No. 4 Virginia, No. 9 Virginia Tech in historic matchup

Only one team can claim it has knocked off Virginia in each of the past three seasons.

That team is Virginia Tech.

Tuesday night, the ninth-ranked Hokies renew their hoops rivalry at No. 4 Virginia as the teams face off in Charlottesville in the highest-ranked matchup in the series history.

"They were good enough to win the national championship last year and they're good enough to win the national championship this year," Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams said about Virginia.

Williams' teams have managed to knock off the Cavaliers three seasons in a row by a combined five points, with two of those wins coming in overtime, including a 61-60 triumph over No. 2 Virginia last season in Charlottesville.

The loss for the Cavaliers last February was their only home loss. They have started this season 8-0 on their home court.

"They played us tough down here last season," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said about the Hokies. "We had a really good game down there and they had a really strong game here. I think they're playing more like that, especially defensively."

While Virginia Tech (14-1, 3-0) has been known for its prolific offense under Williams, its defense has been key to one of the best starts in program's history. The No. 9 ranking is the highest in school history.

The Hokies are fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 57.3 points per game. That's not as good as Virginia (15-0, 3-0), which is once again is dominating on defense, leading the country in fewest points per game allowed (51.2).

On Saturday, the Cavaliers held Clemson to 25.9 percent shooting. The Tigers scored just two points through the game's first nine minutes before finishing with just 43 points.

"If you're sound and your game doesn't change, regardless of the environment, it can allow you, whether you're home or on the road, to stay true to that," Bennett said after his team's win over Clemson. "This team, they don't get outside of themselves."

Virginia has won its first three ACC games by an average of 20 points and led by at least 25 points in all three games. Tuesday night's game figures to be more of a challenge.

The Hokies squeaked by Georgia Tech by three points in Atlanta last week but started their conference season by winning their first two games by a combined 26 points.

"I think they have more offensive weapons this year," Williams said of the Cavaliers. "I think they're able to play more personnel groupings."

Virginia continues to be led by junior guard Kyle Guy, who averages 15.3 points per game and has made 46 of 100 3-point attempts.

The Hokies shoot 42.3 percent from three as a team and will need a similar performance to last season's win over Virginia, when they connected on 11 triples at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia Tech looks to start 4-0 in the ACC for the first time since it joined the conference.

--Field Level Media