Men's Basketball: Virginia Tech (10-15, 2-10) at Miami (16-9, 6-6) 7PM RSN

Television
Regional Sports Networks - Wes Durham & Dave Odom
Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network - Bill Roth & Mike Burnop
Also available on:
Satellite: Sirius: 92 XM: 193
(Miami broadcast)
Digital: Hokies Xtra & TuneIn

"Which version of the Hokies will show up tonight?" You might think that would be the question of the day, but in reality it probably is "which version of the Hurricanes will show up?"

This season the Hokies have had the occasional disappearance but for the most part have played hard-nosed, undersized, up-hill basketball with top effort. The Hurricanes have been something else. Early in the season it looked like Miami might be a NCAA lock, now they are probably sitting just on the outside of the bubble. In their last game, it took two overtimes for Miami to dispatch another ACC cellar dweller in Boston College. They are currently 6-6 in the ACC, with two very bad losses to Klemson by 20 and another to Wake Forest. Their other conference losses arent nearly as bad, with three coming to ranked teams. This team is just hard to pinpoint on which version will show up. This is the same team that earlier beat Florida, Duke and Illinois. So which version will the Hokies face tonight?

Part of the issue is that Larranaga is having to rely on transfers to lead his team once again, as his two top scorers are in their first seasons at Miami. Injuries and suspensions have also hurt this team from getting consistent performances from key reserves. It has led to some uneven play from the Hurricanes.

The Canes are led in scoring by Sheldon McClellan, (#10) a 6'5, 210 lbs junior guard who transferred from Texas. He is giving the Canes 14.6 ppg, 5 rpg, and 2 apg. He is coming off a 24 point performance against BC. He is also clutch at the free throw line, shooting 81% and can hit from outside.

He is joined in the backcourt by Angel Rodriguez, (#13) a 5'11, 181 lbs junior point guard who is averaging 12.7 ppg, 4.4 apg, and 2 rpg. Rodriguez comes to the Hurricanes on a transfer from Kansas State. He seems to be a bit of an anomaly for this team, sometimes finding his touch for big games, but mainly guiding the offense and only scoring 2 or 3 buckets a contest.

The third Cane we will need to focus on is also a guard, 5'11, 159 lbs sophomore Manu Lecomte, (#20) who adds 8.4 ppg and 2 apg. The other thing that will require the Hokies utmost focus to be successful today is that these three players have attempted 328 three pointers in 25 games so far. The trio hit at about 37% on the season, so unless we want a repeat of most of our ACC conference games, Buzz has to find a way to defend the perimeter against this Miami team. Otherwise, it could be much like the Klemson game.

These guards are joined on the floor by Tonye Jekiri, (#23) 7', 235 lbs junior Center, who is averaging 8.2 ppg to go with his 10.9 rpg. He also adds 1.6 bpg as well. He is a rebounding machine and could prove our undoing underneath unless Pierce can find a way to play a solid game. Henry and Beyer just don't have the size to keep Jekiri off the glass. He shoots 50% from the field and a solid 73.2% from the free throw line, so essentially he scores about 80% of the time he touches the ball in the paint.

If there is a sleeper in this game its redshirt freshman Deandre Burnett, (#1) a 6'2, 191 lbs guard who recently sat out seven of the Hurricanes last eight games. Against Boston College though, he came off the bench to add 13 points to help the Canes win that 2OT game. He sat out last season with a wrist injury but before arriving at Miami, he was their highest ranked recruit to ever come to Miami.

This is a very difficult game to predict, having an up and down team against a scrappy underdog. I unfortunately think that with the game on the road against a team that needs a win to remain on the bubble its a road to tough to hoe for the Hokies. The Hurricanes send Tech to another terribly tough loss, as their big men step up to bring home the victory.

Miami 68 - Virginia Tech 62