No. 7 Duke "Preview"

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (12-9, 1-5 ACC) vs Duke Blue Devilss (18-3, 5-1 ACC)

When: Thursday, February 2 @ 7:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN (Mike Patrick, Len Elmore, Jeannine Edwards)

Where: Cassell Coliseum (9.847), Blacksburg, VA

Thanks to some technical difficulties on my end, my previously-written Duke preview disappeared last night. So, in lieu of a typical preview for this game, I'm using this space as a place for us fans to gather and talk about this team. After this weekend, we'll be halfway through the ACC slate, and Tech could be 3-5 and on the upswing or sadly, as bad as 1-7 and talking about whether the NIT is even a possibility at this point.

This is a defining weekend for our basketball team. And it all starts with the team that we earned our defining moment against last year. Our guys came out and showed just how well they could be if everything went right. Duke provided us with what is possibly the best day in the history of Virginia Tech basketball. Sure, it's a bit different this year with College Gameday not being in town, but this still could be a shining moment against an otherwise bleak backdrop.

Duke is Duke. As cliche as that sounds, they reloaded once again with Austin Rivers and Andre Dawkins replacing Singler and Smith in the starting five. The Plumlee brothers, especially Mason have been sensational this year and all five starters are averaging in double figures. After that it's not much, but who needs it when the starting five is averaging over 61 points per game. They're going to shoot three's (20 per game), and if they make them (8 per game), they'll probably win. They shoot 49 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three. Last year, the Hokies held the Blue Devils to 40 and 20 percent, respectively. Defensive intensity and aggressiveness is the name of the game when facing Duke.

Slow starts have been killers for the Hokies in recent games. A consistent effort for 40 minutes in any of these past 7 games puts Tech at probably 6-1 and not 1-6. With a young team that's bound to happen, and it's going to be tough to break that streak against a Duke team that averages 80 points per game. But we all know that the Hokies are good for showing up against Duke, especially at home. I don't think Tech will be able to pull it off, but I could see this one coming down to the final minute and who knows, maybe we catch lightning in a bottle.

What do you expect from them? Does Doe-Doe finally break out of his slump? Do the freshman finally break through the wall? Will the slow starts continue? Will you be supporting this team?

Feel free to answer any of those or propose any other questions in the comments below. Go HOKIES.