The Virginia Tech Hokies and the Duke Blue Devils meet Saturday in ACC Tournament college basketball action from Barclays Center. Virginia Tech is 22-12 on the season. The Hokies beat North Carolina in the tournament on Friday. As for Duke, they’re 28-5 so far this year and took out Miami in their Friday tournament matchup. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Virginia Tech had a shaky run from late November to late January this year. Since then, the Hokies have gone 12-2 with losses to only North Carolina and Clemson. Virginia Tech is currently riding a three-game win streak over Clemson, Notre Dame and North Carolina.
In the Friday tournament matchup versus the Tar Heels, the Hokies took a 32-26 lead into the break. Virginia Tech kept it going with a 40-33 second half and won 72-59. Leading the scoring was Darius Maddox with 20 points and six boards. Keve Aluma added 18 points as well.
Over on the Duke side, they’ve remained extremely consistent this season, only losing sporadic matchups along the way. The Blue Devils last fell to North Carolina 94-81 back on March 5. Since then Duke has managed consecutive wins over Syracuse and Miami.
Matched up against Miami in tournament activity Friday, the Blue Devils were tied at 36 apiece going into the second half. Duke pulled off a 44-40 advantage from there in an 80-76 win. AJ Griffin posted 21 points to lead the team, and Paolo Banchero doubled with 18 points and 11 boards.
PICK: I’m going to try Virginia Tech. The Hokies are playing great over their last three outings. They’ve hit 72 or more points in each, and 71 or more in five of their last six. Virginia Tech will need that offensive spark here; they lost to Duke 76-65 in their only meeting this season back on December 22.
As for Duke, they’ve been on a great run this year. The Blue Devils have scored well along the way, and they’ve got 80 or more points in each of the last five games. It’s going to be tough to slow Duke down, but Virginia Tech is cooking right now and should give the Blue Devils a game. Should be a great one to watch.