Okay so after a tough yet encouraging loss to the Blue Devils in Cameron, we're back in action at the Phillips arena in Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Now under Tony Bennett, Virginia is 4-0 against the Yellow Jackets. However, this record is slightly misleading, as those four games came against former GT and current George Mason coach, Paul Hewitt. Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this game. First, let's start with the matchups.
PG: Jontel Evans vs. Mfon Udofia- Jontel guarded Udofia for much of the two games and basically held him in check, only allowing 8 pts on 3-9 shooting (2-4 3pt) in 39 minutes. Evans tallied up 12 pts on 3-10 shooting, but had 12 assists and 4 steals in the two games. This is a good matchup, as both players are very quick and athletic. Udofia tends to become frustrated and disappear on occasion. While I still think he has the ability to light it up on a good night, I don't think he does well when he's called upon to be the team's major scoring threat. I think Jontel will do a good job keeping him under control. He may beat us for a couple of deep threes, but I don't see him taking over the game like Durand Scott was able to at times against Bub. Plus, Evans is a more complete player who can help his team win by having a good game that doesn't necessarily include scoring a bunch of points. I think Jontel has the slight edge in this matchup.
SG: Sammy Zeglinski vs. Jason Morris- Obviously, if Sammy plays like he did against Duke or Miami, he won't win many of these matchups. But I think Georgia Tech provides him a great opportunity to break out of is slump. He will mainly be matched up against Sophomore Guard Jason Morris. Morris, who has improved greatly this year, will surprise some. He looks to be pretty slow (I don't think Bub or Sammy will have any problem beating him off the dribble), but he has sneaky athleticism. On occasion, he'll finish with a nice slam. We might see Joe, Malcolm, or Paul on him as well, but I think most of those minutes will go to Sammy. Morris can beat teams from deep, but other than that he isn't all that scary. He has a bit of a midrange game, but doesn't seem to know how to use it. I remember being pretty unimpressed with him last year (he was a guy we had been recruiting). So if the real Sammy shows up, he should be able to play well (and score plenty) against him. We shall see.
SF: Joe Harris vs. Glen Rice Jr.- This is probably the most critical/interesting matchup of the game. Rice is beginning to replace Udofia their main scoring option, but he seems to be just as inconsistent, if not more so. He dropped 28 against Duke, 22 against NCST, 23 against Siena, and against VCU. But, he had 0 at Fordham, 5 against Bama, and 6 at Maryland. Just by looking at his stats, he seems streaky. I think that bodes well for us because most of the teams he lit up aren't exactly defensive powerhouses. I like Joe on him for much of the game, but I definitely expect to see Malcolm guard him a good bit. Rice's game is not all that dissimilar from Brogdon's, so I think that would be a neat matchup. If Rice is really hot, like he was against Duke and NCST, he can give us trouble. But if he disappears, like against Maryland and Bama, we should be able to shut him down. I really like Joe to have a big night. It seems like Gregory is really struggling to get Hewitt's old guys to play defense. Watching them play, they give up a lot of easy looks, especially from deep. Joe should be able to take advantage of this as he did last year (6 threes for 22 pts in two games).
PF: Mike Scott vs. Kameron Holsey- Having watched Mike tear apart Duke, I'm convinced that the only person who can stop Mike Scott is Mike Scott. Obviously, he's gonna have an off game sometime, but I just don't think it's going to happen tonight. The Jackets are very weak inside. Holsey can make the easy ones, but doesn't have all that complete of a game. He might get a couple putbacks, but not much else. Where I think he'll really struggle is on defense. I really don't think Holsey and the rest of the GT frontcourt possess either the ability or the effort necessary to slow Mike down. I think if Mike stays hot, it'll open the court up for the rest of the team, allowing the game to get ugly.
C: Assane Sene vs. Daniel Miller- This was actually a pretty fun matchup last year. Two raw big men who are just glad to be out on the court and play hard all game. Miller definitely has some potential. I think both bigs will have pretty decent games, but I don't expect either to really impact the outcome unless they play out of their minds. Assane played very well against GT; maybe he can get back on track against them this year.
Bench: This is a tough one. GT is definitely deeper in terms of their rotation, but I am really starting to love our guys off of the bench. The frosh lineup with Paul, Malcolm, and Darion has been doing really well lately. Plus, Akil played one of his most efficient games yet in Cameron. I'll call the matchup a push, but I think our reserves are a lot better than theirs, even if they have more of them.
So as you can see, I like Virginia's chances in this game. However, I still can convince myself to predict a solid, convincing victory. We're definitely the better team, but GT has been playing a little better lately, especially at home. Also, there's a lot of pressure on us, as UNC got exposed in Tallahassee, other ACC teams, like the Jackets, are more confident when hosting the big boys. Still, we have done better than most on the road this year, so I think we'll be ready for the challenge, even if we face some adversity (which I think we will). I will call a 64-58 win for the Hoos.
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