After picking a road win at Florida State on Wednesday night, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will look for a two-game winning streak in the first matchup of the Commonwealth Clash. The Hokies took advantage of the Seminoles playing two games in California last week and maybe some jet lag flying cross-country.
This is going to be the first matchup that will not have former Virginia coach Tony Bennett on the sideline for the Cavaliers who retired abruptly in the fall. Both teams have struggled this season and are in the bottom half of the ACC this season, but both are coming in off of wins as the Cavaliers beat Miami in South Florida on Wednesday night.
How to watch Virginia Tech at Virginia men’s basketball game
This year, the two games will be two weeks apart between the two in-state rivals with the second game in Blacksburg in 14 days.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 1
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Venue: John Paul Jones Arena
How to Watch: ACC Network, ESPN.com or FuboTV
Virginia Tech Record: 9-12 (4-6 ACC)
Virginia Record: 10-11 (3-7 ACC)
Despite both teams being below .500 at this point in the season, this will still be a heated battle for two teams looking to avoid a bottom-three finish in the ACC and missing out on the ACC Tournament. One aspect of the game that will be fascinating to watch is how Virginia guards and game plans for Virginia Tech’s Tobi Lawal. The VCU transfer is becoming a game-changing player for Mike Young, who picked up his 400th career win at FSU on Wednesday night.
Virginia is led by Isaac McKneely who is averaging 13 points a game, while Lawal leads Virginia Tech at 12.8 points a game. This is a game that the ACC Network has been hyping up the last week and the Hokies will be looking to get a jump on their rivals before the second matchup later this month. This will likely be a low-scoring rock-fight, which is the way that the Cavaliers like it.