Virginia Tech’s Turnaround: Defensive Improvements and Devin Wilson’s Impact

Buzz Williams has turned his team’s defense around. (Ivan Morozov)

Virginia Tech handled No. 15 Clemson 65-58 in Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday.  The Tigers were as advertised.  They are a tough, physical and well-coached team that is limited offensively.  The Hokies won, and in hindsight it would have been an upset had they lost.

That victory pushed Tech up to fourth in the ACC standings, but that doesn’t really matter at this point.  What matters is that it was another big win for the Hokies’ NCAA Tournament resume.  Let’s take a look at the key numbers at this point in the season.

Projected RPI: No. 49
Projected SOS: No. 66
Current Quadrant 1 Record: 5-5
Current Quadrant 2 Record: 4-2
KPI: No. 32
Strength of Record: No. 22
BPI: No. 26
Ken Pomeroy: No. 28
Jeff Sagarin: No. 32

That’s a pretty darn solid resume.  One more win will lock it up for the Hokies.  And don’t worry…they’ll get that one win, if not more.  This is a good team that is 7-2 in its last nine games, with three top-15 wins, including a victory over the current No. 1 team in the land.  With four guaranteed games remaining (three regular season and one in the ACC Tournament), it would be quite a surprise if Tech didn’t manage to win another game.  In fact, the probability of that is very low.

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