Hokie Club
BLACKSBURG – Playing four of its next five games on the road, the No. 16/14 Virginia Tech men's basketball team will head to Syracuse and play on Saturday at noon ET on Regional Sports Networks (RSN).
SERIES HISTORY
The Hokies (11-2, 5-1 ACC) and Orange (8-4, 2-3) played each other twice last season, with the Hokies winning the first one on the road, 67-63, on Jan. 7, 2020, then falling at home by two, 71-69, a couple weeks later on Jan. 18.
'Cuse leads the all-time series 10-5 and has won three of the last five contests. The Hokies are 2-6 versus the Orange in Syracuse.
YOUNG'S TRACK RECORD
Tech coach Mike Young is 1-1 all-time versus Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, as well as against the Orange, with never facing 'Cuse when he was at Wofford.
ON THE CALL
The matchup will be broadcast on RSN (click here for more info), with Tom Werme (play-by-play) and Mike Gminski (analyst) on the call, while Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst) will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Network.
GAMEDAY INFORMATIONGameday Central: CLICK HERE
Digital Program: CLICK HERE
Notes: CLICK HERE
Stats: CLICK HERE
Radio: CLICK HERE
Watch: CLICK HERE
LAST TIME OUT
Swatting a season-high nine blocks in the first half alone, Tech got up early and made plays down the stretch to hold off Wake Forest in a 64-60 win in Winston-Salem. Though Keve Aluma didn't shine offensively (season-low five points), he did defensively with 11 rebounds and four blocks.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Putting together his second 20-point outing of the season, Tyrece Radford shot 6 of 7 from the field and owned an 8-of-9 clip from the charity stripe in Sunday's win over Wake Forest. The redshirt sophomore also tallied four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Fighting through contact and making three and-1 plays Sunday, David N'Guessan ended up with a career-high 13 points and pulled down a rebound. The freshman made clutch plays all night, extending Tech's lead multiple times when the Deacs would cut it close.
SCOUTING SYRACUSE
• Syracuse is coming off a 26-point victory over Miami (Fla.) (6-7, 2-6) at home this past Tuesday, winning 83-57 behind two players – Joseph Girard III and Buddy Boeheim – each scoring 23 points.
• Boeheim enters his 45th season as the head coach in Syracuse, starting all the way back in 1976. The Hall of Famer has led the Orange to five Final Four appearances and won it all in 2003. He ranks second all-time in wins, trailing only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski in Division I.
• The Orange are paced by three players who average more than 15 points per game, including Quincy Guerrier (16.7 ppg), Buddy Boeheim (16.0) and Alan Griffin (15.8). Guerrier ranks 11th in the nation with six double-doubles, which ranks first in the ACC.
• One of the better free-throw shooting teams in the land, the Orange are 12th nationally and third in the ACC for free-throw percentage at 78.6 percent. They also share the rock very well, ranking 18th overall and first in the league with averaging 17.7 assists per game.