BLACKSBURG – Meeting for the first time between the two schools, Virginia Tech's men's basketball team will take on Lehigh on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET at Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum.
Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) will be playing in front of its second sold-out crowd Saturday, following its season opener that was a sellout on Nov. 8.
The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, with Mike Linke (play-by-play) and Mack McCarthy (analyst) on the call, while Bryant Johnson will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Properties.
GAME INFORMATION
Sat. | 1:30 p.m. ET vs. Lehigh | Stats | Watch | Radio | Notes
The last time out, Tech won by 23 points over USC Upstate (1-3) on Wednesday in Blacksburg by a score of 80-57. Landers Nolley II once again had a big night, pouring in his second 20-plus points outing of the season with 23, while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists. Tech wrapped up with a season-high 13 3-pointers, with six different players making one from downtown in a balanced attack.
Speaking of 3s, Tech has defended the perimeter very well this season, owning the top mark in the ACC with allowing just 17.2 percent of its opponents' 3-point attempts to go in. That mark ranks six nationally.
Individually, guard Wabissa Bede is one of only four players in the nation to average six rebounds and eight assists a game, while Nolley is one of six ACC players to have two 20-point games this year.
SCOUTING LEHIGH
• The Mountain Hawks come to Blacksburg coming off two wins within the past week, defeating Cairn (0-1) 80-43 at home on Tuesday and Albany (1-1) 74-70 on the road last Saturday. In their season opener in Bethlehem, they fell to Monmouth (1-2) 66-62 on Nov. 5.
• Head coach Brett Reed enters his 13th season in Bethlehem, following his five year-stint as an assistant and one year as an associate head coach at Lehigh under then-coach Billy Taylor. During his stay with the Mountain Hawks, he has become the winningest coach in Lehigh history and has a winning percentage greater than .700 at Stabler Arena.
• The Mountain Hawks are paced by three players that average over 10 points a game, with Karnik James leading the attack with a team-high 12.0 points per game. James, a 6-foot-9 big, averaged 11 points and six rebounds in conference play last year. Jordan Cohen, who earned All-Patriot League honors last year, returns and is off to a good start with 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
• Last season, Lehigh led the country in 3-point field goal percentage, making 42.3 percent of its attempts from downtown. This year, after the graduation of two all-conference players in Lance Tejada and Kyle Leufroy, the Mountain Hawks have cooled off a bit from the perimeter, ranking No. 208 nationally with a 32.0 clip.
