Virginia Tech improved to 19-13 after rallying for a 67-64 win against Notre Dame on Tuesday in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

The Hokies, who went 8-12 in the ACC, advanced to play NC State at approximately 9:30 p.m. tonight on ESPN2.

NC State has lost its last two games and finished the regular season at 22-9 overall and 12-8 in the ACC. The Wolfpack won at Virginia Tech 73-69 on Jan. 7, with sophomore shooting guard Terquavion Smith getting 22 points and senior point guard Jarkel Joiner had 21 points and eight assists.

Virginia Tech’s ACC Tournament title squad from last year seems like a distant memory.

The Hokies return senior wing Hunter Cattoor and High Point/Delaware transfer Justyn Mutts from last year’s 23-13 squad. Wright State transfer Grant Basile, freshman MJ Collins and much improved sophomore point guard Sean Pedulla round out the starting unit.

Rankings

Virginia Tech is No. 70 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 41.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Hokies ranked No. 61 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 43.

KenPom.com has Virginia Tech at No. 77, and NCSU checks in at No. 52.

RealtimeRPI.com has Virginia Tech ranked No. 80 in the country, and NC State is No. 41.

Shooting

Virginia Tech is averaging 74.1 points per game, and shooting 47.0 percent from the field, 36.1 percent on three-pointers and 73.1 percent at the free-throw line.

Cattoor leads the way at 43.3 percent, and he has a team-high 74 three-pointers made, despite missing some time. Basile is second at 39.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Rebounding

The Hokies are averaging 33.7 rebounds per game, and are a plus-0.2 in rebounding margin.

Mutts leads the way with 7.5 rebounds per game, and he also had a team-high 59 offensive rebounds.

Defense

Virginia Tech is allowing 68.9 points per game, and opponents shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 33.6 percent on three-pointers.

Basile has a team-high 39 blocks and Mutts has 48 steals.

Depth

Virginia Tech played three players off the bench against Notre Dame on Tuesday.

Rice center transfer Mylyjael Poteat and Clemson center transfer Lynn Kidd rotate in the post, and freshman guard Rodney Rice is back healthy and has played in just six games this season. Kidd had a season-high 14 points and five rebounds in 14 minutes against NC State on Jan. 7.

VT lost junior guard Darius Maddox to a personal matter Jan. 23, but regained senior wing Hunter Cattoor on Jan. 18. Maddox had 16 points in 38 minutes against NC State.

Freshmen Patrick Wessler and Darren Buchanan have redshirted this season.

Virginia Tech senior post player Grant Basile has been on a roll of late.

Basile battle foul trouble in the first meeting with NC State, and had four points and three rebounds in 22 minutes during the 73-69 loss Jan. 7. The contest was one of five where he was held to 10 points or less.

The Pewaukee, Wis., native is averaging 16.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season. He is fresh off of scoring 20 points while also battling foul trouble against Notre Dame on Tuesday. He had picked Virginia Tech over the Fighting Irish.

Basile hit his stride after playing NC State. He immediately had 26 points and 10 rebounds in a 82-72 loss at Syracuse on Jan. 11. He also had 24 points and eight rebounds in a 78-75 win vs. Duke on Jan. 23.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Basile exploded for 33 points apiece against Boston College and at Notre Dame on Feb. 8 and Feb. 11 respectively. He combined to go 7 of 17 on three-pointers.

Basile helped Wright State top NC State 84-70 on Dec. 21, 2021, when he had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and shot 2 of 4 on three-pointers. He averaged 18.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and shot 49.8 percent from the field in leading Wright State (22-13 overall) to the NCAA Tournament. He had 21 points in a 87-70 loss vs. Arizona in the first round of the tournament, which proved to be his last game with the Raiders.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, R-Sr., 17.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.3 spg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 17.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.5 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 12.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.2 spg)

PF — 23 Greg Gantt (6-8, 215, R-Jr., 1.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.2 apg)

C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Jr., 13.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg)

Virginia Tech

PG — 3 Sean Pedulla (6-1, 195, Soph., 15.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.3 spg)

SG — 0 Hunter Cattoor (6-3, 200, Sr., 10.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 spg)

SF — 2 MJ Collins (6-4, 190, Fr., 4.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.3 apg)

PF — 25 Justyn Mutts (6-7, 220, Sr., 13.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.7 apg, 1.5 spg)

C — 21 Grant Basile (6-9, 235, Sr., 16.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.2 bpg)

14 The Hokies have 14 ACC Tournament wins in 31 contests all-time.

30 Games where sophomore guard Sean Pedulla has scored at least 10 points this season.

247 Three-pointers made in 117 career games for senior wing Hunter Cattoor, who is shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc in his career.

Virginia Tech senior power forward Justyn Mutts has been the ultimate glue guy.

Not many 6-7, 220-pounders average 4.7 assists per game, but that is Mutts. He’s also averaging 13.1 points and 7.5 rebounds a game.

Mutts’ college journey started off at High Point in 2017-18, and then he transferred to Delaware, where he had to sit out and redshirt. He returned to the court in 2019-20, and emerged with 12.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

Mutts made the move to Virginia Tech and has been a three-year starter. The Millville, N.J., native had 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the win over Notre Dame on Tuesday. Mutts had nine points, eight rebounds and four steals in the 73-69 loss vs. NC State on Jan. 7.

Mutts has nine double-doubles for points and rebounds, and he impressively has dished out six assists in 10 games. He had nine assists apiece in back-to-back games against Notre Dame and at Georgia Tech in mid-February.

Mutts had a season-high 27 points plus 11 rebounds in a 80-72 win vs. North Carolina on Dec. 4. He also had 21 points, four rebounds and nine assists in the 82-72 loss at Syracuse on Jan. 11.

NC State redshirt junior power forward Greg Gantt has filled in with redshirt junior forward Jack Clark getting injured. Gantt is averaging 1.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and Clark is averaging 9.2 points and 7.0 boards a contest.

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