GAME NOTES: First-round action in the 62nd annual ACC Tournament soldiers on Tuesday afternoon, as the Virginia Tech Hokies go up against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Greensboro Coliseum.

Virginia Tech, the 14th seed in the event, has won just two games since the start of the new calendar year, taking down Pittsburgh (70-67) in overtime, and Georgia Tech (65-63). Since the victory over the Yellow Jackets, the Hokies have dropped seven in a row, although one of those was an overtime decision against fourth-ranked Duke.

As for the 11th-seeded Demon Deacons, their most recent outing took place on Saturday and ended in a 79-61 defeat at the hands of Boston College. The loss was the second in a row and the fifth in six tries for a squad that was a mere 5-13 in league play and five games under .500 overall.

In terms of this event, this will be the second meeting all-time for the squads, following a 71-52 blowout win for VaTech in the quarterfinals of the 2007 tourney. The Hokies have a record of 6-10 in the tournament all-time and are still awaiting their first championship.

Wake Forest, which lost to NC State in the very first ACC Tournament title game in overtime more than 60 years ago, has won it all four times, but has failed to come out on top since 1996. The team has a record of 43-57 in the event over the years.

Wake Forest won the lone regular-season meeting between the squads back on Jan. 31 by a score of 73-70, which means the Demon Deacons now lead the all- time series by a count of 30-29 according to Tech sources. In that contest, Codi Miller-McIntyre led all scorers with 19 for Wake, converting all seven of his field goal tries, while Adam Smith paced six players in double figures for the Hokies with 12 points, although he shot just 2-of-8 behind the 3-point line and 4-of-11 from the floor.

The winner of this contest will be back in action on Wednesday to face the sixth-seeded Miami Hurricanes in the second round of the event.

Virginia Tech, which was 1-1 in neutral-site games this season but only 1-12 away from home overall, generated a modest 65.4 ppg as the squad knocked down a solid 39.3 percent from 3-point range and 44.6 percent from the field, but a disappointing 63.4 percent at the free-throw line. Adam Smith, a starter in 21 of 31 games, was credited with 13.7 ppg, hitting his 3-point tries at an impressive 43.1 percent clip, especially when you compared it to his 44.2 percent effort from the field in general. Justin Bibbs pitched in with 11.8 ppg and he too was a strong shooter on the outside at 43.6 percent, although he made just 44 chances, compared to 78 by Smith.

At the offensive end of the floor, the Demon Deacons managed to connect on just 42.0 percent of their shots from the field and had trouble picking up points at the free-throw line where they were just 63.5 percent accurate. Put it together and the squad was lucky to come away with 68.7 ppg, but still Wake allowed 71.8 ppg which often defeated any solid effort at the other end. Codi Miller-McIntyre was responsible for 14.3 ppg, his 63.7 percent shooting at the charity stripe somewhat acceptable given that he also paced the program with 126 assists. Devin Thomas pitched in with 11.7 ppg and 8.8 rpg, but his 58.2 percent at the line was hard to overlook.

Playing anywhere by home was a trial all season long for the Hokies and figures to be a problem on Tuesday as well, especially since Wake Forest is closer to home and should have more support in the stands.