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Hokies Basketball: Justin Bibbs is Out Against 8 Notre Dame

ByTim Thomas|

Jan 6, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Justin Bibbs (10) goes up for a shot past Florida State Seminoles forward Kiel Turpin (11) during the first half of the game at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech Hokies start a series of three-straight home games against the 8th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This will be the third of four straight games against top 15 teams for the Hokies and the first of two straight games against top 10 teams with undefeated Virginia coming to Cassell Coliseum in a few days.

Justin Bibbs has had a great ACC debut with an average of 20.7 points per game in the Hokies’ first three ACC games of the 2014-2015 season. This past Sunday, Bibbs was unable to play against North Carolina due to a concussion that he sustained in a previous practice.

There was a lot of hope that Bibbs would be able to play against Notre Dame, but that will not be happening.

This tweet flew under the radar yesterday, but it does bring us the news that we have waiting for about whether Bibbs would be able to play against the Fighting Irish.

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This is a big loss for the Hokies especially since they are going against a Notre Dame team that is very efficient at scoring the basketball with the second best field goal percentage in the country. Concussions are very serious, and Bibbs will hopefully be healthy in time for Sunday’s game against Virginia.

The loss of Bibbs definitely hurts the Hokies’ chances at pulling off the upset, but one thing Virginia Tech will have is a raucous crowd that believes an upset is still possible even without Bibbs.

Virginia Tech will need other players to step up in this game especially Ahmed Hill. Hill will not be able to replace all of Bibbs’s production, but he needs to improve especially after shooting 7 of 22 in his last two games. If Hill can shoot around 50% and have at least 12-14 points, then Virginia Tech will have a better chance of winning against the Fighting Irish.

Will Johnston will likely gain some more playing time with Bibbs out and if Johnston can get going from beyond the arc, this game could be very interesting. Jalen Hudson also could end up starting for Bibbs in this game and the Hokies will need him to shoot better though playing at home should help.

The loss of Justin Bibbs is big, and the Hokies will need a few players to step up in his absence, especially Ahmed Hill.

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