The Virginia Tech Hokies will look to get back to their winning ways when they travel to Coral Gables for a crucial ACC matchup against the Miami Hurricanes. Tech is coming off a 100-65 loss against the Duke Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium, while the Hurricanes fell 94-82 at Wake Forest on Saturday.

This is a critical game for the Hokies if they want to keep their NIT hopes alive. Beginning with the Duke game this past weekend, Tech is in the middle of a very tough stretch. The Hokies (11-7, 4-3 ACC) will host #7 Wake Forest (17-3, 5-2) this Saturday, then travel to Maryland (13-5, 4-3) and Virginia (10-8, 1-7) before returning home to host #6 Duke (16-1, 6-1). In a conference where every stretch is tough, this one will be the toughest for the Hokies, and it is important that they pull out at least one victory.

Going into Tuesday's and Wednesday's action, the Hokies are currently tied for fourth in the conference (scroll down on that link for the standings) with Maryland at 4-3. There are six teams in the conference with three or four wins, bunched between fourth place and ninth place. Win, and the Hokies will stay in the upper tier of the conference for a couple more games; lose, and they'll start to move towards the lower tier.

Miami is led by their backcourt, the three-headed monster of Guillermo Diaz, Robert Hite and Anthony Harris. This triumvirate is one of the most underrated and dangerous backcourts in the nation, and they give every team they play a lot of trouble. Diaz and Hite are outstanding scorers who can not only shoot the basketball but get to the glass and make plays as well. Diaz is 2nd in the ACC in scoring averaging 18.5 points per game, while Hite is 4th in the ACC averaging 17.7 points per game. Harris averages 13.3 points per game and ranks 4th in the ACC in assists with an average of 4.79 per game.

The Miami frontcourt will not kill you on the scoreboard, but they are outstanding on the boards. Anthony King ranks 5th in the ACC in rebounding with 8.3 per game, while William Frisby comes in 9th with 7.0 boards per game. They are good players who can score when needed, but Miami’s offensive production is centered around their guard play. Frisby averages 9.6 points per game while King knocks in 6.2.

Looking at the statistics chart below, we can see that the Hokies and Hurricanes are nearly equal in almost every key category.

As you can see, Miami is a little better offensively than the Hokies, while Tech gets the better end of the matchup at the defensive end of the court. The trio of Diaz, Hite and Harris will be tough for the Hokies, but Seth Greenberg can counter with a great defender in Jamon Gordon. If Gordon can shut down whichever player he is assigned, then the Hokies have an excellent chance to come out of Coral Gables with a win.

While both teams are dead even in most statistics, each team holds a distinct advantage in one area apiece. Miami is a dominating rebounding team, while the Hokies take Miami to the woodshed in turnover margin and steals. The undersized Hokies, as we all know by know, rank dead last in the ACC in rebounding. Miami holds a tremendous advantage in this area as they rank 3rd in the conference at +5.9 rebounds per game. It will be extremely tough for Tech to force the Hurricane guards to miss a lot of shots, and even if they are successful they still must keep the Miami frontcourt off the glass.

On the other side of the fence, the Hokies hold a supreme advantage in turnover margin and steals. The Hokies rank 2nd in the ACC in steals and 1st in turnover margin. Meanwhile, Miami ranks 10 in steals and 8th in turnover margin. Pressuring the Miami defense and not allowing the ‘Canes to run their offense could be another key.