The Hokies look to move above .500 in league play.
After a 3-3 start to its first six ACC games, Virginia Tech men's basketball is back on the hardwood tonight, squaring off against Syracuse at 9 p.m. ET in Syracuse, New York.The Hokies look to improve to .
750 across the season — and to notch their second Quad 1 victory of the 2025-26 campaign. Syracuse currently sits at No. 74 in the NET rankings Syracuse has proven to be turnover-happy in league play; the Orange sport a turnover percentage of 20.4%, the highest in the ACC. Virginia Tech ranks No. 29 in the nation across its previous 19 games, only coughing the ball up on 14.3% of its possessions. Where the Hokies will have difficulty is in contending with Syracuse's size. This season, the Orange have restrained their opponents to a 45.7% clip from the field, 13th-best in the nation and 5.6% better than the Division I average. Moreover, Syracuse's two-point defense percentage lies at a 44.8% clip, 11th-highest in D-1, Syracuse isn't perfect, however. The Orange shoot 62.8% from the charity stripe, second-worst in D-1. Teams tend to shoot better from the free-throw line against the Hokies, though, shooting 74.3% . Virginia Tech's proven adept at guarding other teams from deep, though; the Hokies have held their opponents to a 28.8% mark from beyond the arc, the 10th-best mark i Syracuse dropped its first in-conference game on New Year's Eve to Clemson, 64-61, but briefly bounced back with three straight victories over Georgia Tech , Pittsburgh and Florida State . The Orange enter tonight's contest off the back of a loss, however, having fallen to Boston College in overtime, 81-73, on Saturday. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech opened its ACC slate with a thrilling 95-85 triple overtime victory over then-No. 21 Virginia on New Year's Eve, before dropping consecutive bouts to Wake Forest and Stanford . In the former, the Hokies fell by way of Demon Deacons guard Nate Calmese's game-winning trey with 6.5 ticks to go; in the latter, Virginia Tech conceded 26 second-half points to Cardinal guard Ebuka Okorie as the Hokies ceded a 12-point advantage. Stanford went on a 14-1 run over the final 2:18 and Okorie's triple with 3.3 seconds to spare sealed Virginia Tech's loss. Virginia Tech bounced back with a 78-75 victory over California on Jan. 10, but blew a four-point lead late vs. SMU and lost 77-76 on Boopie Miller's game-winning half-court heave. The Hokies' most recent game was against Notre Dame on Jan. 17; Virginia Tech captured the contest, 89-76, behind 43 combined points from forwards Tobi Lawal and Amani Hansberry.I think that the return of Lawal adds an extra dimension to Virginia Tech on both ends of the floor, and while Tyler Johnson isn't back yet, it sounds like, according to head coach Mike Young, this team is on its way to reaching 100% health again. As it stands, Virginia Tech draws a winnable foe in a winnable environment and though I think the game will be close, I believe that the Hokies have what it takes to pull off a victory in tonight's tilt.Thomas is a sophomore at Virginia Tech majoring in multimedia journalism with a minor in creative writing. He currently works with Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech's student-run newspaper, as a staff writer for its sports section. In addition, he also writes for 3304 Sports as a staff writer and on-air talent, as well as Aspiring Journalists at Virginia Tech as a curator. You can find him on X: @thomashughes_05.Virginia Tech Men's Hoops Availability Report vs. SMU: Who's In, Out for the Hokies?
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