IT'S GAMEDAY!🏀 #BeatNCAT📍 Cassell Coliseum🕛 12 PM EST📺 ACC Network Extra💻 https://t.co/FUR3mwpl6d pic.twitter.com/Ih06LzD4p7— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 28, 2017
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec. 28, 2017 / Noon
Opponent: North Carolina A&T University
Site: Blacksburg, Virginia (Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Andrew Allegretta
TV: ACC Network Extra
Talent: Bailey Angle & Mack McCarthy
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Sirius XM Radio: SIRI 137 (Internet 962)
Everyday @HokiesMBB's Buzz Williams wakes up at the crack of dawn, goes to his office and writes down how he can improve. Learn more about what makes @TeamCoachBuzz so special on Men of March this Thursday at 11pm ET on CBS Sports Network pic.twitter.com/M1CYtjkCOa— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) December 27, 2017
The Last Preamble
Buzzketball comes back from Christmas hopefully in a better mindset now that the Kentucky game is a couple weeks away. The terrible start against Presbyterian had what should have been a blowout a close game with five minutes to play. It was a convergence of tough loss hangover, really small home game attendance and an opponent that lived to play slow monotonous basketball to the final second of every shot clock. Fortunately the Hokies came away with the victory and can move on to the North Carolina A&T Aggies.
The North Carolina A&T Aggies come in 7-7 on the year heading into Cassell having just ended a three game losing streak by upending Lamar on the 23rd at the Las Vegas Classic. NC A&T started out the season with a quick 5-1 record and things have gone south since then. They have wins against Greensboro, The Citadel, Jacksonville, Mid-Atlantic Christian, ECU, Tennessee State, and Lamar. Their losses are to Clemson, Central Connecticut, Presbyterian, Georgetown, Duquesne, Southern Illinois, and Radford. The closest comparison to Tech's style of play is probably Southern Illinois, which beat A&T 102-64. Tech has wins over all three shared opponents, while A&T went 1-2. Regardless of how things go from here, this season is already a great improvement over last season, where the Aggies went 3-29. This is the 6th time that Tech and A&T have faced off with the Hokies winning all five previous games.
The Aggies are coached by Jay Joyner, who took over the program midway through the 2015-2016 season. This is Joyner's first head coaching opportunity. His partial season went well for someone taking over a struggling team, finishing 5-5 but last season was tough with their 3-29 record that resulted from quite a bit of turnover after the partial season ended and several recruited transfers having to sit out while still holding scholarships. Joyner has managed to get things going this season with his team sitting at 7-7 right before conference play begins.
The fortunate part for Joyner is that even with the turnover last year he still has a fairly experienced squad this season with those that remained and transfers that he has taken in, with six seniors and four juniors. Four of these players figure into Joyner's starting five and the depth of this roster shows as there are 11 players averaging at least 4.6 PPG for the Aggies.
Defensively, the Aggies focus on perimeter shooters from the 2-3 Zone defense. This defense has allowed the Aggies to force opponents to beat them inside. Unfortunately for the Aggies, that's exactly what their opponents have done 6 of their last 8 times out. They are allowing opponents 76.6 PPG on 46% shooting. To show how they focus on the perimeter though, opponents outside shoot 32% but inside that blows up to 54%. They still struggle with consistency though and opponents have the Aggies national ranking below 200 in 16 defensive categories. The one that probably makes the Hokies eyes light up is that they are allowing opponents 19 free throw attempts per game, which could easily become 30 against this Hokies squad.
The surprising part though is that their offense and defense are eerily equal statistically much as the Hokies last opponent. FG%, overall Scoring, rebounds, free throws, and shots taken and allowed but I guess that is why they have a .500 record coming into this game.
Offensively, the Aggies are dangerous on the inside, albeit only scoring 76.7 PPG. They shoot 47% overall, 57% inside but a dreadful 29% from outside. They have struggled all season when teams have pressed or had a very up tempo defense which bodes well for the Hokies. They are turning the ball over almost 15 times per game which is 316th in the Nation. Their guys in the paint are what keep them in most games, shooting 57% as a team while attempting 38 shots per contest. One thing is certain, with how much A&T shoot, this game will not be the snail's pace that the Presbyterian game was.
What does that mean for the Hokies?
The Hokies should come out of this contest with a 25-30 point win if they play with the intensity they have shown they are capable of. North Carolina A&T allows opponents 22 attempts from the perimeter per contest but are fairly strong defensively against the perimeter shot. All together though opponents are averaging 62 shots per contest against the Aggies. Tech is averaging 57 shots per game with their up tempo offense this season.
Those 62 shots against don't even count the 19 free throw attempts allowed per contest as well. The Hokies thrive on free throws and could easily reach 30 attempts in this contest, especially if the Aggies are relatively successful defending the perimeter. This will lead to much more dribble penetration by Robinson, Walker-Alexander, and Bibbs amongst many.
Considering the focus that may be placed on interior play, the Hokies need to continue working on rebounding. A&T is 71st in rebounding while the Hokies are merely 184th. Both teams shoot well from the floor in this contest, so likelihood of fewer rebounding opportunities all the way around but it still is something that will prove beneficial come ACC play.
Aggies Backcourt
Graduate Transfer Devonte Boykins, #3, 6'2, 180Lbs, comes to A&T after three seasons at Georgia Southern and is averaging 10.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.2 APG, and 1 SPG. He shoots 51% from inside the arc, 35% from outside and 68% from the line. He leads the team in perimeter shots, taking over 5 per contest.
Aaren Edmead, #1, 5'10, 165 lbs is another Senior transfer after two seasons at Wagner. He is season averaging 9.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 2.7 APG, and 1 SPG. He is hitting 29% of his shots outside, inside he is shooting 34% but amazingly shoots 86% from the line.
Denzel Keyes, #23, 6'4, 210 lbs is the first Senior that has put all four years in at A&T. He is putting up 5.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG. Keyes has no business shooting outside, so far shooting 14% this season but flips that around to hit 54% of his interior shots. He shoots 71% from the line.
Freshman Kameron Langley, #4, 6'2, 205 lbs is averaging 5.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.9 APG and 1.9 SPG round out the starting five for this squad. Langley has been handling the point guard responsibilities for the most part this season. He shoots 55% inside, 27% outside and 68% from the line.
Three Junior Guards Milik Gantz, #22, Gwei Lartey, #2, and Amari Hamilton, #15, combine for 13.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.3 APG in about 40 minutes per contest. As was noted above this team regularly plays 11 guys and all seem to contribute a small amount rather than most of Tech's opponents this season that were dominated by their starting five in scoring.
Aggies Frontcourt
Another transfer, Femi Olojubi, #25, 6'8, 237 lbs. Junior Forward spent his first two seasons at Oakland but is now the Aggies leading scorer. He provides 21.9 PPG, 9 RPG, and 1.1 APG while shooting 58% from inside. He shoots 36% from outside on over 2 attempts per game so Blackshear and Horne will need to be aware of his willingness to step into an outside shot. He is shooting 82% from the line. The Aggies go as Olojubi goes. He represents over a quarter of their scoring this season.
A second transfer from Wagner, Sophomore Japhet Kadji, #21, 6'7, 205 Lbs, is averaging 7.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1 APG while shooting inside at 43% and from the line at 80%. Having two bigs combine for over 15 rebounds per game is certainly an unexpected advantage at a mid-major.
Senior Forward Davaris McGowens, #0, 6'7, 230 lbs is the primary backup to both forwards. He is putting up 4.6 PPG and 2.5 RPG while shooting 53% from inside in about 10 minutes a game. He shoots 67% from the line.
What to expect from the Aggies?
North Carolina A&T will work itself inside a majority of their possessions. The Aggies are 55th in the country in assists per game at about 16 per game so expect to see fairly clean passing but take into account how many shots they average and their assisted basket ratio is fairly low.
Defensively the Aggies are only stout on the perimeter so far and are slow to get back in transition, which could lead to quite a few run outs for the Hokies.
The Aggies sit on the edge of foul trouble, with five players averaging more than two fouls per contest, and three more right below two per game. It helps the Aggies that they don't rely on a specific five for all their production so if foul trouble mounts for someone, its just next man up, but the tendency to foul will put the Hokies on the line quite a few times in this contest.
Expect the Aggies to want to play fast, trying to compete by volume of possessions rather than quality of possessions. This game may not be as frenetic a pace as the Citadel game but it could be close. Remember that the Aggies beat the Citadel 92-73. Not quite the 132-93 thrashing that Tech put on the Bulldogs but still something to consider.
The Hokies
The Hokies should focus on clean execution of their game plan. They are going up against a team that seems to struggle against interior shooting, aggressive defense, transition baskets allowed, and even an inability to turn their opponents over. This is another game that should end in the Hokies scoring over 100 but will come up short as Buzz puts the bench in for significant minutes late to save guys for the ACC debut on New Years Eve against the Orange.
The only time I think this game will be slow is all the times the Hokies go to the free throw line. Outside of that, expect quite a few highlight reel plays because the A&T defense is out of position. The Hokies still need to take this game seriously though since this is an experienced group of players that are still learning each other's tendencies on the court due to all the transfers in play. This is not a game the Hokies can afford to let an opponent hang around.
Hopefully a full and excited environment but it could be another fairly quiet game if the local fans don't show up for the halftime dog show at Cassell since the students are gone for the holidays still. This could test the focus and energy of this team as they seem to feed off a packed house. Keeping things moving, whether by using press defense or transition offense will be important to the Hokies winning going away.
Highlight of the Presbyterian Game
AND-1!! Clarke completes the three-point play for a 45-40 lead 💪 pic.twitter.com/3PBQgmQvEn— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2017
Highlight of the game goes to Clarke and Blackshear for their play around the rim for a second straight game. If you had told me we would finish the game beating Presbyterian by only 8 points andstruggled to separate until late when these two made some critical baskets and got some important rebounds. .
In Closing
North Carolina A&T will try to make this game about interior play and get the Hokies in foul trouble. Tech has to find ways to insert some pace and keep the Aggies from quick scoring to develop the lead. It may go against the Hokies nature a little bit but they need to try to force either bad shots or make A&T use most of their shot clock.
Considering how important interior play is going to be, this will be a third game in a row that they need big contributions from Clarke and Blackshear. Later in the contest they will need Horne to step up to maintain a big lead.
This game has big win written all over it but now the team has to prove they can play up to that after a slow bogged down result last time out. It's at home, and hopefully they come out with energy and just run the Aggies off the floor. This is an important pace setter to get them focused for ACC play. Blackshear or Clarke should post a double-double in this game and several other Hokies will finish in double figures.
Hokies 92 – Aggies 71
"It's what, I hope, the legacy that Corey and I leave to all of those families... The games are really fun for the children because they get to come to Cassell and they get to warm up for the game." - @TeamCoachBuzz It's more than a game 💙 pic.twitter.com/Mizunbklpu— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 22, 2017
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