UVA Basketball Preview

After all the signing day hoopla it's time for me to transition back to a basketball mindset. It seems like it's been a solid 2 weeks since the Tigers lost to BC.

At the halfway point of the ACC season the Tigers sit at 4-5. They did, however, beat UVA in their first meeting. We gave an in-depth preview of UVA the first go around. To summarize, UVA is led by senior SG Joe Harris. Harris averages 15 ppg and shoots 46% from 3. If you drop your hands, he'll make you pay. UVA's 2nd leading scorer is Akil Mitchell at just over 12 ppg. Mitchell is also one of the better rebounders in the conference.

Other than those two, they rely heavily on contributions from their freshmen. Mike Tobey is a big, talented center that has been an efficient scorer in limited minutes. I believe that Booker can give him fits by muscling him around. Tobey is a skilled big man, but he's not physically strong in his lower half at this point. Evan Nolte is a lanky SF that has tremendous range (41% from 3). You'll see Milton Jennings get some time on him. He's not really a threat to drive the ball, so Jennings needs to stay home on him. Lastly, Justin Anderson is an uber-athletic and strong SF. His offensive game has been progressing and his outside shot is becoming more reliable. He's a good defender too because of his strength and athleticism. McDaniels had a tough time last outing against UVA, mainly due to Anderson.

UVA has been a really tough team at home this year and less impressive on the road, where Clemson beat them. That could be said about most teams, though, including Clemson. UVA's home wins include victories over Tennessee, UNC, FSU, and NC State. That's a stark contrast to their losses on the road, which include Clemson, Wake Forest, and GT.

Considering Clemson's best road win this year was @ South Carolina and they've yet to pick up a road win in the ACC, this game figures to be a tall task.

The game airs on ESPN2 @ 7PM.