Two teams off to great starts in the 2020/21 campaign meet up in Wednesday’s NCAAB Virginia Tech at Louisville pick. The #20 Hokies (8-1) are riding a four game win streak on the heels of their 80-78 win over Miami last Tuesday as -8 favorites.
The #25 Cardinals (7-1) have bounced back with three straight wins after being completely annihilated 85-48 at Wisconsin on December 19th. Louisville is 5-0 at home, a big reason they are -5 point favorites here. VT will be playing their first true road game on Wednesday, in front of a crowd of about 3,000+ people.
Hokies Face First Road Game
VT has had a great start to the season, but they’ve also played 7 home games and two neutral site contests. That being said, one of those neutral site games was an 81-73 win over #3 Villanova as 9.5 point underdogs, so the Hokies are legit.
Another thing working against the Hokies heading into the NCAAB Virginia Tech at Louisville pick is that they have lost 16 straight in this series. That includes a dominating 68-52 Cardinals home win last season, but as much bigger -12.5 favorites. It will be tough again for the Hokies to get their offense going in the NCAAB Virginia Tech at Louisville pick, as the Cardinals have the #2 defense in the ACC.
VT can get this big road win on the back of Keve Aluma, who had 26 points to lead the win over Miami. He doesn’t get a lot of backup though, as no other Hokies player averages more than a dozen points per game. Four straight VT games have gone ‘over’ the total, and it’s low again on Wednesday set at 131.5.
Louisville Defense the X-Factor?
Virginia Tech doesn’t have a lot of top end scoring options, ranking 4th from the bottom in the ACC putting up just 68.6 ppg. That doesn’t look like a good matchup heading into the meeting with Louisville’s shooting defense that is 2nd in the conference and 33rd in the country.
The Cardinals backcourt could be in line for a big night, led by David Johnson who has scored at least 17 points in five of the last six. Johnson had 20 in the win over Boston College on Saturday while conference assist leader Carlik Jones added 15. Jones is a stat sheet filler, putting up 16.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game while also providing valuable leadership as a grad transfer.
Louisville has just one loss on the year, but it was a doozy, losing by 37 in Madison. The Badgers shot 54% from the field in that game and 64% from three, so the Cardinals defense can be gotten to at times.
Free NCAAB Virginia Tech at Louisville Pick
The Cardinals have dominated in this series, winning 16 straight which should continue as Virginia Tech goes on the road for the first time this season. Johnson and Jones are a great combo, who combined with the lockdown ability of the Louisville defense should lead the Cardinals to a double digit home win on Wednesday night.
Louisville 71 – Virginia Tech 60
Free Pick: Louisville -5
