Will old acquaintances be forgotten? Not when old rivals Virginia Tech and No. 21 Virginia meet on New Year’s Eve in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Wednesday afternoon’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener is an intriguing matchup for both teams, pitting resurgent opponents coming off rare losing seasons.
After going 13-19 in 2024-25, the home Hokies (11-2) are two wins away from matching last year’s win total.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers (11-1), coming off a 15-17 performance, are off to their best start since opening 16-0 during their 2018-19 national championship season.
Both teams have a lot to prove. Virginia has only played one road game, an 88-69 win over Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 3. The Cavaliers now face six of their next nine games in hostile ACC stadiums.
“If you go around each conference, you’ll notice there are a lot of good records,” said Ryan Odom, Virginia’s first-year coach. “We have a big challenge ahead of us, and the first is at Virginia Tech.”
The Hokies’ two losses came in less than 24 hours against mid-major teams, VCU and St. Mary’s, during the Battle for Atlantis, Nov. 27-28. Virginia Tech won both of its tests against conference rivals South Carolina and Providence, both in overtime.
“This team has a lot to offer: high-character people, they care,” coach Mike Young said of his Hokies. “They want to play well. They want to share the ball.”
Virginia Tech has been inactive since an 82-81 overtime win on Dec. 20 against Elon, which it led by as many as 19 points in the first half.
Amani Hansberry fueled the comeback with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Christian Gurdak contributed a career-high 17 points.
The Hokies struggled early against Elon as they were without their primary ball-handler, 6-foot-9 Neoklis Avdalas (14.6 points, 5.0 assists per game), due to illness.
“He’s kind of reminiscent of Luka (Doncic) in his ability to see the court, shoot and assist,” Odom said of Avdalas. “It’s a big problem for rivals.”
Playing against Virginia is also problematic, as the Cavaliers have a pair of 7-foot-3 players, Johann Grunloh and Ugonna Onyenso, who average 15.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game.
Virginia’s leading scorer is Thijs De Ridder, a 22-year-old Belgian freshman who averages 16.1 points. He scored a season-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field in the Cavaliers’ last game, a 95-51 rout of American on December 22.
“UVA really shoots the ball very well and they are very high in the country in rebounding their own misses,” Young said, referring to the Cavaliers’ 41% offensive rebounding rate, which ranks No. 6 in Division I.
Virginia will be without Jacari White, who set a program record earlier this year by making 12 consecutive 3-pointers. Last week, White underwent surgery to repair a broken wrist in his non-shooting hand.
The Cavaliers have five other long-range threats who have made at least 13 shots from beyond the arc.
“The strength of this team is its depth,” Odom said.
The teams split last season’s matchups with each winning on the other’s home court.
–Field level media
