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After two disappointing road loses at No. 6 Duke and Boston College, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team returns home to defend Cassell Coliseum in a White-Out night against the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday.
While the Hokies (21-6, 8-5 ACC) are returning to Blacksburg after a 20-point loss to the Eagles, the Terrapins (20-7, 10-3 ACC) are making the trip south following a four-game winning streak.
“That game is over with, it’s in the rearview mirror and in this league, you have to very much stay in the present,” said Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg.
The Terrapins are currently seated near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference, just below Duke, in second place. The Hokies are currently fourth place.
In their first and only scheduled meeting of the season, the Hokies are looking to avenge not only their recent loses, but also last season’s loss to the Terps in College Park.
Last year marked an unhappy Valentine’s Day for Tech fans as the Terrapins took care of the Hokies, leading by at least six the entire game and finally winning 83-73.
Statistically, everything is in favor of the Terrapins — they average 79.1 points per game to Tech’s 71.5, 39 rebounds per game to Tech’s 37.7, 16.5 assists per game to Tech’s 11.6; and they shoot 39 percent from the three compared to Tech’s 30.3 percent.
There will be several keys in Saturday’s game for the Hokies, mainly containing the Terps transition game.
Maryland likes to run the fast break and press full-court for the majority of the game. The Hokies will need to negate the transition battle by stopping the break but at the same time, they cannot lose track of themselves during the press. If Maryland wins the transition battle, Tech will lose this game.
By playing such a fast-paced game, the Hokies need to frustrate the Terps by slowing down the tempo and keeping the score down.
In games where Maryland has scored over 75 points, it is 16-3. In games where Tech has allowed more than 75 points, the Hokies are 2-4.
Another key area for the Hokies is free throws. In their 2009 rendezvous, the Terps made 24 of 26 free throws, shooting 92.3 percent from the line while the Hokies shot a mere 62 percent. Maryland has traditionally been a very good free throw shooting team, while the Hokies have struggled in recent years.
Also, something that can buoy the Hokies is getting Maryland into foul trouble. Terps head coach Gary Williams likes to run a seven-man rotation, which leaves little room for foul-trouble substitutions. Maryland guard Sean Mosley is a very solid defender, but does foul when frustrated.
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Maryland wins mark it down. Do you really think there going to let the contest against Duke mean nothing. I don't think so. Vt has no offense a one man show as of late. Maryland experienced back-court carry's this team.
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GO TERPS!!! YOU CAN'T STOP VASQUEZ!!!!!!!
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