The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will look for a much-needed win Thursday night as it takes on the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cassell Coliseum.
The Hokies (16-4, 3-3 ACC) enter tonight’s game in search of an identity.
After a tough loss against the University of Miami on Sunday, the Hokies sit in a position much less comfortable than the one they were in almost a week ago.
Last Thursday, the Hokies played a tough game against their in-state rival, the University of Virginia Cavaliers, and with a thrilling performance in the waning minutes, defeated the Cavs 76-71 while bolstering their NCAA Tournament resume in the process.
Three days later against Miami, the Hokies looked nothing like they did days before.
In the first half, Tech was outscored 47-30 by what was thought to be one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s more inept teams.
While the Hokies made a run in the second half, almost knotting the score several times in the final period, their efforts weren’t enough.
“We cut it to five points numerous times and just didn’t really find a way to close the thing and make the plays you need to make to have a chance to win a game on the road,” said Hokies’ head coach Seth Greenberg.
“Our toughness, our communication was just not what it needs to be if we’re going to be relevant in the next 10 games.”
Greenberg’s team, now 3-3 in conference play, will need to make all the noise it can in the next 10 games if it wants to reach its goal of the NCAA Tournament.
With in-conference losses against three currently unranked teams — Florida State, North Carolina and Miami — there is little room for the Hokies to slip.
But there really isn’t much room for any ACC team to slip.
The Tar Heels (13-8, 2-4 ACC) enter Thursday’s game just as, if not more, desperate than the Hokies are.
In their past five games, the Heels are 1-4, with just one win against NC State to go with four losses to Clemson, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and most recently, UVa.
A loss for the Heels on Thursday would put head coach Roy Williams’ team, a team that hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 2003 and currently holds the title of defending national champions, in official panic mode.
“Its not just one thing,” Williams said. “We’ve got some work to do. There’s no question about it. ... I always have hope. There’s no question about that. That’s the only way I know to go about doing it — to work as hard as we possibly can.”
While the Heels have struggled as of late, there is no question about the level of talent on their team.
Led by both Deon Thompson, who is currently averaging 14.7 points per game to go with 6.5 rebounds, and Ed Davis, who averages 14 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, the Heels will look for their second win against Tech this year with an offensive attack much different than that of the Hokies.
Thompson and Davis stand at 6-foot-9-inches and 6-foot-10-inches, respectively.
With nearly 30 points and just over 16 rebounds of production per game coming from the two, the Hokies will need to keep Thompson and Davis contained.
“I think (Davis) is just magnificent,” Greenberg said. “He’s long, he’s agile, he scores around the basket, he can set you out to 15 feet. He’s just a really gifted player.
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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