Can Virginia Tech find more success second time around against No. 12 U.Va.?
Watching Virginia Tech?s game Wednesday night didn?t fit in Virginia junior forward Isaiah Wilkins? schedule. The 9 p.m. tip was a bit late for his lifestyle.
?I go to sleep at like 9:15, 9:30,? Wilkins said. ?I watch movies and stuff like that. I get enough basketball here. I?m cooled on all that stuff.?
Of course, U.Va. and the Hokies don?t need to check each other on television for the two rivals to have a high level of familiarity with each other having just played Feb. 1. No. 12 Virginia won that meeting, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, blowing out Tech 71-48.
Virginia limited the Hokies? chances to run the floor in transition and used its Pack Line defense to keep Tech?s penetrators from getting to the rim.
?They basically kind of put up a force field and let nobody get by them,? Tech junior guard Justin Bibbs said. ?They try to force guys to shoot out on the perimeter. I remember my first experience, my freshman year. It was pretty tough.?
Does it get easier when teams face the scheme a second time?
?I think it?s always easier the second time around,? Bibbs said. ?We?re used to how they play and their personnel. I think it?s always a positive thing that you?ve gone around. Playing them the second time is good.?
Not that the Cavs (18-5, 8-3 ACC) have struggled when they face opponents a second time.
Virginia is 15-6 the past four years in rematch games, so teams haven?t found much success when they get another crack at the Cavaliers.
?It can go both ways,? U.Va. senior guard London Perrantes said. ?For us, we?re used to their offense, but obviously for them, they can get used to our defense. It can go both ways.?
Perrantes and Wilkins aren?t worried about Virginia Tech (16-7, 5-6) solving the Pack Line. Virginia leads the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 54 points per game.
In the earlier meeting, they limited the Hokies to just two fast-break baskets, held them to 35.7 percent shooting from the floor and committed only nine turnovers.
?We did a good job, the guards did, of keeping the ball out of the paint on their dribble drives,? Wilkins said. ?We swarmed to the ball and played together. Obviously, it?s way harder to play in Blacksburg than it is to play at home for us. So they?re gong to be charged up. They?re not going to come out and roll over. Nobody in the ACC is. We have to be ready to play.?
The Cavaliers are 10-2 this season at home. Today, the teams will play at sold-out Cassell Coliseum, where Tech is 12-1.
The Hokies beat U.Va. 70-68 there in the first meeting last season, their only win over the Cavaliers in their past 10 tries and a far cry from the blowout loss they suffered Feb. 1.
Tech coach Buzz Williams said he wasn?t so sure his team was ready to play in the first meeting, saying after the loss that he didn?t feel the Hokies competed hard enough.
He saw an improvement in Tech?s next game, a 74-68 road loss at Miami.
?I thought we played much harder than we have over the past two weeks,? Williams said. ?I hope it?s the same (against U.Va.). It?s important to a lot of people in the state of Virginia. Hopefully, we?ll do better than we did last Wednesday when we were at their place.?
Watching Virginia Tech?s game Wednesday night didn?t fit in Virginia junior forward Isaiah Wilkins? schedule. The 9 p.m. tip was a bit late for his lifestyle.
?I go to sleep at like 9:15, 9:30,? Wilkins said. ?I watch movies and stuff like that. I get enough basketball here. I?m cooled on all that stuff.?
Of course, U.Va. and the Hokies don?t need to check each other on television for the two rivals to have a high level of familiarity with each other having just played Feb. 1. No. 12 Virginia won that meeting, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, blowing out Tech 71-48.
Virginia limited the Hokies? chances to run the floor in transition and used its Pack Line defense to keep Tech?s penetrators from getting to the rim.
?They basically kind of put up a force field and let nobody get by them,? Tech junior guard Justin Bibbs said. ?They try to force guys to shoot out on the perimeter. I remember my first experience, my freshman year. It was pretty tough.?
Does it get easier when teams face the scheme a second time?
?I think it?s always easier the second time around,? Bibbs said. ?We?re used to how they play and their personnel. I think it?s always a positive thing that you?ve gone around. Playing them the second time is good.?
Not that the Cavs (18-5, 8-3 ACC) have struggled when they face opponents a second time.
Virginia is 15-6 the past four years in rematch games, so teams haven?t found much success when they get another crack at the Cavaliers.
?It can go both ways,? U.Va. senior guard London Perrantes said. ?For us, we?re used to their offense, but obviously for them, they can get used to our defense. It can go both ways.?
Perrantes and Wilkins aren?t worried about Virginia Tech (16-7, 5-6) solving the Pack Line. Virginia leads the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 54 points per game.
In the earlier meeting, they limited the Hokies to just two fast-break baskets, held them to 35.7 percent shooting from the floor and committed only nine turnovers.
?We did a good job, the guards did, of keeping the ball out of the paint on their dribble drives,? Wilkins said. ?We swarmed to the ball and played together. Obviously, it?s way harder to play in Blacksburg than it is to play at home for us. So they?re gong to be charged up. They?re not going to come out and roll over. Nobody in the ACC is. We have to be ready to play.?
The Cavaliers are 10-2 this season at home. Today, the teams will play at sold-out Cassell Coliseum, where Tech is 12-1.
The Hokies beat U.Va. 70-68 there in the first meeting last season, their only win over the Cavaliers in their past 10 tries and a far cry from the blowout loss they suffered Feb. 1.
Tech coach Buzz Williams said he wasn?t so sure his team was ready to play in the first meeting, saying after the loss that he didn?t feel the Hokies competed hard enough.
He saw an improvement in Tech?s next game, a 74-68 road loss at Miami.
?I thought we played much harder than we have over the past two weeks,? Williams said. ?I hope it?s the same (against U.Va.). It?s important to a lot of people in the state of Virginia. Hopefully, we?ll do better than we did last Wednesday when we were at their place.?
