Buzzketball Central: Wooden Legacy: New Mexico Lobos (3-0) at Virginia Tech Hokies (3-0) 430pm Nov24 ESPN

Safely in SoCal and at the hotel. #Hokies begin play in @TheWoodenLegacy on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/zLY3MUHYjt— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 22, 2016

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: November 24, 2016 / 4:30 p.m. ET
Opponent: University of New Mexico
Site: Fullerton, Calif. (Titan Gym)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ESPN
Talent: Steve Quis, Adrian Branch & Jeff Goodman

Wooden Legacy Tournament

Buzzketball will meet the Lobos on the campus of Cal State Fullerton as part of the Wooden Legacy Tournament. This will be only the third time these schools have faced off on the court. The first time the Hokies faced the Lobos was during WWII in 1941 in Blacksburg. The Hokies won that game 58-45. The second time these schools met was 1972 in the NIT tournament which also saw the Hokies win in a 65-63 battle.

The Hokies come in "favorites" in this game but this game will pose some unique challenges to Buzz and Company. This will be the first team the Hokies have faced that has any size on their roster. Still not the biggest roster Tech will see this year but will likely pose a much greater threat in the paint than all previous opponents. There are eight of their fifteen man roster that stand 6'7 or taller. Three of the eight are major contributors.

The Lobos come in 3-0, having beaten #265 Idaho State, #300 Houston Baptist and #149 New Mexico State. New Mexico is a very young team, with only two seniors on the roster. They return their two top scorers from last season though. New Mexico differs from Tech's early opponents in that it prefers to work the ball inside, with perimeter shooting only accounting for 24% of their shots so far.

This team has also taken on the mindset of getting to the line similar to how Buzz had the Hokies last season. So far through three games, the Lobos have attempted 112 free throws, which amounts to over 37 per game. They are shooting over 70% from the line so those points can add up quickly. Against Houston Baptist, they went 35-42 from the stripe. That was just over a third of their points from the free throw line. To give you some texture to this, the Hokies have only been to the line 69 times so far this season.

The Lobos are coached by Craig "Noodles" Neal, who took over the program in 2013. His first season the Lobos went 27-7, followed by two more mediocre performances since. He is well regarded nationally for developing strategic offensive packages to counteract zone defenses with an idea called Continuity Zone Offenses. Essentially he developed movement and location patterns for each zone defense and identified positions on the floor that force defensive decisions by offensive players moving to them either on or off ball. Hopefully this expertise will be wasted because the Hokies rarely run a zone defense.

Defensively, the Lobos under Neal run primarily a half court man to man defense that stresses forcing its opponent into poor shooting as well as slowing the pace. Ultimately though, one thing Neal is known for is reaching out for advice when given the time to prepare, so I wouldn't be surprised if Neal reached out to Coach K or Coach Williams to ask for advice on how to prepare for this Hokies squad.

Neal has an ACC background, playing for Georgia Tech from 1984-1988, leading the Jackets to one NIT berth and four straight NCAA tournament appearances. He set what was an ACC record with 303 assists in a season, which now ranks second behind Kendall Marshall's 351 in 1993.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

The Hokies go into this tournament looking to cross over from upstart to stable winning program. To do this, these are the games and situations the Hokies have to find a way to win. That starts with the Lobos. The Hokies need to find a way to push the pace on New Mexico early and often. Get them out of their comfort zone by creating speed mismatches rather than the height advantage they have enjoyed against their previous three opponents. The "Bigs" will still need to play a major role here considering the size New Mexico can put on the court (At least one 7 footer plays about half the game for the Lobos). Finding open looks and hitting those shots will also be critical.

I don't expect Buzz to change his initial approach too much with Khadim Sy early, followed by Leday getting into the mix after watching his opponents for a few minutes. It will be interesting to see how Sy reacts to having bigger opponents on the floor with him right out of the gate. Hopefully this doesn't lead to early foul trouble for Sy.

Seth Allen and Chris Clarke will play a pivotal role in this game with their ability to beat a man off the dribble. Getting in the lane to create open looks outside or finishing at the rim will be important to keeping the Lobos off balance. Getting their bigs in foul trouble would be an added side benefit if it were to happen. If the Hokies shoot well from outside that will also stretch the Lobos thin in terms of guarding man to man.

Defensively the Hokies have to be prepared for an attacking offense, even in the lane, as the New Mexico big men move well underneath. They are obviously adept at getting to the foul line as referenced above so the Hokies need to realize this and be able to work around it. Justin Robinson is going to need to be extremely careful with his reaching fouls. We can ill afford to not have him on the court to distribute for long stretches due to foul trouble.

Lobos Backcourt

At the top, Tech will face a trio of guards, led by junior Elijah Brown, #4, 6'4, 200 Lbs, who is averaging 13 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 1.3 SPG. He shoots better than 80% from the line but so far has been terrible in perimeter shooting although he accounts for nearly half their attempts. He is 2 for 18 from behind the arc so far this season.

Second is sophomore Jordan Hunter, #3, 5'11, 180 Lbs. Hunter is putting up 5.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4 APG, and 1 SPG. He also is shooting better than 80% from the line so far this season. Hunter is more a defensive specialist, so expect him to be working against whoever is the hot hand outside for the Hokies at any given point.

Third in this group, freshman Jalen Harris, #5, 6'2, 156 Lbs brings 4.3 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.3 SPG.

Lobos Frontcourt

Senior Forward Tim Williams leads all scorers for the Lobos, #32, 6'8, 240 lbs. Williams is putting up 23 PPG, 8.7 RPG, while shooting 78% from the line and 67% from the field. This is an experienced big man that could cause havoc underneath the basket. He has already attempted 32 free throws this season which amounts to about 11 trips per game worth almost 9 points per contest. Tech will need to limit this to keep his scoring in control.

Sam Longwood, #20, 6'7, 210 lbs. junior primarily plays a wing type role. So far this season he has managed 13.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.3 APG while shooting over 80% from the line and 68% from the field. Longwood's numbers wont drop too much but I believe they are bolstered by facing some smaller lineups so far this season so hopefully the Hokies will prove a tougher matchup for him.

Obij Aget, senior Center, while not much of a contributor on offense is a mountain of a man on the defensive end. #11, 7'1, 220 Lbs. Aget has been able to block or redirect almost a dozen shots a game so far. He will get roughly 20 minutes of playing time depending on foul trouble. Hopefully Leday or Sy and get him off his feet a few times early on to get him to the bench.

Names Announcers will Butcher or Love
The Hokies Khadim Sy will have company in this group from a pair of New Mexico players in Aher Uguak and Obij Aget. The two name they would likely say the most if they could is Joe Furstinger or Sam Longwood from the Lobos.

What to expect from New Mexico?

New Mexico plays predominantly a half court man to man focused on preventing open looks from the floor but not with the aggressive posture Tech saw from its early opponents. They don't press for steals rather than working to make their opponent make a mistake or take a bad shot. One area that I haven't seen much of is the Lobos ability to get back in transition. It appears they are slow to react quite often. They appear especially slow coming out of missed free throws.

In a half court set, the Lobos first focus will be to either drive into the lane or find an open passing lane to Williams down low. Its tough to tell how well they manage offensive rebounding considering they hit more than 50% of their shots so far. Williams and

Connor MacDougall #55, 6'9, 235 lbs sophomore seem to be the two most successful in terms of offensive rebounding. Williams has 8 and MacDougall has 7. MacDougall's comes with only 39 minutes on the court so far this year.

This is the first time I am really not sure what to expect from an opponent, mainly because of how different playing the Hokies will be compared to their previous three opponents and vice versa for the Hokies. Its tough to determine if trends will continue or an entirely new game plan will be presented with the quality increase on each side. I expect this to be a game of cat and mouse with each team playing each role at different points of the contest. Coaching and approach will be a critical factor here.

The Hokies

Buzz and Company is going to need balanced scoring tonight more than he has all season so far. Spreading the floor against this defense will be critical in creating opportunities. To do this, Buzz will need all of his shooters to be able to create open looks and hit them when they get them. I would expect a smaller rotation of players tonight, likely seeing Galloway, Outlaw and maybe Hamilton limited on the minutes they get.

This game the Hokies need to close out on the perimeter, create turnovers and stay out of foul trouble. Sending the Lobos to the line, as noted above, is not a contest the Hokies are likely going to win.

Tech needs to be aware of who the opponents are on the court so they can realize where their opponent might have an advantage but also spots where Tech definitely has one. A critical component of this game will likely be transition scoring for the Hokies, using their speed against New Mexico to get easy uncontested buckets or force them to foul. Finding these turning points will fall more to Buzz than the players so expect to see many adjustments in game play throughout the game.

Highlight of the VMI Game

Highlight of the game for me had to be Hill finishing the basket as part of a three point play down low. The circus shot he got to go in just was incredible considering the amount of skill it takes to get the ball up from below your knees on a shot like that. A close second was when Bibbs realized he had a clear lane to the basket and launched into a huge dunk. So atypical of him usually so it really was a surprise.

In Closing

New Mexico is a totally different opponent than the previous three so the Hokies and the Lobos will both be feeling things out early I expect. Whichever figures something out may run away with the game. Still, expect to see continual adjustments as these two go back and forth. This is more like a boxing match, where one boxer has speed and agility (Tech) and the other has size and strength (New Mexico) so it will be up to the coaches on how best to exploit these differences.

This is the kind of game where I only want to see the Hokies play more than seven man rotation if they have managed to build an insurmountable lead late. If we go farther down the bench than this its likely due to foul trouble.

At least one of the outside shooters has to have their shot burning the nets down tonight. My money is on them finding Hill in the corner early and often.

This game could very well come down to free throws in the final minute. Lets hope its Tech shooting them to put the game away. I think the Hokies speed is just too much and they are able to get out in transition enough times to win this one. Final score 81 to 73.

#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/DDlLXe4YmU— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 21, 2016