NCAA Basketball Picks February 18 – Virginia Cavaliers at Virginia Tech Hokies Betting
The road to the ACC title is filled with pot holes, and the Virginia Cavaliers are about to run into another one. For the second straight week the Cavs follow a Saturday home game with a Monday road tilt against a nationally ranked foe.
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The following article is courtesy of Bookmaker
They were successful in the second half last week knocking off North Carolina. The Cavs go for the season sweep of their rival Virginia Tech Hokies on Monday looking to stay within a game of first place Duke, the team that dealt the Cavs their only two losses of the season.
Virginia Cavaliers at North Carolina Tar Heels
Date and Time: Monday, February 18, 2019, 7 p.m. ET
Location: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
Opening CBB Odds: Virginia -5.5, O/U 122
Virginia at Virginia Tech TV Coverage: ESPN
Odds Analysis
The Cavaliers have just two losses on the season, however, both of those came at the hands of conference member Duke, leaving UVA fighting an uphill battle to return to the top spot in the ACC. Things could have been much worse with a road trip to Chapel Hill last week following their second loss to the Dookies. The Cavs regrouped and showed they are a resilient bunch
More importantly for the Cavs is that we saw them return to their stingy defensive ways. After giving up a season-high 81 to Duke, they frustrated a good UNC club into only 61 points and continued their winning ways with a 60-54 win over Notre Dame on Saturday. Those two games played below the closing total and the under is 4-1 in UVA’s last five outings. The Cavs allow the fewest points per game in DI at 54.4 per outing.
Snapping back from a pair of losses while dealing without the services of second-leading scorer Justin Robinson, the Hokies have won two straight and can make things interesting at the top of the league standings with a win. They’re only two games back of Virginia and UNC in the loss column and this is their last chance to make up ground on those two after losing to both earlier in the season. VT has been good at home with its only loss coming to Louisville two weeks ago. The Hokies are 12-1 in their barn and will look to take advantage of the homecourt edge.
Virginia
Defense is the name of the game for the Cavaliers, who lead the country in scoring defense. It’s hard to put up the points when the shots don’t fall, so it’s not surprising the see the Cavs ranked fourth in field goal percentage defense and second in three-point defense. UVA limits teams to just 26.7 percent from deep and 37.6 percent overall. When the defense falters or a team gets hot, the Cavs can be beat. That hasn’t happened against teams not named Duke, though.
In two games against the Blue Devils the Cavs have surrendered 76.5 points per game. Against all other opponents they are giving up 52.5 points per game while holding nine teams to fewer than 50 points. UVA did it all in the first meeting by shooting 58.5 percent from the field and making 13 of 24 triples to cruise to a 81-59 win. DeAndre Hunter and Kyle Guy combined for 35 points in that game and they’ve both reached the 20-point mark in the last two outings, giving the Cavs much-needed offense.
Virginia Tech
Losing Robinson was initially a shock to the Hokies, who lost two of their first three games without their senior leader. The offense took an expected plunge without the 14.4 points per game Robinson supplied. But improving in other areas has helped VT stay afloat and near the top of the standings. We’ve seen some Virginia-like defense from this squad and who could forget that stifling effort against NC State in the first game since Robinson’s injury. The Hokies held the Pack to 24 points and they’ve surrendered just 57.4 on average in the last five outings.
Of course other players have to step up to take some of the scoring slack and the Hokies have passed the baton to Kerry Blackshear Jr., who netted a season-high 29 points to help beat Pitt on Saturday and has scored double-figures in five straight with two games of more than 20 points. “We have to play through him. He’s our best passer. He’s our best playmaker and he has the highest basketball IQ on our team,” coach Buzz Williams said of Blackshear.
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With all the defensive praise heaped on the Cavs it’s easy to forget that they can score the basketball. And having their three leading scorers playing well has helped the Cavs overcome that loss to Duke. The Hokies have refined their game since Robinson was shelved playing a stingy brand of defense to win two in a row. This game should be much closer than the first outing when UVA romped by 22 points. I do think the Cavs will be too much on both ends of the floor leading to nice cover win for the visitors.
CBB Score Prediction: Virginia 66, Virginia Tech 55
