The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will suit up and step out on its home floor for the second time in three days Saturday to play the Clemson Tigers at 4 p.m.
Tech enters Saturday’s game in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tigers (16-6, 4-4 in the ACC) are coming into the game with a bit more rest. They haven’t played since Jan. 31, when they took down the Maryland Terrapins 62-53 in a very sloppy game in which both teams turned the ball over at least 21 times.
“We’re coming off of a big win,” Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell said. “Probably the significant thing about the win was the fact that we did not shoot the ball well but yet were able to pull things out on the strength of our defense.”
The win broke a three game losing streak for the Tigers, in which Clemson lost at Georgia Tech, against Duke, and at Boston College.
Last time the Hokies played two games within four days was last weekend, when they came out sluggish in the second game and gave up 47 points in the first half against the Miami Hurricanes. To make it worse, the Hurricanes were the same team that the Hokies had a 27-point halftime lead against just over two weeks earlier.
The Hokies and Tigers played just once last year in a very close 86-82 Tiger win. In the game, the Hokies dominated early, but Clemson used an 18-0 run early in the second half to earn the victory.
The Tigers were led by K.C. Rivers in last year’s game, who scored 29 points and hit seven three-pointers against the Hokies, but has since graduated.
One person who has not graduated yet, though, is Hokies junior guard Malcolm Delaney, who put up a career-high 37 points in the game last season.
Whoever Clemson decides to put on Delaney will be in one of the biggest matchups of the game. The two players who may be asked to do this are sophomores Andre Young and Tanner Smith.
The other matchup that will have a big factor is Clemson senior Trevor Booker and the Hokies junior Jeff Allen. Booker put up 21 points and 13 rebounds in the that matchup last season, and Allen has struggled of late, meaning that Allen might need some help from other big men like Victor Davila.
Booker has struggled recently too, however. Against Maryland, the senior shot just two for 16 and finished with 10 points.
“We’re going to have an off shooting night, so it’s not something I like to think about,” Purnell said. “But it’s going to happen from time to time.”
“Those are the nights that you hope your defense gives you the opportunity to win.”
Clemson’s defense did just that when Booker had an off game and it will be important for the Hokies’ offense to make sure it doesn’t have the trouble scoring that Maryland had in the Tiger’s last game.
The biggest matchup of Saturday’s game could be how the Hokies handle the full-court pressure that Clemson will almost certainly be bringing.
The Tigers are notorious for not only pressing for most of every game, but for coming up with creative sets to do so.
Purnell stresses defense as the reason why Clemson wins games it struggles in offensively like against Maryland.
“We just played as good of defense as we’ve played in a long time. ... Even though we shoot 31 percent for the game, we hold them to 34 percent shooting,” Purnell said.
“We turn them over 26 times and we didn’t take care of the ball real well ourselves and the fact that we were able to do a really good job on the backboards as well, those were the things that gave us an opportunity to win.”
“I just think that we had pretty good energy,” Purnell continued. “We were fundamentally sound, we understood and utilized our game preparation, our scouting — the way that you’re supposed to, to give yourself an edge.”
The Hokies have done a fine job handling the press thus far this season, though they haven’t seen anything like what Clemson will bring to the table.
If the Hokies even want to compete, they are going to need guards and small forwards like Erick Green, Dorenzo Hudson, and J.T. Thompson to help get the ball past half court.
On the defensive end, those quicker players will need to make a difference as well.
Greenberg said the Hokies continue to work on their transition defense, which will be key in a faster-paced game against the Tigers.
“I think that we’re doing a better job of outnumbering the ball, we’re doing a better job of containing the basketball,” Greenberg said.
“We just can’t turn it over. Obviously, it’s hard to defend a turnover. You know, we’ve got to be strong with the ball and stay lower and work to get open. If we take care of the ball, I think our transition defense will be fine.”
There are many more matchups and aspects to this game, as there are to every other one, but the outcome will swing on the following: If the Hokies can beat the press, stop Booker inside and have Delaney go off, then Tech will win the game.
If they can’t, the Tigers will walk out of Blacksburg with the win and the Hokies will be in a worse position than they have been in all year to achieve their goals.
If Tech has any shot at making it to the NCAA National Tournament, its season may hinge on the outcome of this game.
It may seem like a large amount of pressure to put on one game, but with the ACC as weak as it is, it may take nine or 10 victories within the conference to impress the selection committee.
Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Saturday in Cassell Coliseum and the game will be televised on Raycom Sports.