Live Blog: #8 UVA faces Virginia Tech in ACC basketball clash

AFP editor Chris Graham leads our live blog as #8 UVA (12-1, 1-0 ACC) faces Virginia Tech (11-3, 0-1 ACC) in ACC basketball action on Wednesday. The game tips off at 9 p.m.

Broadcast Information

The Virginia-Virginia Tech contest will be televised on the ACC Network and streamed on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3.com) and ESPN App, and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Athletics mobile app on iTunes or Android. Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.

Players to watch: Virginia

• Kyle Guy leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game and has reached double figures in 11 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
• Devon Hall has averaged 11.5 points and is shooting 88.1 percent (30 of 34) from the charity stripe and 43.9 percent (18 of 41) from 3-point range.
• Ty Jerome, the reigning ACC player of the week, is averaging 9.7 points.
• Isaiah Wilkins is averaging 7.3 points and team-highs in rebounds (7.5), blocked shots (1.4) and steals (1.3).

Players to watch: Virginia Tech

• Ahmed Hill (a 6’5” guard) is the Hokies’ leading scorer, at 15.6 points a game, shooting 56.1 percent from the floor and 50.6 percent from three.
• Justin Bibbs (also a 6’5” guard) is scoring 14.6 points a game, on 54.6 percent shooting from the field and 41.0 percent shooting from three.
• Freshman Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been a nice addition to the rotation, scoring 12.7 points in just 24.8 minutes a game.
• Big man Kerry Blackshear, a 6’10” force in the post, averages 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds and is shooting 63.6 percent from the floor.
• Point guard Justin Robinson scores 10.4 points and dishes out 5.6 assists a game, with a nice 2.5-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Keys to the game for UVA

• Keeping Tech off the foul line: Dribble penetration is the engine for coach Buzz Williams’ attack. The Hokies average 25.4 free-throw attempts a game, 20th-best in D1, and they averaged 23 a game against Virginia in the two meetings in 2017.
• Home-court advantage? Cassell Coliseum is a tough place to play when the students are on hand, but how many undergrads will be on campus on the Wednesday after New Year’s? It’s a fair question, and a big one, and no doubt Williams would have preferred to have this one on the schedule a little later in the season.