Virginia Tech Basketball Hosts Minnesota In ACC/Big Ten Challenge

On Monday night, Virginia Tech basketball hosts Minnesota at 7 p.m. in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Hokies are seeking their seventh win this season and their second straight win in the event. Mike Monaco and Jordan Cornette have the call on ESPN2.

Tech is 6-1 on the year and beat Charleston Southern in its most recent game on Black Friday. It’s the second all-time meeting with Minnesota (4-2) and the second in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. In 2011, the Hokies and Gophers squared off in Minneapolis, a 58-55 win in favor of Minnesota despite 25 points from Erick Green.

In recent news, the ACC, SEC and ESPN announced a partnership on Monday morning for a new ACC/SEC Challenge on both the men’s and women’s sides starting in 2023-24. With that, it ends the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which ESPN established in 1999.

Tech is 6-9 all-time in the event. Here are the results:

Minnesota

No. 154 in KenPom, Minnesota is 4-2 with losses to two top-100 teams: UNLV (86) and DePaul (94). Neither of those games were close in the end – the Gophers lost both games by a combined 25 points. They’ve won the games they were expected to win, though.

Surprisingly, they play at a slower pace than Tech. KenPom has their adjusted tempo rating at No. 356 (out of 363 – UVa is No. 362) while the Hokies sit at No. 333. It will be a methodical game on both ends.

Minnesota is a solid defensive team and gets to the free throw line often on the offensive end. The Gophers are good on the glass, too, which is where they might challenge Tech the most. After winning the rebounding battle in the first three games, the Hokies have not won it since. They tied Penn State and College of Charleston while getting outrebounded by Old Dominion (-14) and Charleston Southern (-1).

Names To Know

Dawson Garcia is one of two names to know. A 6-11 forward from Savage, Minn., he’s on his third university after stops at Marquette and North Carolina. The sophomore did not play against the Hokies last year. Garcia is the leading scorer, averaging 15.8 points per game, and the leading rebounder with 6.7 per game. He’s an efficient scorer (46.6% from the floor), though he is turnover prone (14 in six games).

Ta’Lon Cooper is the other big name to note. A 6-4 guard, the junior transferred to Minneapolis after three years at Morehead State. He earned First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors after his 2021-22 season with the Eagles where he averaged 9.1 points and 5.6 assists. He’s a product of Dorman High School in Roebuck, S.C., just like Tech football running back Chance Black.

Cooper rarely comes off the floor for the Gophers. He’s played 212 minutes this season, which ranks second in the Big Ten and 44th in D-I, and has almost 3,000 career minutes at the collegiate level. Cooper’s played at least 35 minutes in four of Minnesota’s six games this year, and for good reason: he’s averaging 7.3 assists per game, which ranks seventh in the country.

Jamison Battle, a 6-7 junior from Robbinsdale, Minn., should also be a factor. He was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2021-22 but missed the first four contests of this year due to foot surgery. In his first two games back, he scored 28 points, played 70 minutes, hit four 3-pointers and grabbed 12 rebounds.