Given their losing records and so-so power rankings, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame are more concerned about qualifying for the 18-team ACC tournament than the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
The final three teams in the ACC standings do not qualify for the annual gathering for the league’s automatic NCAA berth.
As visiting Virginia Tech (10-13, 5-7 ACC) and Notre Dame (10-12, 4-7) prepare for Saturday’s matinee in South Bend, Ind., at least one head coach feels better about his team than their record might suggest.
Virginia Tech’s Mike Young, who recently passed the 400-win mark, hoped to build on last week’s wins at Florida State and Virginia with a home victory over SMU. The Hokies came up short 81-75 on Wednesday, but Young had nothing but praise for his guys.
“They’re playing really hard and they’re trying to do everything we give them to put ourselves into position to win every night,” Young said. “I know this: I’ve got a good team. I’ve got a team that’s getting better and better here. … I’m proud of our bunch. I really am.”
It probably helped to see fifth-year big man Mylyjael Poteat deliver 15 points and 10 rebounds against SMU to record his first double-double since March 19, 2022 . He also had a career-high-tying five assists.
Poteat stepped up on a night when leading scorer and rebounder Tobi Lawal (12.8 points per game, 6.7 rebounds) had an off night. He finished with nine points, while going 0 of 5 from 3-point range.
Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry saw his team absorb a pair of single-digit losses at Miami and Florida State since last Saturday. The Fighting Irish have played just three of their past 10 games on their own court, but get to play six of their final nine regular-season games at home.
Notre Dame hopes to see the return of point guard Matt Allocco (wrist), who sat out Tuesday’s loss at Florida State. Allocco has averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 assists, while shooting 47.3 percent from 3-point range and his production was missed in a 67-60 loss to Florida State.
“They had to play on the road and then travel back in a close, hard-fought game where guys are playing a bunch of minutes,” Shrewsberry said. “We were at Miami and guys got banged up. It’s just a short turnaround to get back and get ready.
Without Allocco, Shrewsberry gave freshman Sir Mohammed his first start. He played a career-high 25 minutes but missed all seven of his shots and finished with one point, four rebounds and three assists.
The Irish’s Markus Burton has averaged 22.0 points since returning from a knee injury in early January, while Tae Davis is scoring 15.5 points on the season, and Braeden Shrewsberry adds 14.3.
–Field Level Media
