms large. With postseason implications at stake, it will serve as a good litmus test to determine how this young team performs with so much on the line.

In the five times that Clemson and the Hokies have played since Tech joined the ACC in 2004, each game has been decided by fewer than five points, and four of the five have been by two points or less. It's just one of those quirky matchups that always end up being nail-biters regardless of how much better one team is.

Vassallo and Deron Washington would probably tell you that winning at Clemson would be a measure of redemption. In last year's regular season finale, all Tech had to do was beat the struggling Tigers to clinch a share of the ACC regular season title, but Clemson prevailed 75-74 in Blacksburg to deny the Hokies that opportunity. While Clemson won't catch UNC or Duke this year at the top of the ACC standings, the Hokies can still deal a blow to the Tigers' stock while improving their own.

If Tech plays these next two games as if it did in the second half against Boston College, it has a good chance to finish the ACC regular season with a 10-6 record and slip on its dancin' shoes. No team that has gone 10-6 in the ACC has ever been left out in the cold come NCAA Tourney selection time.

But if they play as if they did in the first half, then they can count on an NIT invite, because teams such as Clemson and Wake Forest don't fail to consistently convert opportunities like a struggling Boston College team did last night.

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