UNCG (0-1) @ Virginia Tech (1-0)

When: Tuesday, Nov 17 7 pm
Where: Cassell Coliseum (10,052)
TV: None

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Spartan Notes:
- Last time out, UNCG fell to Duke 96-62 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Ben Stywall led the Spartan with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman Kyle Randall led the Spartans with 4 assists.
- UNCG had 9 players play double digit minutes in the season opener.
- UNCG shot 40% from the field, 33% from behind the arc and 55.6% from the free throw line in the opener.
- Elhanan Bone is questionable for this game.

Hokies Notes:
- Last time out, Virginia Tech defeated Brown 69-55. Malcom Delaney led the Hokies with 21 points.
- Virginia did a great job of taking care of the ball in its opener. Virginia Tech only turned the ball over 8 times and dished out 15 assists (1.9-to-1 Assists to TO ratio).
- Virginia Tech lost its leading scorer from a year ago to graduation. A.D. Vassallo averaged 19.1 points last season. However, the leading rebounder (Jeff Allen) and leading assists man (Delaney) did return for this season.
- In the season opener, Virginia Tech shot 46.4% from the field, 41.2% from behind the arc and 55.6% from the free throw line.

My Thoughts:
UNCG has never played well against Virginia Tech. However, their height advantage doesn't even get close to the advantage that Duke held over the Spartans. Cassell Coliseum is a tough place to play. Again, though, the Spartans played in an even tougher place on Friday.

UNCG's freshmen played well at times against Duke and left fans with reason to feel optimistic. It will be interesting to see how they follow up that performance. At a glance, UNCG didn't appear competitive with Duke. But those of us that actually watched know it was a 16 point game with about 10 minutes left before the Blue Devils went on one of their patented runs to bury UNCG.

Virginia Tech didn't overwhelm their first opponent this year. The Spartans might have a chance to catch the Hokies sleepwalking. However, to beat an ACC team on the road, UNCG will have to play an almost perfect game. Hopefully the guys can build on the good things they did on Friday and surprise the Hokies.

Go Spartans !!!

UPDATE: Channelsurfing.net is listing this game as being shown @ 7.