Louisville-Virginia Tech preview: Cards, Hokies battle for first place at ACC

Louisville Cardinals (7-1, 2-0) vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1, 2-0)

Game time: 6:35 pm

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.

TV: ACC Network

Speakers: Mike Monaco (play by play) and Dan Bonner (analyst)

Favorite: Louisville for 5

Employees: Jamie Luckie, Clarence Armstrong, Raymie Styons

Series: Louisville leads, 35-8

Last meeting: Louisville won, 68-52, on March 1, 2020 in Louisville

Series history:

Probable initial lineups:

Statistics:

Virginia Tech season to date:

Relevant Videos:

About Virginia Tech:

Widely considered the best basketball of any ACC team at the moment, Virginia Tech enters Wednesday night with the hope of achieving a 16-game losing streak against Louisville and defeating the Cardinals for the first time since 1991.

The Hokies entered 2020-21 with understandably modest expectations. They ended Mike Young’s first campaign in Blacksburg by losing 12 of the 14 final games, and were defeated by the pitiful North Carolina in game 11-14 on the first night of the ACC tournament. After the season, they lost top scorer Landers Nolley, also starter PJ Horne and main reserve Isaiah Wilkins. Even with a highly praised recruiting class and a handful of important transfers, Virginia Tech was chosen to finish 11th in the ACC of 15 teams approaching this year.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Virginia Tech’s stellar start was the game of Keve Aluma, a 6’9 junior striker who missed out last season after following Young from Wofford. Aluma showed modest numbers over two seasons with the Terriers (who had a list full of talented veterans while he was there), making his averages of 16.0 ppg and 6.7 rpg even more surprising. Aluma will shoot out if left alone, but it is not his forte. It is his athletic build and tenacity in painting that has made him arguably the best graduate player at the conference so far.

Aluma has been a nightmare for big opponents hoping to avoid problems, and leads the ACC in free-throw attempts (54). He is also second in free throws made (35). Needless to say, Jae’Lyn Withers, Dre Davis, JJ Traynor and everyone else in charge of maintaining control of Aluma will need to do their best in defense.

Depth is the story of the VT defense court, where the sophomore trio Nahiem Alleyne (11.1 ppg), Tyrece Radford (10.8 ppg), and Cone Jalen (10.1 ppg) are all on average two digits in the score. Only Radford scored more than 10 points per game last season. Senior Wabissa Bede, who led ACC in the assist / turnover relationship last season, is also back to win the point for Young. With more depth on the backcourt and more ball handling options around him this season, Bede’s assist numbers have dropped significantly (5.5 bp to 3.1 bp) from the previous year.

Bede shared the role of playmaker with the talented Kansas State transferee, Cartier Diarra, but Diarra chose not to participate in the rest of the season on December 15. His departure meant more minutes for the second-year guard Hunter Cattoor, which emerged as the primary backup in PG. Although he does nothing particularly flashy, Cattoor gave nine assists and turned the ball just twice in Virginia Tech’s last three games. He chooses his points when it comes to shooting from outside, but he is a very capable three-point shooter when he has enough space.

While most of Virginia Tech’s non-Aluma production this season came from their backcourt, the Hokies received a recent increase in play with the Delaware transfer Justyn Mutts. The 6’7, 230-pound junior was excellent against a Miami attacking court last week, ending with 15 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Mutts can also go out and knock out the three of them, which will make it another difficult task for Dre Davis, who has been very good at these situations in his young cardinal career.

Mutts, to be fair, is also a very competent defender. Annex A:

Unlike the Buzz Williams Virginia Tech teams of the past, these Hokies will do well to play at Chris Mack’s pace. The VT arrives Wednesday at the country’s 309 position in pace, just 16 positions ahead of the Card. And while they still manage to kick the ball three well enough (33.8% as a team), they don’t kick as much as they did at Williams’ helm.

While they play with a lot more guys and their backcourt is much, much deeper, stylistically, this Virginia Tech team actually looks a lot like Louisville. They don’t run much, they do most of the damage inside the arc and they are a fantastic defensive team in midfield.

Where the Hokies really killed teams – and where U of L can’t afford to be killed tonight – is on the free-throw line. In its three biggest wins of the season – Miami, Clemson and Villanova – Virginia Tech beat their opponents by 23 collective points in the charity band, and tried 34 more free throws than their opponents.

The Cardinal’s guards need to prevent Virginia Tech’s penetration and the young U of L attack field needs to be physical with Aluma, but they all must also be aware of how the game is being refereed and will need to adjust their game accordingly.

Remarkable:

—Louisville has won 16 consecutive games against Virginia Tech, its longest winning streak against a Division-I opponent. The Hokies have not defeated the Cardinals since February 13, 1991.

—The winner of the Wednesday night game will stand alone at the top of the ACC standings as the only 3-0 team in the league.

—Louisville started with at least a 7-1 record in eight games for the tenth time in the past 13 years. Cards have won at least eight of their first nine games on nine occasions in the past 12 years.

—Louisville has a record 57-16 in their home games at the conference for the past nine years. Cards are 42-13 in ACC home games since joining the conference in 2014-15.

—Louisville have won 10 of their last 11 ACC home games. Since last season, Cards have won 13 consecutive home games in total.

—Chris Mack is 2-1 in games against Virginia Tech coach Mike Young. The coaches shared two meetings when Mack was at Xavier and Young at Wofford.

—V Virginia Tech is only looking for its third 3-0 conference game since joining ACC in 2004-05. The Hokies won their first three conference games in 2006-07 and 2018-19.

—Virginia Tech has recorded 21 steals in its last two games.

—Carlik Jones is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 15 in scoring (8th, 16.4 ppg), rebounds (15th, 6.6 rpg) and assists (first, 5.1 apg).

—The Virginia Tech game notes ask media members to refer to the team as “Virginia Tech”, “Hokies” or “Tech” – not “Vah Tech”.

—Vah Tech is currently 33rd in the last NET Rankings, three positions behind 30th in Louisville.

—Louisville won its first home game in the new year, five of the last six years.

—Louisville has a record of 42-13 during January for the past five years (0.764).

—Wednesday will be Virginia Tech’s first real road game of the season.

—Through his first eight games this season, Louisville produced nine runs of 8-0 or better, including a 10-0 run at Boston College in his last game. The Cardinals had a better series of 14-0 against Evansville in their first season.

—Since 2004, Louisville is 125-0 when he leads by more than 10 points in the interval.

—Louisville has 23-0 in the past two seasons, when he scored at least 71 points, including 5-0 this season

—Louisville won 162 consecutive games by holding an opponent with less than 50 points.

—Louisville have won 155 consecutive games by scoring at least 85 points in the regulations.

—Louisville is one of only four schools that have won 20 or more games on the court in each of the past 18 seasons. Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas are the others.

Ken Pomeroy prediction: Louisville 67, Virginia Tech 64