Hurricanes Open ACC Tourney Play Against Virginia Tech
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WASHINGTON DC (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Miami Hurricanes warm-up to the NCAA Tournament begins on Thursday against a very familiar foe.
With an upset loss to No. 7 seed Virginia Tech that cost third-seeded Miami a share of the ACC regular-season championship still a fresh memory, it gets an immediate opportunity for revenge in the ACC tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The surging Hokies, who defeated Florida State 96-85 on Tuesday for their sixth win in a row, took control early against Miami in Blacksburg and dominated for a surprising 77-62 win.
"We came together last night and watched how they played at North Carolina," Virginia Tech's Zach LeDay told reporters after Saturday's game, referring to Miami's 96-71 loss to the Tar Heels on Feb. 20. "We said, 'We can get them at Cassell. If they played like this at Carolina, we can definitely get them.' We knew if we threw that first punch and keep on throwing punches and play together … we did that and it was a good game for us."
Coach Jim Larranga's team struggled against Virginia Tech's zone defense while also allowing the Hokies - who shot only 29.6 percent in an earlier 65-49 loss to the Hurricanes - to hit 52.9 percent both overall and from 3-point range (9-of-17).
Miami clearly missed backup point guard Ja'Quan Newton, who has been the team's best option to penetrate zone defenses but did not play on Saturday as he finished serving his three-game suspension.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (19-13): The emergence of freshman point guard Justin Robinson (7.3 points, 2.8 assists), who had 27 points in the two games against Miami and scored 15 against FSU, has been a big reason for the Hokies' recent success.
LeDay is the team's top inside threat (team-leading 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds) while Justin Bibbs (12.3) has hit 46.7 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Coach Buzz Williams' team is relentless in attacking the basket and either finishing at the rim, drawing a foul or working the ball back outside for wide-open 3-point looks.
ABOUT MIAMI (24-6): Sheldon McClellan (team-leading 15.7 points) had his shooting percentage dip below 50 percent for the first time this season (49.5) with a 7-of-19 effort against the Hokies and will need to regain his stroke for Miami to make a deep run this weekend and in the NCAA Tournament.
Davon Reed, who has been Miami's most consistent shooter recently, was 8-of-11 and scored 19 points against the Hokies.
Angel Rodriguez (11.6 points, 4.3 assists) and Newton will need to find a way to get into the paint against Virginia Tech's zone and Tonye Jekiri (8.1, 9.1 rebounds) must be more effective defensively following a game in which the Hokies dominated inside.
TIP INS
- McClellan was named to the All-ACC Second Team this week while Rodriguez was named to the Third Team and Jekiri to the All-Defensive Team.
- Bibbs was 9-of-15 from 3-point range in the Hokies' wins over Miami and Florida State..
- Miami is shooting 47.2 percent from the field, the program's highest percentage since 1988-89.
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