Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 16, 2019 ) Virginia Tech 70, Pittsburgh 64

Virginia Tech has had a week to think about what went wrong in its fifth consecutive defeat - a 77-73 overtime decision at home against Boston College. The Hokies will try and turn the page when they host Pittsburgh on Saturday in the second of three consecutive home games.

Freshman Landers Nolley II scored 29 points but missed a potential, game-winning 3-pointer with five seconds left in overtime against BC as Virginia Tech matched his longest losing skid since 2015-16. "Just got to hang in there. It's college basketball. The sky isn't falling. We're going to be OK. We're going to come back Monday, and we're going to practice and we're going to get better," Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said after the game. "We'll live to see another day and prepare the team to see a good Pittsburgh team - and play a better ballgame on Saturday and find a way to win." Pittsburgh is coming off its worst conference effort of the season in Wednesday's 72-52 home loss to Clemson. "I’m disappointed in our performance. We were just bad across the board; Energy, communication, and execution on both sides, a really disappointing performance by us," coach Jeff Capel said. "We have got to learn from it, move on to the next play, and get ready for the next one.”

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (15-10, 6-8 ACC): Trey McGowens (12.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals) and Xavier Johnson (11.8 points, 5.2 assists) combined for 15 points on 2-of-20 shooting from the floor against the Tigers, who finished 13-of-22 beyond the arc after shooting 29 percent in conference games entering the game. Justin Champagnie (12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds) led Pitt with 11 points and Au'Diese Toney (8.7 points, 5.0 rebounds) chipped in 10, but the Panthers couldn't seem to figure out Clemson's zone defense, shooting just 31 percent from the floor. “We’ve been good against the zone at times. We were really good against it in the second half at Syracuse, thought we were very good against Georgia Tech’s zone," Capel said. "The very first thing is that we have to make shots. We got some open looks and we have to be able to knock them down."

ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (14-10, 5-8): The Hokies had tied the game at 66-66 in regulation when Nahiem Alleyne (9.5 points), who finished with 16 points and five rebounds, made two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining. Nolley (17.7 points, 5.9 rebounds) made 12-of-22 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and also grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double. Freshman Tyrece Radford (9.6 points, 6.2 rebounds) scored 10 points and has been in double figures in four consecutive games (16 points per game), including a career-high 24 against Miami.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Virginia Tech has won the last four games in the series and three straight in Blacksburg.

2. The Hokies won the rebound battle against BC (33-32) for the first time in 10 games. They rank 11th in the ACC in rebound margin (minus-0.8).

3. McGowens is shooting 31.4 percent from the floor in 14 ACC games while Johnson is shooting 32.7 percent. The team ranks last in field-goal percentage in conference games (39.4).

PREDICTION: Pittsburgh 63, Virginia Tech 62