Virginia Tech-Notre Dame Men's Basketball Preview: Meeting No. 2

Chris Hirons

January 27, 2021

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Following a loss to Syracuse and Tyrece Radford’s arrest just hours after returning to Blacksburg, No. 20 Virginia Tech (11-3, 5-2 ACC) can put the half-week woes to rest with a win over Notre Dame (5-8, 2-5).

As the Hokies travel to South Bend to cap off a three-game road trip, Notre Dame will become the first team that VT has seen more than once this season. In the first matchup, Tech took a seven-point into halftime and outscored ND by 21 in the second half to win 77-63.

In the first half, there was a lot to like about Notre Dame. The offense shot 55.2% from the field and knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 42 points. Coming out of the intermission, the Irish were hit with a brick wall. Notre Dame managed only two baskets — those over a 1:44 stretch — and finished 1-of-10 from 3 in the second half.

The Hokies, meanwhile, played a complete game. They nearly doubled the rebound advantage (41-24) and shot 45.4% as a team.

Notre Dame comes into Wednesday evening riding high after taking down Boston College and Miami in back-to-back league games — a feat not reached in over a year. Another game against Virginia Tech presents the Irish with another obstacle that they haven’t been able to overcome in 27 games that spans over a three year period — beat a ranked team.

Notre Dame Key to the Game: Control the Boards

It’s safe to say that Notre Dame was obliterated on the boards when these two teams met the first time just a few short weeks ago. As mentioned before, the Irish were outrebounded by 17 boards. And on the offensive side, Tech dominated the glass, picking up 16 rebounds to ND’s six.

Virginia Tech Key to the Game: Control the Tempo

Early on in the first matchup, Virginia Tech was forced into bad shots. Early misses, bad passes and turnovers allowed Notre Dame to score points in transition, and with relative ease. Tonight, in the first game without Radford, the Hokies will need to control the pace of the game in order to stay afloat and figure the offense out without their best slasher.

Notre Dame Player to Watch: Nate Laszewski

Laszewski has been ND’s best player by light years this season and is averaging 16.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season. Laszewski has been a threat from the perimeter all season long, hitting 55.1% from beyond the arc.

Against the Hokies, Nate Laszewski led the way for the Fighting Irish with 17 points, 11 of which were from the charity stripe, and four rebounds before fouling out in the second half.

Virginia Tech Player to Watch: Hunter Cattoor

Cattoor will presumably take Radford’s spot in the starting lineup following his indefinite suspension that was announced Monday morning. With two of Virginia Tech’s best slashers off the roster (Cartier Diarra opted-out in mid-December for COVID-19 reasons), Cattoor and fellow guard Nahiem Alleyne stands as Tech’s next men up at slasher — something that neither fans, nor the team, had in mind heading into the season.

Cattoor started Tech’s first two games of the season before being relegated to the bench in favor of Alleyne. In his past seven games, Cattoor has turned the ball over 12 times, seven turnovers of the last two games.

On the shooting side, Cattoor’s game has been inconsistent at best, lately. Over his past four games, Cattoor has averaged nearly 10 points per game, however, he scored 15 points against Notre Dame and 13 against Wake Forest. He struggled against tougher opponents, though, only scoring five points against Duke and six points against Syracuse.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 75, Notre Dame 62