Three Keys to Victory for Virginia Tech In Their Matchup vs Boston College

While a win over Boston College is not going to help Virginia Tech's NCAA Tournament resume, a loss would do permanent damage to it. The Hokies are just barely alive in the race for an at large bid in the NCAA and need to avoid being upset tonight by the Eagles.

So how do they do that?

1. Come out ready to play

This seems simple, but Virginia Tech cannot let another close loss in their last game turn into a sluggish performance vs Boston College. The Eagles are among the worst teams in the ACC and should not have a chance to win this game, but if Virignia Tech has not gotten over their close call vs North Carolina, Boston College could hang around.

2. Consistent offense

Virginia Tech's offense started out well the other night against the Tar Heels, but North Carolina's defense shored up and won them the game. After the game, Hokies head coach talked about what happened to Virginia Tech's offense:

"I don't think so. I didn't think so. I thought some of our shot selection was bad. Also thought some of our shot selection, again, that comes back to the to the composure piece of it. And you know that. You know there's going to be some peaks and valleys. You know they’re going to take off for you for a 6-0 run. They did that. We found ourselves down eight. I don't think I called time out the first time we went down. They then got fouled and cut it back to five, which gets the ship righted again. But we're 29 games in, or whatever we are, and you find yourself in so many different situations. We've been in that situation a number of situations, a number of times. And the only disappointment I have is our lack of composure, our lack of solid basketball, when we had our back against the wall a little bit. You can't do that, certainly not on the road."

3. Avoid foul trouble

Amani Hansberry is arguably the Hokies most valuable player, but he dealt with foul trouble in the game against North Carolina. A quick way to allow Boston College to hang around is for him to get in foul trouble. Young talked about how the Hokies dealt with that after the loss:

“It’s not the same. Those kids are giving us everything in the tank and Gurdak’s going to be really good, but come on. I mean, Hansberry plays six minutes in the first half, goddamn. Come on, man. Henri, No. 13? He needs to be on the floor. He’s a really good player. No. 7, Trimble? Needs to be on the floor. No. 13 from Virginia Tech? He needs to be on the floor. Call it on [someone else], don’t call a third one on him.”

It is not just Hansberry. Virginia Tech needs to keep its stars out of foul trouble if they want to ensure a win tonight.