With the second showdown between rivals Virginia and Virginia Tech on the horizon, much of the focus has shifted to the backcourt battle. Who will win the game within the game? Virginia’s Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds? Virginia Tech’s Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon ? While those match-ups will garner a lot of attention, keep an eye on one statistic with those players (and with both teams) tonight: 3-point shooting.

“They’re both multi-dimensional. They both can shoot the ball, both can handle ball, both play defense, both are very involved in the game,” UVa coach Dave Leitao said of the Hokies’ backcourt. “I think the fact that we rely on our guards so much means that we’ve got to make sure that we control some of the things that they do well to give our guys an advantage or to try to create an advantage.”

Certainly with the backcourts in the spotlight, a lot of focus will be on categories like turnovers, steals, assists, and maybe even rebounds. Still, the categories that may mean the most tonight are 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage. Both of these teams have had a lot of success when shooting well from beyond the arch and it was a critical factor in Virginia’s win in Blacksburg earlier this season.

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