Hokie Club
BLACKSBURG – Hitting the road for the third straight game, the No. 20/19 Virginia Tech men's basketball team will play at Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET on RSN inside Purcell Pavilion.
SERIES HISTORY
The Hokies (11-3, 5-2 ACC) and Fighting Irish (5-8, 2-5) played earlier this season and Tech came away with a 14-point victory due to outscoring the Irish by 21 points in the second half to win 77-63 on Jan. 10 in Blacksburg.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 9-5, but Tech has won three of the last of four games. Tech is 2-4 all-time versus Notre Dame on the road, but has won two of the last three there.
YOUNG'S TRACK RECORD
Tech coach Mike Young and Notre Dame coach Mike Brey have faced each other three times (Brey is 2-1), with the first one being in 2005, a 74-71 victory for the Irish over Wofford.
ON THE CALL
The matchup will be broadcast on RSN (click here for more info), with Evan Lepler (play-by-play) and Brian Oliver (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
Notes: CLICK HERE
Stats: CLICK HERE
Radio: CLICK HERE
LAST TIME OUT
With a three-point lead with 13 minutes left in the second half, Syracuse (9-5, 3-4) went on a 31-9 run over the next 10 minutes to win, 78-60. Tech didn't shoot it well, with missing 41 shots (20 of 61, 32.8%), and allowed the Orange to shoot over 50 percent (50.9%).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Racking up 17 points in the first half at Syracuse last Saturday, Nahiem Alleyne finished with 20 on the day to tie his season high. The sophomore guard hit five 3s on the day for the fourth time in his young career.
Picking up where he left off in his last game, David N'Guessan tallied his second straight double-digit scoring game for the first time in his career. The Netherlands native had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and also chipped in a rebound and an assist.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
• Notre Dame is coming off a 14-point win on the road in Coral Gables this past Sunday, winning 73-59 over Miami (Fla.) (6-8, 2-7) behind three scorers in double figures, including Prentiss Hubb with a team-high 19 points and Nate Laszewski owned a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds).
• Brey enters his 20th season in South Bend, following a five-year stint at Delaware where he won America East Co-Coach of the Year honors. Since his arrival to Notre Dame, he has racked up the most wins by a coach in school history and has led the Irish to 12 NCAA Tournament berths.
• The Fighting Irish are led by Laszewski, who is averaging a team-high 16.6 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds, and Hubbs, who owns 69 assists this year. Laszewski ranks 11th in the country in field-goal percentage (64.6%) and Hubbs is second the conference in minutes per game (37:15).
• One of the better shooting teams in the land, Notre Dame is third in the ACC and 31st overall in 3-point field-goal percentage, owning a 38.4 percent clip. It also plays fundamental defense and doesn't get beat regularly to the rim, averaging the fewest fouls committed nationally (11.9).