Virginia Tech hosts Richmond in the first round of the NIT

For the second consecutive season, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will be playing in the NIT. Unlike last season, the Hokies will open the tournament at home against Atlantic-10 regular season champion Richmond. 

The Hokies won their final three games of the regular season to avoid playing on the opening day of the ACC Tournament, but their stay in Washington, D.C. was short after losing, 86-76, to Florida State in the second round. Now they get a chance to play in one more tournament to close out the 2023-24 season.

Virginia Tech vs. Richmond, How to Watch, Preview

This game will begin at 9 o’clock Tuesday night and be broadcast on ESPN2 and streamed on FuboTV.

This is going to be a tough matchup for Mike Young and his team as the Spiders are a good team that runs their offense efficiently and slows teams down on the defensive end. Jordan King leads them with 18 points a game and they have a big presence in the middle with 7-foot-0 Neal Quinn who averages 13 points and six boards a game. 

For Virginia Tech, playing at home should give them confidence as they have played really well at Cassell Coliseum this year, beating Clemson and Virginia, two NCAA Tournament teams from the ACC and they also defeated Wake Forest in late February at home. This will be an interesting match-up in the middle with Quinn going against Lynn Kidd and Mylyjael Poteat, both have played very well in spurts this season. Another interesting angle with be Quinn's presence in the paint and how that affects Sean Pedulla and his ability to get into the lane and finish. Hunter Cattoor and Tyler Nickel will need to be big shooting the ball for the Hokies and even Pedulla may be forced to knock down some shots from the outside.

This will come down to Virginia Tech's ability to shoot the ball and get stops on the defensive end. If they can do both, they can win a close game over the Spiders.