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A late-January showdown with major ACC stakes will take place in the Commonwealth on Saturday as the white hot No. 8 Virginia Cavaliers travel west to Blacksburg to face the No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies.
UVA (11-2, 7-0 ACC) enters the in-state rivalry battle in cruise control at the top of the conference standings, rattling off seven straight wins over league foes and winning those games by an average margin of 14.5 points a game.
That has been due to the Sam Hauser-led Cavs being efficient on both sides of the floor, shooting a league-high 50.4 percent from the field while also holding opponents to just 40.7 percent shooting. As a result, they are ranked 10th in the county in adjusted effieciency on offense per KenPom and 16th on defense.
Sitting at third in the ACC standings, Virginia Tech (12-3, 6-2) has an opportunity to strike a major conference victory at home following a three-game road trip. The Hokies won a tight game at Wake Forest (64-60) before falling huge at Syracuse last Saturday (78-60). They rebounded nicely with a 62-51 victory at Notre Dame on Saturday, a game where they held the Fighting Irish to just 35.7 percent shooting in their best defensive outing of the season.
Va. Tech is still having to adjust to life without sophomore guard Tyrece Radford, who was suspended following a DWI arrest this past Sunday. Radford was the team’s second leading scorer behind junior forward Keve Aluma.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
You can watch Virginia vs. Virginia Tech on Saturday, January 30th at 6:00 p.m. ET on ACC Network, or you can watch via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login. If you don’t have a cable login to access the ESPN app, you can get a free trial from YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, AT&T TV Now, FuboTV, or Sling TV to stream it.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Point spread: Virginia -5 at Virginia Tech
Point total: 124
Money line: Virginia -230, Virginia Tech +185
- Virginia is 3-0 against the spread this season as a road favorite. Va. Tech is 5-4 ATS at home overall.
- The over has hit in eight of Virginia’s 13 games and nine of Va. Tech’s 15 games this season.
The Best Bet
Virginia basketball’s brand is indeed grinding games to a screeching halt but even without Radford, expect Va. Tech to generate enough offense to trigger the over.
Pick: Over 124
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