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No. 18 Virginia Tech looks to Dowdell

Jan 31, 2007 - 4:51 PM NC State (11-8) at No. 18 Virginia Tech (16-5) 9:00 pm EST

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Ticker) -- The recent solid play of Zabian Dowdell can only mean good things for Virginia Tech.

The 18th-ranked Hokies hope to win for the eighth time in their last nine games and remain atop the Atlantic Coast Conference on Wednesday when they host North Carolina State.

A 6-3 senior guard, Dowdell was named the ACC Player of the Week on Monday. He made 14-of-23 shots, 23-of-26 free throws and averaged 26.5 points and 6.5 assists to lead Virginia Tech (16-5, 6-1 ACC) to road wins over Miami and Georgia Tech.

After setting a career high with 30 points against the Hurricanes, Dowdell scored 23 and A.D. Vassallo added 19 with 10 rebounds as the Hokies posted a 73-65 victory over the Yellow Jackets on Sunday.

The win marked the first time Virginia Tech won consecutive "true" road games since it was in the Metro Conference in 1985 and moved the Hokies one-half game ahead of North Carolina (19-2, 5-1) in the ACC standings.

Since defeating UNC-Greensboro in overtime January 2, NC State (11-8, 1-5) has dropped four of its last five games and is last in the ACC.

The Wolfpack are coming off last Wednesday's 71-58 defeat against Virginia. Brandon Costner scored 14 points and Courtney Fells added 11 with 10 rebounds for NC State, which shot just 32 percent (20-of-63) from the floor.

The all-time series has been fairly one-sided, with the Wolfpack winning the past two meetings to extend their advantage to 30-10.