Mens Basketball: Virginia Tech(9-12,1-7) at Syracuse(14-7,5-3) ESPNU 9PM

Television
ESPNU - Tom Hart & Tim Welsh

Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network - Bill Roth & Mike Burnop

Also available on:
Satellite: Sirius: 126 XM: 203
(Syracuse Broadcast)
Digital: Hokies Xtra & TuneIn

The good news is that having the late game got us off the internet and onto the television, the bad news is that if you want to watch the entire game, you are going to be up until Midnight.

Virginia Tech comes in after another tough loss to Wake Forest, missing a three at the end, but also playing less than stellar basketball during the game that cost them quite a few opportunities to take over the game from the Demon Deacons. I dont expect to see those same mistakes again tonight as Buzz rarely tolerates repeating mistakes and works hard to ensure corrections happen quickly.

As for the Orangemen that these Hokies will be facing, they are going through a difficult transition after losing one of their more talented players in Chris McCullough much the same way the Hokies went through losing JVZ. McCullough was one of the more talented freshmen this year in the ACC. At 6'10, 220 lbs he was immediately their answer in the center of the lane this season. He had averaged 9.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.7 spg, and over 2 blocks per game on the year. The Orange are having a difficult time adjusting to not having him in the middle of the court. It has led to more of their core playing more minutes more than new faces picking up the space.

The Orange have gone 1-3 since McCullough went out with injury. Losses to Klemson, Miami and UNC with their only win over another ACC cellar dweller in Boston College.

Prior to his injury though there were no great ACC victories to speak of, having beaten Tech(1-7) by two, Georgia Tech(1-8) by one, FSU (4-5) by thirteen, and Wake (2-7) by three after OT. One basket wins over three of the four worst teams in conference before losing their starting center. Wins are wins though so dont get confused and think we are all of a sudden going into this game as favorites.

There are still a few Orange players that will likely have something to say about that, starting with Rakeem Christmas(#25), who on the season is averaging 18.4 ppg, 9 rpg, and 2 bpg, and when facing the Hokies threw in 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks to lead the Orange to that win.

Beyond Christmas in the lane, we need to be prepared for Trevor Cooney(#10) and Michael Gbinije(#0), the starting guard tandem for Syracuse that combine to score 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

Gbinije is the outside scoring threat, knocking down 40% from behind the arc this season.

Cooney will drive the lane to create shots for others while taking open looks when he gets them.

The last Orangemen that concerns me is Tyler Roberson(#21).

His last game against us, he was a rebounding machine, with 17 rebounds. We couldnt stop him from getting the basketball which led to quite a few second chance points for the Orange. With McCullough out, it should make the matchup more even height wise down low with Pierce, Henry and Beyer combining to cover Christmas and Roberson.

Taking into account that this is a late game, on the road, likely to have an excellent home crowd for the Orange, I see this as a tall task for the Hokies to come out with a win unless they play a full game like they gave against Pitt. All 40 minutes they need to be in attack mode without being careless with the basketball. Go strong to the lane and draw fouls to get some of the Orange bigs out early and then try to run the floor. Need to focus more on the passes into the lane as the Orange lack outside shooters other then Gbinije, although Cooney did attempt 13 of them against us in the last game. We really need a decent effort on the defensive glass to win this game.

All of this said, I think Buzz going up against an opponent for the second time has alot of advantages so expect the Hokies to exploit some issues noted in the first game. As long as they are not dry at the rim, I expect a close Hokies win tonight.

Syracuse 58 - Hokies 61