Expect Points in Game One of the Charleston Classic

Another exciting college basketball event will tip off this afternoon, with Old Dominion and Virginia Tech playing at 2:00 PM ET in the first game of the Charleston Classic. Mid-day basketball is always exciting to see so we’ll preview the game and go over what the best play in this one might be.

Old Dominion vs. Virginia Tech Game Preview

Last season's ACC champion Virginia Tech has opened the season 3-0 and has been scoring at an incredibly high level. Through three games the Hokies are averaging 89 points per game and shooting 54.5% from the field which is the 13th-best percentage in the country.

A large reason for this scoring outburst is the trio of Sean Pedulla, Hunter Cattoor, and Grant Basile. These three have been shooting the lights out from behind the arc which has the Hokies shooting 44.9% from three this season. Pedulla is leading the team in scoring with 20 points per game and looks to be a true breakout player for this season.

As for the Hokies' opponent, Old Dominion enters this afternoon with a 2-1 record and is led in scoring by Xavier transfer Ben Stanley averaging 17.3 ppg. The strength of this Monarchs’ team early in the season has been their rebounding. ODU is pulling in an average of 40.3 rebounds per game which, is tied for 36th in the country.

Mekhi Long leads the Monarchs in rebounding, averaging 9.3 a game the senior has stepped up big time on the glass. If ODU wants to hang around in this game with the Hokies they will need to shoot way better than the 27.3% three-point percentage they enter today’s game with.

Best Bet for the Game

The Hokies opened this game as -14 point favorites but that number has gotten up to -15.5 in most sportsbooks. The bet I’ll be targeting in this one though is the over of 132. The over is 4-1 in the Hokies' last five games and I think that trend will be continuing this afternoon.

ODU is allowing an average of 64.7 points per game and allowed Drexel to score 71 points on them. If the Monarchs allowed a Drexel team shooting 41.9% from the field to drop 71 points on them then they could be in for a tough game against this hot-shooting Virginia Tech team. Old Dominion has yet to play a team with this offensive firepower and if they don’t come out prepared the Hokies could put up another 90+ point performance.

As for the Monarchs' offense if they are able to continue their strong ability to offensive rebound and get second-chance looks they might be able to keep pace a bit with this Hokies team. I like where this total is sitting and think it could be a good play to get the day started on a winning note.