Buzzketball Central: High Point Panthers (1-0) at Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0) 7pm ACC Network Extra

IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatHPU Cassell Coliseum 7 PM ACCNetwork Extrahttps://t.co/1kvpWgumJv pic.twitter.com/APKoARGqOO— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 15, 2016

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: November 15, 2016 / 7 p.m.
Opponent: High Point University
Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ACC Network EXTRA
Talent: Andrew Allegretta & Mack McCarthy
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

Buzzketball gets to face the High Point Panthers in their second matchup of this early campaign. High Point comes in looking for its third-straight 20-win season, after going a combined 44-22 the last two seasons. It also has won four-straight Big South Regular Season Championships. This allowed the Panthers to advance to the postseason for the fourth-straight year, going to the NIT for the second time in school history. High Point started out this season's effort with a 74-41 drubbing of Division III Averett.

The Panthers do have to replace their top three scoring threats from last season that accounted for 42.8 of the teams 77 points per game. The depth of this roster though simply means next group up.

Coach Scott Cherry has been at High Point since 2009, where he has steadily improved their overall program, especially in terms of offensive production. Prior to his arrival, the Panthers had never averaged above 70 points per game and have now done so in six straight seasons under Cherry's leadership.

Cherry is known for a coaching style using traps and double teams in terms of high pressure defense transitioning to a fast moving offense designed to get the ball in the hands of an open shooter. Expect to see high ball rotation and quick passes to find the weakness in a defense. Shots from outside the perimeter are a critical aspect of their offense so closing out on these shots is extremely important. They were 8 for 21 in their first game of the season from outside.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

This is another game that could follow the Hokies all year if they don't come out ready to play. Even though High Point is a stronger mid-major at this point, a loss here could hurt the Hokies all year as High Point will likely finish somewhere north of 200 in terms of RPI. Buzz will have to balance how well the team did against Maine with some obvious areas of concern. The biggest area of concern for me is that Tech allowed Maine to shoot 9 of 30 from outside the arc. That number may be a little deceiving though, because Maine had an open look on at least two thirds of those shots, so with High Point being a much better outside shooting team, you could see the made three's nearly double.

Allan Chaney being honored pregame

Allan Chaney is going to be honored pregame. Considering the opponent, this is the perfect opportunity to do so considering Chaney continued his playing career at High Point after being medically disqualified at Virginia Tech.

Excited and appreciative that I will be honored at the VTech vs High Point basketball game Tomorrow. I'm truly blessed and humbled— Allan V. Chaney (@AllanVChaney) November 14, 2016

Panthers Backcourt.

At Point Guard, we will see a combination of Jamal Wright, #3 5'11, 175 lbs freshmen that was All Metro for the DC Area last year and First Team All State for Maryland who put up 8 points, 4 assists and 3 steals in the Panthers first game

and Jalen Williams, #4 6'2, 170 lbs JUCO transfer who contributed 6 points, 2 assists and 1 steal against Averett.

In terms of Shooting guard/Wing, we will see a trio of players led by expected to be top scorer Anthony Lindauer, #24, 6'3, 195 lbs, a senior who put up 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting 44% from outside. He plays the game a bit similar to Seth Allen in terms of driving the ball while also shooting from outside. He just shoots better from outside than Allen.

Joining Lindauer is sophomore Andre Fox, #22, 6'4, 185lbs, who contributed 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He is more the winger, willing to get down low and fight for rebounds and does well in following the arc of the shot for good body position.

Last in this group is Austin White, #2, 6'1, 190 lbs Junior who we may or may not see play as rumor is he has an injury from practice keeping him off the court right now. He did not play against Averett but averaged 13 points per game in the post season last year when he assumed a starting role after an injury. He is another outside shooter to be concerned with if he does make it on the court.

Panthers Frontcourt

Senior Forward Miles Bowman, #33, 6'6, 220 lbs will lead the way underneath the basket for the Panthers. Bowman is very similar to Zach Leday in terms of using a bigger body to muscle up bigger opponents so it should be interesting to see the two pair off down low tonight. Bowman put up 11 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal against Averett.

Joining Bowman down low will be Ricky Madison, #25, 6'7, 215 lbs sophomore who put up 8 points, 12 rebounds and 1 steal but was also a turnover machine with 5 for the game against Averett. I can imagine Chris Clarke giving this guy nightmares all night if he is as prone to the turnover as he seems.

Tarique Thompson, #10, 6'5, 215 lbs senior rounds out this group down low. Thompson had a bit of a quiet game against Averett, contributing 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist while also giving up 4 turnovers, which likely played a role in his playing time being limited in this game.

Surprising Freshman Performance

The Hokies had Khadim Sy come out with a pleasant surprise in his first game in a Hokies uniform but High Point also got a pleasant surprise from freshmen forward Cliff Thomas, #15, 6'8, 215 lbs who gave them 3 points, and 10 rebounds over 15 minutes in his first game against Averett.

What to expect from High Point?

High Point plays a varied zone and man to man approach concentrated on traps and the opportunity to double team, leading to turnovers. They had 10 steals in their first game against Averett so something to be aware of as the Hokies bring the ball up the court. They utilize the steals to fuel a quick response offense that looks to push the pace and find the open man.

In a half court set, don't be surprised to see constant passing around the perimeter to find the open shot as the Panthers rely on their shooting ability to equalize what they cannot make up in size down low. They shot around 40% from the field as well as outside the perimeter in their game against Averett.

High Point really only has five guards so Buzz may look to cause foul trouble early on to limit who the Panthers can have on the court. A lack of depth was the major concern listed by Coach Cherry as he summarized what to expect this season from his team.

Taking into account opponent, one other thing of note though was the High Point grabbed 59 rebounds in their first game. That's right, 5-9. The Hokies need to ensure that they are getting good open looks and or finding a way to draw the fouls to offset this presence on the boards or it could be a long night in terms of offensive performance for the Hokies.

The Hokies

Another season, another double double night for Zach Leday, putting up 20 and 12 against Maine. Leday was joined by three other Hokies in double digit scoring and I would expect that to continue in this game as well if not more. The Hokies seem to have found a way to create well balanced open opportunities for everyone on the court and its up to each player to finish. The first game easily could have seen two others in double digits if they had managed to finish better around the rim. Its great to see very unselfish basketball being played in Cassell.

Highlight of the game for me had to be Clarke using amazing body control to take the ball directly down the lane to slam it home in the second half. He basically broke the ankles of the primary defender on this play.

Second for me, even though its not as sexy, is the improved free throw shooting we saw in the first game. 76% as a team?? If we manage to shoot like that all year it could be a great season.

In Closing

High Point is another smaller lineup coming into Cassell. The big difference between the Panthers and the Black Bears though is their outside shooting ability. The Hokies can ill afford to leave the Panthers unattended outside or this will indeed be a close game.

Will Khadim Sy continue to get the minutes he got in the first game? I think yes and I think he continues to deliver.

Another big driver in this game will be who wins the foul contest between Leday and Miles Bowman. If either of these gentlemen are forced to the side, it could open up a big day for the other.

This game should be closer than the Maine game but I do expect the Hokies to pull away late to finish with at least a double digit lead. It will also likely be a high scoring affair so something along the lines of 84 to 72 isnt out of the question. Still will require great perimeter defense and finishing shots the first time to limit defensive rebound for the Panthers.

If your habits don't line up with your dreams, then you need to either change your habits, or change your dreams...— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 15, 2016