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Blacksburg, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - The eighth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish begin a two-game road trip on Thursday evening, as the take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in ACC action at the Cassell Coliseum. Mike Breys Irish are one of the top teams in the ACC, sporting a 17-2 overall record, including a 5-1 league ledger. The start is the programs best since the 1978-79 campaign (also 17-2). Notre Dame has won two straight and 12 of its last 13 games. The teams two losses this year have both come by one point, a 75-74 loss at Providence on Nov. 23, and a 71-70 loss at North Carolina on Jan. 5. Most recently, the team posted a come-from-behind, 75-70 win over Miami-Florida last weekend. Buzz Williams first season in Blacksburg has come with mixed reviews thus far. The team is just 8-9 on the season thanks to five straight losses. The Hokies are still seeking their first ACC win of the season. A 68-53 loss at North Carolina on Sunday dropped the team to 0-4 in league play. It has been quite the gauntlet for Tech recently, as Notre Dame represents the third straight ranked foe on the docket. The set will conclude with a fourth ranked foe this coming Sunday as the team hosts No. 2 Virginia. Notre Dame has won four of the five all-time meetings in this series, with the four wins coming in the last four matchups. The Irish trailed Miami, 43-31 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game, but responded with a 21-7 run to take a lead just under the 10-minute mark. Notre Dame remained in front the rest of the way in picking up its 17th win of the season. Five players notched double figures in the victory, led by Jerian Grants 23 points. V.J. Beachem added 13 points, followed by Steve Vasturia (11 pts), Pat Connaughton (10 pts) and Demetrius Jackson (10 pts). The Irish are still a lethal offensive squad, despite the recent absence of Zach Auguste (13.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg). A key contributor this season, Auguste has missed the last couple of games due to academic issues. He is ruled out indefinitely. While most teams would miss a player of Augustes ability, the Irish have been able to assuage the loss thanks to great depth. Grant is one of the nations premier guards and currently leads the team in scoring (16.7 ppg) and the ACC in assists (6.4 apg). Connaughton has been superb as well, posting 13.8 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds per game. Jackson is equally adept at filling up the basket at 13.6 ppg. On the season, the Irish are averaging 81.7 ppg on a hefty .528 shooting (second nationally). The Hokies are coming off their lowest scoring output of the 2015 calendar year, as the team struggled at Chapel Hill last weekend against the Tar Heels. Virginia Tech trailed 34-21 at the break and was unable to make up ground in the second half. Overall, Tech shot a rather ugly .358 from the field and was abused on the boards, getting outrebounded 49-22. Adam Smith led the team in defeat, coming off the bench to score 11 points. Shane Henry was the only other Hokie in double figures, finishing with 10 points. The team was without freshman star Justin Bibbs, who missed the game due to concussion-like symptoms. Virginia Tech is far from an offensive juggernaut at 68.1 ppg, but the team does shoot an efficient 46.3 percent from the field overall, which includes nearly 40 percent from behind the arc (.399). Bibbs is the top scoring threat on the roster at 13.6 ppg. The 6-foot-5 freshman is shooting just over 50 percent from the floor, including an impressive 47.5 percent from 3-point range. However, Bibbs status for this game is up in the air, as he continues through concussion protocol. Smith is the only other player with a double- digit scoring average at 12.9 ppg. The team suspended Joey van Zegeren (9.8 ppg) indefinitely, further depleting the roster heading into this game. Cheap Air Force 1 Uk . 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The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip. Air Force 1 Clearance . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution.CLEVELAND - No player in the NBA, and perhaps in league history, can disrupt an opposing game plan quite like LeBron James. Dwane Caseys pre-game audible, opting to dust off the sparingly used Landry Fields and insert him into the starting lineup, came as mild surprise, but perhaps it shouldnt have been so shocking given the imposing force he was tasked with guarding. He is who we thought he was, Casey said of James, who had a game-high 35 points in the Cavaliers comeback victory over Toronto on Tuesday. Its not a surprise. Hes one of the best players in the league, or the best player, arguably. So he did what he was supposed to do. I thought we had him under control most of the night. Fields, with the assistance of James Johnson, had James under control, as much as one can possibly have him under control, until the fourth quarter. The Raptors had led by as many as 14 point on the night, 10 points early in the final frame before Cleveland clamped down on defence and James started making big plays on both ends of the floor. Toronto shot 30 per cent from the field, hitting one of six three-point attempts and scoring just 13 points while James poured in 10 of his own, including the go-ahead trey with 48 seconds left. They had entered the game with the NBAs best fourth-quarter point differential. The loss snapped their streak of 39 consecutive wins when leading after three quarters. I thought our guys battled, fought, controlled the game for most of the game but youve got to close it out, Casey said - his team had squandered a 17-point advantage to Denver the night prior before stealing a win in overtime. Thats where weve got to get better. We had some crucial turnovers, crucial rebounds that we didnt get at the end of the game and thats the name of the game. When youre playing playoff basketball and youre trying to be an elite team youve got to be able to make those plays and tonight we didnt. Their series with the Cavs has certainly had a playoff feel, in part because the two teams have seen each other three times in 18 days, an unusual wrinkle in the NBAs regular season schedule. The Raptors won the first meeting in Cleveland on Nov. 22 and the Cavs havent lost a game since - winners of eight in a row. In Fridays rematch, LeBron and company handed Toronto its most lopsided defeat of the campaign. This time around, Casey pulled out all the stops, hence the late lineup change, and it nearly paid off. He nearly let the cat out of the bag. One guy cant guard [LeBron James], Casey said ahead of Tuesdays rubber match. Youre going to have to have a team concept. That one guy guarding him has to be disciplined and work within what were trying to do as a team. He cant go rogue out on his own, he continued, before stumbling, appearing to misplace the name of Terrence Ross. So whoever guards him, whether its James [Johnson], or... or... or... Terrence?, I suggested. Terrence, thank you... Or whoever guards him has to be disciplined in what theyre doing and not go rogue. This has been a frequent dilemma for Casey - unwaveringly honest as a man, it paints him to lie, but understandably guarded as a head coach. How much should he reveal to the media when he addresses them 90 minutes ahead of tip-off, knowing whatever information he discloses - injuries, lineup changes - will be leaked on Twitter in the blink of an eye, becoming available to the opposition? Hes not required to give anything away until he fills out his lineup card just before the game. So when hes asked about his roster or rotation he smirks a mischievous smirk. He knows the question is coming. If hes feeling generous he may evven throw the assembled media a bone and volunteer some intel unprompted.dddddddddddd He cant tell a lie. On this night, he didnt have to. Nobody asked, not directly, so he kept it to himself. An unlikely ace in the hole, something he used in the playoffs last spring when Fields stepped in to stymie Joe Johnson and the Nets in Game 2. Honestly, I just wanted to make things difficult, to kind of switch it up on [James], make him think about me more than anything else, said Fields, who found out he was making the spot start earlier in the day during a late afternoon walkthrough. It didnt go so well if you look at the stat sheet. He still played well and they ended up winning but that was just my whole mindset going in. Despite the result, Casey made the right call. Greivis Vasquez had started five straight games in place of the injured DeMar DeRozan but was under the weather and limited in his return to the bench on Tuesday. Terrence Ross, a promising but inexperienced defender giving up size and strength to James, had more ups than downs against the four-time MVP in the first two meetings. Johnson was re-acquired for match-ups like this one, but got caught up in a one-on-one battle with James in Toronto on Friday. What Fields lacks in athleticism, in comparison to Johnson, he makes up for in discipline, which was a prerequisite as Casey outlined before the game. Hes a smart player, moves well without the ball, knows his limitations on both ends of the floor and operates within them. By the end of the first quarter he had logged 11 minutes, exactly half his total through the teams first 21 games of the campaign. Entering Tuesdays contest, Fields appeared in just six games, playing less than a minute in two of them. But he was effective and helped Toronto get off to a 33- 26 lead, converting both of his looks near the basket and making James work on the other end. It can be tough, said the five-year vet, who hadnt played since mid-November. When I found out [about the start] it was a lot of emotions and thoughts went through my mind but, honestly, I went back to the room and prayed on it, kind of mellowed out, got here, shot the ball well and was doing well in warm ups. Fields made a couple of emergency starts last season - the first coming a year ago Monday when he stepped in for Rudy Gay against the Lakers, the night the trade was consummated. He made his last start on Mar. 2. Replacing the injured Terrence Ross, he was effective in a win over the Warriors, hitting four of his five shots and grabbing six rebounds in 25 minutes. Starting Fields allowed Casey to go back to his regular rotation off the bench, although Vasquez was limited to just 12 minutes. It also took some pressure off Ross as a defender, allowing him to thrive on the offensive end, where he put up a team-high 18 points. Johnson was also effective, particularly off the bench. But neither he nor Fields could solve the problem that was LeBron James down the stretch. He makes it tough for you because hes seen everything, Casey had said before the game. Whatever you throw at him multiple times hell exploit it. And thats why he is who he is. Hes arguably the best player in the league and probably the most cerebral player in the league when it comes to reading situations on both sides of the ball. That makes it difficult. But he puts his pants on like we do and his jersey on one arm at a time, I think. He didnt sound too sure, and with good reason. After stumbling out of the gate, the new-look Cavs have found their way and with James playing MVP-level basketball, yet again, that should hardly come as a surprise. ' ' '