Dayton vs. Virginia Tech Prediction and Odds for Wednesday, December 7 (Total Too Low for Hokies' Offense)
By Ben Heisler
The Virginia Tech Hokies are 8-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming by two points back on Nov. 20 in the Charleston Classic against... wait for it... Charleston.
The Hokies have already racked up wins against two Big Ten opponents this year, and come off an 8-point victory at home to North Carolina. Now, they'll welcome a hobbled Dayton Flyers team to town at 5-4 on the year, but won't have guards Malachi Smith and Kobe Elvis available.
The Flyers were expected to be a tournament-caliber team in 2022, but have really struggled for consistency. Can they find it on the road vs. the Hokies?
Here are the latest odds for tonight:
Dayton vs. Virginia Tech Odds, Spread and Total
Dayton vs. Virginia Tech Prediction and Pick
I get that the combination of Dayton's defense, along with its inconsistent scoring outputs this year has put this total where it is, but it's blatantly disrespectful of how good the Hokies have actually been on that side of the ball.
Virginia Tech owns the 17th-best adjusted offensive efficiency in college hoops via KenPom in 2022, while also ranked 20th in effective field goal percentage (56.3), 19th in two-point percentage (57.9), and are fifth in the country in avoiding turnovers.
Their only real struggle on offense is an inability to get to the free throw line consistently, ranking near the bottom of the league with just 13% of their point distribution coming from the charity stripe.
Dayton owns a top 37 adjusted defense, but it has also had plenty of games where its put the ball in the hoop as well. The Flyers are a mess from 3-point range, shooting less than 28% from downtown, but still rank top 60 in two-point percentage at 54.4%. The Flyers, since that disastrous 43-42 loss to Wisconsin in the Battle 4 Atlantis, have scored a minimum of 64 points in their last four games. The Hokies have only been held in the 60's three times this year, averaging over 77 PPG this season.
Don't get me wrong, this won't be a shootout by any stretch, but I expect these two teams to at least get into the 130's and beyond.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.