Will old acquaintances be forgot? Not when longtime adversaries Virginia Tech and No. 21 Virginia clash on New Year’s Eve in Blacksburg, Va.
Wednesday afternoon’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams is an intriguing matchup as it pits resurgent rivals coming off rare losing seasons.
After going 13-19 in 2024-25, the host Hokies (11-2) are two wins away from matching last year’s victory total.
Meanwhile the Cavaliers (11-1), who are coming off a 15-17 performance, are off to their best start since opening 16-0 during their 2018-19 national championship season.
Both teams have much to prove. Virginia has played just one true road game, an 88-69 win at Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 3. The Cavaliers now face six of their next nine games in hostile ACC arenas.
“Just go up and down every conference member and you take notice there are a lot of good records out there,” first-year Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us and the first one is at Virginia Tech.”
The two losses for the Hokies came in less than 24 hours against mid-major teams VCU and St. Mary’s during the Battle 4 Atlantis from Nov. 27-28. Virginia Tech won both of its tests against power conference foes, South Carolina and Providence, both in overtime.
“This team’s got a lot to them — high-character people, they care,” coach Mike Young said of his Hokies. “They want to play the right way. They want to share the ball.”
Virginia Tech has been idle since an 82-81 overtime victory on Dec. 20 against Elon, which led by as many as 19 points in the first half.
Amani Hansberry fueled the comeback with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Christian Gurdak contributed a career-high 17 points.
The Hokies struggled early against Elon as they were without their primary ball-handler, 6-foot-9 Neoklis Avdalas (14.6 points, 5.0 assists per game), because of an illness.
“He kinda reminds you of Luka (Doncic) in some ways with his ability to see the floor, shoot the basketball and get assists,” Odom said of Avdalas. “(He) provides a big matchup problem.”
Matching up with Virginia also is problematic as the Cavaliers have a pair of 7-footers, Johann Grunloh and Ugonna Onyenso, who average a combined 15.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game.
Virginia’s top scorer is Thijs De Ridder, a 22-year-old freshman from Belgium averaging 16.1 points. He poured in a season-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting in the Cavaliers’ last game, a 95-51 rout of American on Dec. 22.
“UVA really shoots the ball well and they’re way up in the country in grabbing their own misses,” Young said, referring to the Cavaliers’ 41% offensive rebounding rate, which ranks No. 6 in Division I.
Virginia will be without Jacari White, who set a program record earlier this year when he made 12 straight 3-point attempts. Last week, White underwent surgery to repair a broken wrist on his non-shooting hand.
The Cavaliers have five other long-distance threats who have made at least 13 shots from beyond the arc.
“The strength of this team is its depth,” Odom said.
The teams split last season’s meetings, with each winning on the other’s home floor.
–Field Level Media
