GAME NOTES: ACC rivals will collide in Charlottesville tonight, as the Virginia Cavaliers welcome the Virginia Tech Hokies to town. Virginia Tech has won its last two games and four of the last five overall to move to 10-6 on the year, 1-1 in ACC play. The Hokies are coming off a thrilling 67-66 decision over Maryland that enabled them to improve to 7-0 at home, but they are just 1-4 in road games. As for Virginia, it has lost its last two games after a 10-2 start to the campaign. After getting crushed by Xavier, the Cavs were handled easily by Duke as well. That 87-65 setback to the Blue Devils on Sunday marked the league opener. Virginia owns a commanding 78-47 series lead over Virginia Tech, and the Cavaliers won the most recent meeting by a score of 69-56 in Charlottesville last season.

Strong defense has been key to Virginia Tech's solid first half of the season, as the club is permitting only 58.9 ppg on 38.8 percent shooting from the field. The Hokies are posting 67.2 ppg at the offensive end, and they are pulling down nearly five boards per game more than their foes. The top offensive performer for Tech is A.D. Vassallo, as he is scoring 15.8 ppg on the strength of his 41.7 percent shooting from three-point range. Jeff Allen checks in with 12.9 ppg and 8.2 rpg, while Deron Washington is contributing 12.4 ppg. All three of those players have started every game this season. Allen scored 17 points, pulled down nine rebounds and recorded five steals in the narrow win over Maryland on Saturday. Vassallo posted 16 points and eight boards, while Malcolm Delaney finished with 13 points. Somehow, the Hokies found a way to overcome their 35.1 percent shooting from the field to score the victory.

Virginia relies heavily on Sean Singletary to be productive at the offensive end of the court, and while he can be a bit inconsistent with his shot, the talented guard is scoring an impressive 17.9 ppg to go along with 92 assists. Adrian Joseph checks in with 11.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg for the Cavaliers, while Mamadi Diane rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers with 11.4 ppg. Just like Virginia Tech, Virginia's top three scorers have all started every game this season. The Cavs are averaging 79.3 ppg while permitting 70.3 ppg to the opposition. In the lopsided loss to Duke on Sunday, Singletary scored 18 points, but he did commit seven of the team's 19 turnovers. Calvin Baker contributed 13 points in the losing cause, and Diane tallied 11 points. Defensively, Virginia allowed the Blue Devils to shoot 50.7 percent from the floor.

Expect a hard-fought game tonight between two evenly matched teams. Give a narrow edge to Virginia based solely on the homecourt advantage.