Virginia Tech’s good fortune has disappeared in the new year. After capturing four overtime wins in the season’s first two months, the Hokies lost three of their last four games by a total of five points.
Virginia Tech (13-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) seeks a turnaround when it faces struggling Notre Dame (10-7, 1-3) on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
The Hokies are recovering from a shocking 77-76 loss Wednesday at SMU. They surrendered a half-court shot at the buzzer to Boopie Miller.
“When he threw the ball up, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said.
Making the loss even more difficult to accept for the Hokies was that over the final seven seconds, they committed a turnover and twice missed the front end of 1-and-1 free throws.
A week earlier against Stanford, Virginia Tech collapsed after leading by 12 points with 2:18 left. Ebuka Okorie drained a stepback trey with three seconds to go to beat the Hokies 69-68.
The good news for Virginia Tech is that last year’s top scorer and rebounder, Tobi Lawal, has returned after missing nine games with a foot injury.
Lawal adds firepower to a lineup that includes Amani Hansberry (15.5 points, 9.1 rebounds per game) and Neoklis Avdalas (14.2 points, 5.1 assists).
Ball-handling issues plagued Notre Dame while losing four of its last five games.
The loss of top scorer and floor leader Markus Burton (18.5 points per game), who suffered an ankle injury in early December, has been tough to overcome.
During the five-game spell, the Fighting Irish committed more than twice as many turnovers as their opponents (66-31) and gave up 74 points off those mistakes.
For the season, Notre Dame is last in the ACC in turnover margin (minus-2.7 points per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99 per game).
“This group has to find a way without (Burton),” coach Micah Shrewsberry said after Tuesday’s 81-69 loss at home to Miami, in which Notre Dame committed a season-high 18 turnovers.
With Burton out, Jalen Haralson (15.1 points per game) has taken on a larger role in the backcourt, while Carson Towt (10.2 rebounds) paces the frontcourt.
