Hokies To Face Hoos in ACC Tournament

Virginia Tech will get a third chance to knock off Virginia on Thursday night. The Hokies and Cavaliers will play each other in the first round of the 2006 ACC Tournament in Greensboro. Tip-off will be at 7pm on Thursday, and the game will be televised by ESPN.

This will be the third meeting of the season between the in-state rivals. UVA won two close games against Virginia Tech earlier in the year. The first came on January 15 in Cassell Coliseum. UVA came away with a 54-49 victory, their only road win in the ACC this season. The Hokies led 49-44 with 3:39 remaining in the game, but Virginia scored the final 10 points of the game to come away with the win.

The second meeting took place on February 11 in Charlottesville. UVA stormed out to a 15 point first half lead, but the Hokies came back in the second half and took the lead. The game eventually went to overtime, and Virginia overcame a three point deficit to win 81-77.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the ACC Tournament. The Hokies will enter the game with a 14-15 overall record, and with a mark of 4-12 in the ACC. UVA finished the regular season at 14-13 and 7-9. The Cavaliers have won the last three meetings with Virginia Tech, and four of the last five.

UVA got off to a hot start in conference play, but has faded down the stretch. They have lost three games in a row and four of their last five. They closed the season with a 71-70 loss to Maryland in the last game at University Hall.

The Hokies have suffered through a tough sophomore campaign in the ACC. Out of Tech’s 12 losses in the ACC, ten have been by single digits. Seven of their ACC losses have come by five points or less, two more losses were by six points. The Hokies lost to Duke in December on a 40-foot shot by Sean Dockery. They have missed potential game-winning three-pointers at the buzzer twice against Boston College.

The winner of the Tech-UVA matchup will get the unenviable task of playing the University of North Carolina in the second round. The #2 seed Tar Heels are the hottest team in the ACC right now, winning seven games in a row and 10 of their last 11. They defeated Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.