BLACKSBURG – Hitting the road for the first time in over a month, the No. 24/RV Virginia Tech men's basketball team will play at in-state rival No. 23/24 Virginia on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
SERIES HISTORY
The Hokies (8-1, 2-0 ACC) and Cavaliers (5-2, 1-0) played each other twice last season, with UVA coming out on top both times, including winning in Blacksburg thanks to a clutch game-winner. Tech, which is 56-95 in the all-time series with UVA, is 14-39 when away against UVA.
The two schools have played each other only four times when they both are ranked and the Hokies are 1-3 in those matchups.
YOUNG'S TRACK RECORD
Tech's Mike Young is 0-3 against UVA's Tony Bennett, losing 74-39 in 2012 in Charlottesville when he was at Wofford and twice last season.
ON THE CALL
The matchup will be broadcast on ACC Network (click here), with Wes Durham (play-by-play) and Dan Bonner (analyst) on the call, while Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst) will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Network.
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Stats: CLICK HERE
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Watch: CLICK HERE
LAST TIME OUT
Getting up by as many as 17 points over Miami (Fla.), the Hokies held off a 'Canes comeback to win by two, 80-78. Getting stellar play from its bigs, Tech got a combined 41 points and 15 rebounds from forwards Justyn Mutts and Keve Aluma.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
After already setting his career high for points twice this season, Aluma did it again with his best performance yet (career-high 26 points). The redshirt junior also filled up the stat sheet, owning six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Mutts, who only had cracked the double figures scoring plateau twice coming into the Miami (Fla.) game this season, exploded for a season-high 15 points. The Delaware transfer almost had a double-double, too, grabbing nine rebounds.
SCOUTING No. 23/24 VIRGINIA
• Virginia is coming off a nine-point road win at Notre Dame (3-5, 0-2) on Wednesday, 66-57, having three players score in double figures, including a team-high 19 points from preseason All-ACC second-teamer Kihei Clark.
• Bennett enters his 11th season as the head coach in Charlottesville, following his three-year stint at Washington State where he led the Cougars to consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time in school history. At UVA, Bennett has earned three National Coach of the Year awards and won the '19 NCAA title.
• The Cavaliers are led by Clark, who is averaging 10.6 points and 3.4 assists per game, and Marquette transfer Sam Hauser, who owns a team-high 12.9 points and team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.
• Committing only 8.9 turnovers a game, the Cavaliers rank fifth nationally and first in the ACC in that category, as well as playing fundamental defense with sitting seventh nationally and second in the conference in fouls per game with just 14.