Stanford, Virginia Tech out to build off strong starts
When Virginia Tech hosts Stanford on Wednesday at Blacksburg, Va., there will be plenty in common between the teams.
Both sides enter with 12-3 overall records, while also going 1-1 to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Virginia Tech, recipients of two votes in the most recent AP poll, opened ACC play with an impressive triple-overtime win over Virginia but then dropped a tough 81-78 decision at Wake Forest on Saturday.
The Hokies battled back from an eight-point deficit midway through the second half, but a Wake Forest 3-pointer with six seconds left from Nate Calmese ended up being the difference in the game.
"We guarded the last possession as well as we can guard it," Hokies coach Mike Young said.
Virginia Tech received 25 points from Jailen Bedford, including 5-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Amani Hansberry added 19 points and 10 rebounds, but the Hokies committed 19 turnovers, including seven from talented freshman point guard Neoklis Avdalas.
In discussing the turnover issues, Young noted, "They were aggressive on the ball. We'll get better from it."
Virginia Tech still awaits the return of forward Tobi Lawal, who has been out since Nov. 26 with a foot injury. Young hopes to have him back against Stanford.
Stanford opened ACC play with a brutal 47-40 home loss against Notre Dame that coach Kyle Smith subsequently called "a rock fight." The Cardinal bounced back with an 80-76 home upset of No. 16 Louisville on Friday.
Stanford was 9 of 19 (47.4%) from 3-point range and held Louisville to just 6 of 27 (22.2%).
"I didn't sleep for the last couple nights," Smith said after the win. "But just from the get-go, I thought we were pretty competitive in trying to take away 3s from those guys."
Cardinal freshman Ebuka Okorie, who averages 22.0 points per game, scored 28 points against Louisville, including two 3-pointers. Chisom Okpara added 17 points and Ryan Agarwal tallied 12 while hitting all four of his 3-point tries.
Agarwal's 3-pointer with 9:52 to play gave Stanford a 60-54 edge and the Cardinal never trailed again.