Virginia Tech seeks bounce-back outing after Basile’s big night

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech heads to South Bend, Indiana on Saturday afternoon looking to steady its feet in ACC play against Notre Dame. Evan Lepler and Terrence Oglesby will be on the call at 2 p.m. for RSN, while Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop will provide coverage for the Virginia Tech Sports Network.

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SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH

• Notre Dame enters this contest reeling from a buzzer-beating 70-68 loss to Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
• The Fighting Irish are led offensively by graduate forward Nate Laszewski, who is one of five players in the ACC averaging 14-plus points and seven-plus assists.
• In January, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey announced that he’d be stepping down from his role following the season. In 23 years with the Irish, Brey has led the team to 15 NCAA Tournaments.

The Series

• Tech enters Saturday’s tilt with Notre Dame on a four-game winning streak in the series. It’s the longest active winning streak for the Hokies against an ACC foe. 
• Despite dropping the last four meetings, Notre Dame has a 9-8 edge in the all-time series. 
• Tech has a 3-4 record in South Bend and won the most recent meeting at Purcell Pavilion (62-51 on Jan. 27, 2021). 
• The Hokies will be seeking their first road win of the season (0-7). ND is 10-6 at home this season. 
• In Tech’s two wins against the Irish last season, the Hokies averaged 83 ppg. 

HOKIE HEADLINES

• Grant Basile racked up a season-high 33 points (four shy of his career high) on 12 of 21 shooting in Tech’s 82-76 setback to Boston College on Wednesday night. 
• Over the last five games, Basile is averaging 22.6 points per game. 
• Sean Pedulla (10th) and Basile (13th) give the Hokies two of the top 13 scorers among ACC players. 
• Tech is one of three schools (North Carolina and NC State) that has at least two players among the top 13 scorers in the ACC. 
• Hunter Cattoor leads the league in 3FG% at 41.8% (51-122). 

BASILE PLAYING LIKE A BOSS

• Grant Basile became the first Tech player since Justin Bibbs (2015-16) to score at least 30 points twice in the same season. Basile dropped in a season-high 33 points against Boston College, besting his previous high of 30 points in the Hokies’ season opener against Delaware State….