With Virginia Tech's NCAA tournament hopes in limbo, the visiting North Carolina Tar Heels may breathe new life into the Hokies' chances.
The Tar Heels face off with Tech in a nationally televised game on ESPN tonight at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.
"The great thing about this league is you get another opportunity, and the other opportunity is North Carolina this Wednesday," said head coach Seth Greenberg. "So, that's what we're preparing to do, and I think our guys are excited about the last week of the season and being in the chance to get to postseason play."
Tech's tournament resume contains a few blemishes, but a win over Carolina may prove to be all they need to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore Malcolm Delaney understood the urgency of the next game shortly after falling to Duke on Saturday afternoon.
"We've got another chance," the guard said. "It was a tough loss, but we can rebound. That didn't really hurt us at all."
Carolina features an entire team full of NBA prospects, but Greenberg and his players aren't about to take on a loser's mentality.
"We're confident going into every game. If you don't play to win in this league, you may as well not play," Greenberg said. "We play in this league, we play a great schedule against great teams, and our guys expect to win just like the other team's guys expect to win."
Despite the loss on Saturday, the Hokies put together a solid couple of games last week, defeating Clemson on the road and playing themselves back into the game against Duke in the second half.
"If we play as hard as we did (Saturday), we've got a chance," senior A.D. Vassallo said. "North Carolina's a great team, don't get me wrong. They're the best for a reason. But we've got them at home. We've got to forget that we lost to Duke. We can't keep reminiscing about it. We have to go to work and get ready for Wednesday."
Even though Tech maintains a positive outlook and hopes to capitalize on playing Carolina on a national stage, the Heels remain focused and realize what lies before them as they approach their regular season showdown at home with Duke on Sunday.
"Going into Virginia Tech on Wednesday will be a huge challenge for us," Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. "Senior day, Vassallo, Delaney, Allen -- they've really got a good basketball club. They're fighting for NCAA possibilities and they should be an NCAA team in my mind completely, but it will be a big challenge for us."
During Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, the Heels have averaged just over 87 points per contest, running up and down the floor in a high-paced transition game that overwhelms many teams.
In losses against Boston College and Maryland, Carolina only managed 78 and 76 points respectively in regulation. The Eagles and Terrapins played excellent transition defense, taking away the easy buckets that the Heels thrive on.
"I think when you play North Carolina you've got to take them out of transition," Greenberg said. "I think you've got to defend the post early and efficiently, and you've got to make sure you limit the catch and shoot and easy scoring positions for (Danny) Green and (Wayne) Ellington."
Keeping point guard Ty Lawson in check will prove to be the ultimate test for Tech.
The Hokie guards must stay in front of Lawson, possibly the quickest guard in the nation, to stop penetration to the hoop and easy dishes for spot-up three-pointers in transition to sharpshooters Ellington and Green.
When Lawson moves and can pass the ball to the outside as well, senior forward Tyler Hansbrough, who averages 21.3 points per game, becomes that much more effective due to a spread-out defense.
On average, North Carolina produces 19 assists compared to only 13.4 turnovers, but in losses against Wake Forest and Maryland, the Heels only managed nine and five assists, respectively, while committing 18 and 15 turnovers.
Still, the X-factor for Carolina is Ellington, who averages nearly 15 points per game.
Lauded for his pure shooting stroke by many, the senior only connects on 38 percent of his three-pointers, well below the 49 percent that Lawson shoots and the 45 percent for Green.
Even then, Ellington can catch fire from beyond the arc: Against Maryland at home he went 7-9 from three-point range and put up 34 total points. If Ellington can find his shot, there may be too much offense on the floor for the Hokies.
Though Carolina possesses the ability to light up the scoreboard, their defensive prowess is lacking.
The Tar Heels rank 11th in the conference in scoring defense and 10th in three-point percentage defense due in part to their up-tempo playing style and injury to defensive stopper Marcus Ginyard.
Clemson, who ranks just below Carolina in that same category, gave up 11 treys to the Hokies last Wednesday on only 19 attempts.
Provided Vassallo and Delaney shoot well, Tech can keep itself in the game with the three-ball.
How well Tech responds to Carolina's fast-paced style depends on the status of sophomore point guard Hank Thorns, who shined against Clemson but had to sit out for Duke due to hypernutremia.
"We're waiting to hear this morning (Monday). He had to get a blood test this morning to make sure his levels are fine," Greenberg said. "If they are, we'll limit him in practice, see how he feels after practice, and obviously he'll be day to day."
Had Thorns played against Duke, the outcome may have been different. Instead, Delaney, the only other point guard on the team, had to run the offense by himself and snapped his consecutive double digit scoring streak at 32.
Wednesday night will be the last regular season home game for the Hokies, and senior forwards Vassallo and Cheick Diakite will be honored.