After winning a pair of games on the road last week at Florida State and Virginia, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team returned home Wednesday night and lost to SMU, a first-year ACC member.
The Hokies put up a strong fight against a team that is on the ACC bubble and could ill afford a loss to Virginia Tech. Despite the loss, the Hokies are in the mix for the ACC Tournament next month in Charlotte, but a couple more wins would go a long way toward securing a spot.
The next chance Virginia Tech will get to pick up an ACC win is Saturday afternoon when they head to South Bend to take on a Notre Dame team that is in the same boat as the Hokies. The Irish are returning home after a pair of losses in Florida against Miami and FSU. The loss to the Hurricanes last Saturday night was Miami's first ACC win of the season. Virginia Tech survived the Hurricanes at home last month.
How to watch Virginia Tech vs. Notre Dame men's basketball game
This will be the only matchup in the regular season between the two teams and with the standings getting tighter every week, this is a game that could come into play as a tiebreaker when it comes to the ACC Tournament.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 8
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Venus: Purcell Pavilion
How to Watch: The CW Network or FuboTV
Virginia Tech Record: 10-13 (5-7 ACC)
Notre Dame Record: 10-12 (4-7 ACC)
As has been the case this season, it'll be interesting to see how Notre Dame guards Virginia Tech's Tobi Lawal who leads them in points a game with 12.8 and rebounds with 6.7 a night. The Hokies will have to figure out a way to slow down Notre Dame's Marcus Burton who is averaging 20.5 points a game.