Buzzketball Central: Virginia Tech Hokies (15-4, 4-3) at #9 North Carolina Tar Heels (18-3, 6-1) 8PM ESPN

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: January 26, 2017 / 8 p.m.
Opponent: North Carolina
Site: Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Dean E. Smith Center)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ESPN
Talent: Karl Ravech & LaPhonso Ellis
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
XM Radio: XM 81 (Internet 81)


Entering the Belly of the Beast, ACC Road Game Hell

Buzzketball goes back on the road after successfully finishing off Clemson in the first of four road contests over a five game stretch. Now its time for what could be the hardest remaining road game the Hokies have this season. The North Carolina Tar Heels welcome the Hokies in to the Dean Smith Center boasting an 18-3 overall record. The Tar Heels only losses this season are #13 Indiana, #6 Kentucky and Georgia Tech. Only the Kentucky loss was a home game. They have P5 wins over Oklahoma State, #16 Wisconsin, Tennessee, and six wins in conference thus far. So far in the ACC, outside the loss to Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels lowest offensive output is 85, with their high an astounding 107 against NC State.

On the road, in one of the hardest places to play, with an assured packed house spewing vitriol their way, this is going to be a monumental task for the Hokies. The Tar Heels come in 15 point favorites. They also have gotten a major boost to their lineup with the recent return of Theo Pinson as well as Tony Bradley coming back from a short term injury. Both of these players will contribute about 20 minutes tonight so a major impact to have them back on the floor.

This will be the Eightieth meeting between the Hokies and Tigers. UNC leads the all-time series 66-13. UNC won last years matchup 75-70. The Hokies are 5-30 on the road against UNC all time.


We want more of this image tonight than the second

The Tar Heels are coached by Roy Williams, who has been at UNC since 2003. His first season is the only year the Tar Heels have not won at least 20 games(19 wins) under his tutelage. They have 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, and one NIT appearance. They have made it to the Elite Eight seven times, the Final Four three times, NCAA runner up once and NCAA Champion once all under Williams. The amazing thing about Williams is that before coming to UNC, his Kansas teams also only failed to reach 20 wins once (19 wins), also in his first season there. He has a career 79% winning percentage as a coach and just recently reached 800 career wins.

Defensively, the Tar Heels run almost exclusively a man to man defense. Coach Williams relies on the talent of his players to win out in one on one matchups. Their defense is designed to drive their offense, as Williams like to tell his players that they need to be playing 94 feet of offense all the time.

Offensively, North Carolina runs a constant motion offense with the goal of being primarily a transition offense. Coach Williams tells his guys that if there are less than 2 defenders back they they should score with 2 or less passes. If more than two they need to move to their motion offense. Expect to see two bigs in play in the lane at the same time. They are trying to find the point where the defense lapses on one or the other and take advantage of it. The Tar Heels also don't focus nearly as much on shooting from outside, especially compared to the competition. The Tar Heels are ninth in threes attempted and made in the ACC this year.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

The Hokies are going to have their hands full down low all game. Leday and Sy likely will not be enough to keep the North Carolina bigs in check. Its going to take total team defense to deny the easy buckets underneath from this Tar Heels squad.

The Hokies have a second opportunity in a row to find their way back defensively. A tough end to end defense is how Georgia Tech managed to keep this opponent off balance and get a big win earlier this season. I would hope that Buzz has his guys turn the pressure all the way up, especially early on in each half.

The Hokies need to do something that is almost anathema to them, and that is to slow this game down almost to a snails pace. They need to block interior passing lanes while controlling the clock, limit the fluidity of motion so that they have a tough time establishing a rhythm.

Today, the Hokies perimeter players need to be almost perfect. There is no room for the Hokies to go cold over an extended period from outside.

Tar Heels Backcourt


Joel Berry II (#2) 6', 195 Lbs Junior Guard is averaging 15.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.9 APG and 1.5 SPG. He is shooting 43% from behind the arc and 49% overall. He makes about 2.5 threes per game. He just happens to shoot free throws at about 90% so all around, if you can limit his possessions and shots it improves your chances of winning.


Kenny Williams, (#24) 6'4, 180 Lbs Sophomore Guard comes in averaging 6.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.3 APG and 1.1 SPG. He is shooting 35% from outside but only attempts three per game. He also struggles at the free throw line shooting 66%.


Nate Britt (#0), 6'1, 175 Lbs Senior Guard was expected to be the catalyst that made everything go this season but has fallen short of that so far. He is averaging 5 PPG, 2 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.3 SPG. Britt comes in averaging 20 MPG. He is probably their best on ball defender amongst the guards so expect him to be locked up with Seth Allen for a good portion of the night, especially if UNC gets out to a big lead.

Tar Heels Frontcourt


Justin Jackson, (#44), 6'8, 210 Lbs Junior Forward is averaging 18.2 PPG, 5 RPG, and 2.7 APG. Jackson's interior scoring is at 46%. Playing almost as many minutes as last season, Jackson has seen an almost six point jump in his production and almost all of it can be attributed to improving his perimeter shooting. He has improved from 29% to 40% on over 6 attempts per game compared to only taking 3 last season. Just to round things out, he shoots just under 80% from the free throw line as well. The scariest thing about this guy is that he has the size of a power forward and the ball handling of a point guard. Very fluid in motion with or without the ball.


Isaiah Hicks, (#4) 6'9, 242 Lbs Senior Forward, is averaging over 23 MPG and comes in putting up 13.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.2 APG. He is shooting 61% from the field, does not even mess with shooting from the perimeter and is a solid 83% from the line. Hicks playing time gets limited because of foul trouble more than anything else. He comes in averaging over 3 fouls per game. If not for this, he would probably be their top scorer considering his offensive efficiency.


Kennedy Meeks, (#3) 6'10, 260 Lbs Senior Forward is averaging 13 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.1 SPG, and .9 BPG so far this season. He comes in shooting 52% from the field but a lowly 62% from the free throw line. He also experiences foul trouble, limiting him to about 24 minutes per game. The one thing you can say about Meeks is that his improvement in physical appearance is amazing from the big baby soft kid that started at UNC to what he looks like now.


Tony Bradley, (#5), 6'10, 240 Lbs, Freshman Center is just back from an injury that saw him miss a couple games. He is averaging 7.9 PPG and 5.7 RPG. He was averaging about 15 MPG but he may seem less time coming back from the injury.


Theo Pinson, (#1), 6'6, 211 Lbs, Junior Forward missed the first 16 games with a foot injury. He has returned in limited action to provide the Tar Heels 6.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, and 1.2 SPG in about 18 minutes per game. As he recovers, so too do the Tar Heels chances of competing for another National Title at the end of the season. Pinson is very much their energy guy, kind of do everything like Clarke is for the Hokies.

Names the Announcers will Butcher


Very vanilla name roster, no candidates. One we would like to hear them say but probably wont is Kanler Coker. Just has a sort of UNC Crazy eloquence to it.

What to expect from UNC?

The Tar Heels rely on a rotation of eight players. They rely heavily on their bigs to do most of the scoring. That's not good news for the Hokies, who have struggled against size at every turn. They will be looking to get the ball in the paint on almost every possession tonight.

The other thing that is unusual about the Tar Heels, in the age of all these one and done's, look at how experienced Roy Williams team is. Only one Freshmen is playing a meaningful role and that is still as a backup. Three Seniors and three Juniors comprise the center of this roster. Something that plays into how this team closes things out.

The Tar Heels will struggle if forced to go to more perimeter shooting so something to watch for, especially if a few of their bigs get in early foul trouble. Tougher to do with this being at UNC but still something to watch for.

The Tar Heels will look to expose weaknesses in the lane. Don't be surprised to see quite a few alley oops or high pass lay ins as Berry lobs the ball over the top to a big under the basket for an easy score.

One other thing to keep in mind. This is the NUMBER ONE TEAM in the country in terms of offensive rebounding. They average over 16 offensive rebounds per game. This is troubling for a team that does not seem to have developed much in the way of a rebounding game, especially with the constant guidance to get back on defense rather than attempt to get offensive rebounds of their own. If they score at about the same percentage they do now as a team, that will be an extra 15 points per game they manage from the second chance opportunities.

The Hokies

Tech has two choices in this game. Attempt to slow things down and limit UNC opportunities to score dramatically to try to keep it a close game or they will attempt to run UNC out of the gym, especially with how they rely on big men across their roster for most of their offense. I expect to see Buzz have them go with the second option even though my thoughts are the first is their best chance.

Tech needs to drive inside to get fouled. Controlled drives right at a specific big. They need to disrupt the UNC offense that relies so heavily on having three or four bigs on the court at any point and time. Early foul trouble could give the Hokies a window to work up a lead.

Ahmed Hill and Justin Bibbs need to have their best games of the season tonight. Shooting from the arc needs to probably be around 60% for the Hokies to keep this game close.

Highlight of the Clemson Game

Seth Allen gets this one all to himself. Critical plays and a few brilliant passes late in this game made a huge difference. Team free throws also sealed this win.

In Closing

UNC is going to look to pound the paint either by pass or by drive. The Hokies have to find a way to keep the ball out of the interior. Expect to see a lot of 1-3-1 zone with defenders blocking their big counterparts from the front. This still may not prevent scoring as these bigs are more than capable of accepting a lob or directed pass for alley oops or lay ups. This matchup probably decides the game.

The offense has to be operating at a fluid clip. The Hokies should have some mismatches in terms of speed versus size on the offensive end so using that to their advantage and getting the UNC bigs in foul trouble could play a key role in a Hokies upset.

Sorry but this is likely a mountain too far tonight. I expect the Hokies to play much better than they did against NC State but the line on this game is 15 and I think that's legitimately what we will see, especially if the Hokies get in foul trouble themselves. If Leday and Sy aren't able to combine for 40 minutes than this game could get to blow out status. UNC wins 93-75.

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If you feel the leather in your hand let it rip.

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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Marshall University graduate.
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Wet stuff on the red stuff.

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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Wet stuff on the red stuff.

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Taylor, looking desperately throws it deep..HAS A MAN OPEN DANNY COALE WITH A CATCH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FIVE!!!!....hes still open

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West Virginian by birth, Hokie by choice

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The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

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My wife takes the kids and leaves the house while I watch my Hokie games.........nuff said

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Wet stuff on the red stuff.

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My wife takes the kids and leaves the house while I watch my Hokie games.........nuff said

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Wet stuff on the red stuff.

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