Virginia vs Virginia Tech NCAAB Lines, Preview and Picks in a game the Hokies need to win

Unranked Virginia Tech is not an NCAA Tournament team as things stand but the Hokies perhaps could get themselves on the bubble with a home upset of No. 21 Virginia on Monday. Tech is a short favorite on the NCAAB odds. 2024 NCAA Basketball Betting & Expert Analysis #21 Virginia vs Virginia Tech | MyBookie Sportsbook Week 16 NCAAB

How to Bet Virginia at Virginia Tech NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 7 PM ET
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Virginia Tech -3.5 (total 126.5)

#21 Virginia vs Virginia Tech Last Meeting

Virginia Tech visited Virginia on Jan. 17 and lost 65-57. UVA’s Reece Beekman hit a pullup jumper for a 60-50 lead with 1:10 remaining before Tyler Nickel hit two free throws and Sean Pedulla drained a 3-pointer to get the Hokies within five with a minute to go. After a timeout, Beekman drew a non-shooting foul and hit both ends of the one-and-one for a seven-point Virginia lead. Ryan Dunn blocked a layup by Pedulla, Beekman rebounded and threw a long outlet to Andrew Rohde, whose tip pass was the perfect feed to Dunn for a lefty layup and a nine-point lead with 35 seconds left. That was that. Beekman and Jordan Minor led Virginia with 16 points each. Pedulla had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Hokies but also seven turnovers. Virginia is 98-59 all-time vs. Virginia Tech, including a 23-33 mark in Blacksburg, in the series that dates to 1914-15.

Why Bet on Virginia Cavaliers?

Virginia (20-6, 11-4 ACC) is still in the running for the ACC title and comes off a 49-47 home win over Wake Forest on Saturday. It was 43-42 when Reece Beekman fed Isaac McKneely in the corner for his only 3-pointer of the game, stretching the Virginia lead to 46-42, but both teams failed to score for more than 2 1/2 minutes before Cameron Hildreth’s layup pulled the Deacons to within 46-44 with 1:07 to play.

Blake Buchanan‘s putback with 39.6 seconds left doubled the Cavaliers’ lead, but he missed an ensuing free throw. Virginia secured the rebound and Dunn was fouled, but he then missed the front end of a one-and-one. Beekman and McKneely later missed from the line, leaving the Cavaliers 0-for-10 before McKneely made the second of a pair with 6.7 seconds left.

Virginia shot just 40.7 percent overall and made only four 3-pointers. Moreover, the Cavs gave away two points when Coach Tony Bennett was called for only the second technical foul of his UVA tenure, and the first since the final regular-season game of his first season (2009-10). Yet they still won thanks in part to 13 blocked shots. Forward Ryan Dunn blocked a career-best seven shots (and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds). Dunn often guarded Andrew Carr, a 6-foot-10 forward who came in averaging 14 points per game. Carr was 1 for 7 from the floor Saturday and finished with four points.

“Obviously to do that, with that kind of free-throw shooting, I think we leaned into our defense,” Bennett said, “and the crowd was into it as well, and we needed it all.”

Two Cavaliers scored in double figures Saturday: Beekman with 20 points and McKneely with 12. In 20-plus minutes off the bench, freshman center Blake Buchanan contributed six points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

UVA ranks first nationally in turnovers per game (8.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.93), third in scoring defense (57.8 ppg), seventh in turnover margin (4.7), ninth in field goal percentage defense (39.4), 10th in fouls per game (13.7), 17th in blocks per game (5.2), 22nd in 3-point percentage (37.6) and 42nd in assists per game (15.8). McKneely (12.4 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (62) and 3-point percentage (46.6%).

Five of UVA’s six losses have been away from home and by 16 or more points. A win over Virginia Tech will give the Cavaliers their third straight 21-win season and 12th under Bennett. UVA has won 11 ACC games for 12 straight seasons. Virginia aims for its first season sweep vs. Virginia Tech since 2019-20.

Why Bet on Virginia Tech Hokies?

Virginia Tech (14-11, 6-8 ACC) comes off its fourth loss in the past five games, 96-81 at No. 7 North Carolina on Saturday. The Tar Heels shot 56.7 percent in the second half, led by Armando Bacot, who scored 19 points after the break. UNC started the second half on a hot streak, shooting 11 for 19 (57.9 percent) from the floor in the first 12 minutes coming out of the locker room. After the Hokies hit six three-pointers in the first half, the Tar Heel defense limited them to 1 for 12 from behind the arc in the second.

“They have got a really good team,” said Hokie head coach Mike Young. “Armando has been a really good player in this league for a long time, as has RJ Davis. We had a good plan coming in, but those two kids were better than our plans. I tip my cap to the Tar Heels and Coach (Hubert) Davis.”

MJ Collins had 18 points and reserve Mylyjael Poteat scored 15 to lead Virginia Tech. Tyler Nickel had 14 points against his former team and Lynn Kidd and Hunter Cattoor added 11 points apiece. Stars Sean Pedulla and Cattoor struggled from the field, shooting a combined six of 23 from the field and making only one of their combined 10 3-point attempts. Against a team with a dominant frontcourt like UNC, Virginia Tech can’t afford its top two guards to shoot that poorly from the field.

In ACC games alone, Cattoor leads the league in offensive rating (135.7) and is second in effective field-goal percentage (67.6%) per KenPom. He led the ACC in eFG% last season at 63.4% in league play. In ACC games alone, Cattoor is shooting 47.2% from three (34-72), which ranks second behind Virginia’s Isaac McKneely’s 48.1% (39-81).

The Hokies are 8-4 this season when knocking down at least 10 triples in a game. Under Young, Tech is 43-12 when hitting double-digit threes in a game. Five of those losses came in Young’s first season at VT.

Virginia Tech will be going for its fourth straight home victory vs. UVA. The Hokies’ last home loss to the Hoos was Feb. 26, 2020 (56-53). Tech is winning by a 9.7 margin in those three games. The game is Tech’s annual Maroon Out with the Hokies wearing their maroon jerseys and fans encouraged to wear maroon. VT is 0-3 this season in its maroon jerseys, including the 65-57 loss at UVA on Jan. 17.

Virginia vs Virginia Tech Expert Prediction

Virginia Tech 64, Virginia 62

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