HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (2-2) AT VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (5-1) 8PM ACCN
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Gameday at the crib 🏰‼️ℹ️: https://t.co/WKZL4pM5gQ pic.twitter.com/ysPIuPfKRK— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 25, 2022
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Friday, Nov. 25 | 8 p.m. ET
Cassell Coliseum (Blacksburg, Va.)
vs. Charleston Southern
Series: VT leads 6-0
Game Notes: Virginia Tech (PDF)
TV Broadcast
ACC NETWORK
Play-by-Play: Jon Meterparel
Analyst: Malcolm Huckaby
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: Hokies -25
Over/Under: -110
Repelling Boarders....
The Hokies (37th in AP Poll/33rd in Coaches Poll) return to the court after a disappointing loss in the Championship of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic with a matchup against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers. The Hokies are 6-0 against Charleston Southern with a 87-59 Tech victory on Dec. 20, 2016 in the last match up.
The Buccaneers are coached by Barclay Radebaugh, who began his college coaching career at East Tennessee State as an assistant coach in 1986. Charleston Southern is his second college head coaching job. He coached Queens from 2003-2004. He took over the Charleston Southern position in 2005 and has a 216-299 overall record guiding the Buccaneers. Last season the Buccaneers were 6-25.
The Buccaneers are 2-2 to start the season after wins over Toccoa Falls and Bethune Cookman. Their losses are to Ohio State and Tulane. The Buccaneers come in averaging 74 points per game which is skewed by the 56 points against Ohio State. Regardless, this team can score so the Hokies will need to have fixed the defensive efforts we have seen the previous two contests.
The Buccaneers come into this season with a very young roster consisting of 12 Freshmen and Sophomores. Claudell Harris is their only real threat at this point. Tahlik Chavez and Taje' Kelly also average double digit scoring but both are buffeted by scoring from a single game.
Defensively, Coach Radebaugh utilizes a combination of man-to-man and a 2-3 zone defense. They have struggled with defensive switches, especially with bigs getting open underneath or perimeter shooters with wide open looks. Ohio State's center torched them inside for 17 points and 13 rebounds, almost all coming in the first half.
Offensively, Coach Radebaugh uses the Motion Screen Offense which tries to create mismatches of personnel utilizing speed to separate either to create dribble penetration openings or open looks on cuts to the basket. So far this season the Buccaneers have not been very successful with dribble penetration so have relied on a mid-range jumper game, taking many shots along the free throw line from elbow to elbow.
The Buccaneers Backcourt
Claudell Harris Jr. (#12, SO, G, 6-3, 190lbs) 19.8 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 3.3 Ast
Tahlik Chavez (#13, JR, G, 6-2, 160lbs) 11.0 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast
R.J. Johnson (#22, FR, G, 6-1, 175lbs) 5.8 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 4.0 Ast
Tyeree Bryan (#4, SO, G, 6-6, 202lbs) 5.3 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Tres Berry (#55, SO ,G, 6-4, 190lbs) 5.7 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.0 Ast
The Buccaneers Frontcourt
Taje' Kelly (#14, SO, F, 6-8, 250lbs) 11.8 Pts, 8.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Cheikh Faye (#34, SR, F, 6-7, 210lbs) 7.3 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Reginald Duhart (#24, JR, F, 6-9, 205lbs) 5.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast
What to expect from Charleston Southern?
As a team the Buccaneers have struggled shooting the ball. They come into this game averaging 39% shooting from the floor. The one area that has helped them though is getting to the line. The Buccaneers have averaged 10 points per game from the line.
Claudell Harris is their key to everything. Putting a defensive focus on him to force others to contribute is a major key to success. He has scored 19 or more in three of their contests but the Buckeyes held him to 12 points by keeping him off the free throw line and unable to get to the rim. Force him into jumpers and his overall impact is diminished.
Coach Radebaugh likes his offense to run, run, run and they struggle when they get bogged down into a half court offensive type game. They come in averaging 13 points a game off turnovers, most in fast break transition on steals at the top of the key.
Perimeter shooting accounts for nearly 40% of the Buccaneers total attempts. They come in averaging 39 attempts per game from outside although they are only shooting 34%. This is more from their inability to create opportunities in the lane. Their guards just don't seem to have the burst to win one-on-one to the basket.
The Buccaneers play fairly clean basketball. No one on the roster averages more than 2 fouls per game, although against Ohio State their bigs did have to sit significant minutes in the second half due to foul trouble.
A terrific Thanksgiving meal prepared by @bullnbones!!Fueled up for tomorrow 💪🦃🏀 pic.twitter.com/Lay88eSIff— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 24, 2022
The Hokies
The Hokies need to focus on finding the open man underneath. The Buccaneers attempts to double team down low has been a problem for the all season, either leaving a perimeter shooter wide open or another big on the alternate side of the lane for an easy dunk or layup.
The Hokies should be able to dominate the rebounding game on both ends but we have seen them struggle with smaller teams before. Ohio State controlled the game with a +19 rebounding margin and the other teams Charleston Southern have faced have been much smaller rosters.
This game should see the Hokies get back on track from the perimeter to end the struggles of the last two games. They shouldn't need a huge contribution from the perimeter but also cant afford to continue like their previous two contests where they shot 9-46 for 19% shooting.
Basile, Mutts, and Kidd should enjoy tremendous success scoring inside in this contest. The Buccaneers opponents bigs have contributed nearly 60% of the total scoring so far this season. The more they score early the more the perimeter opens up for the guards to get back on track.
This game should get the Hokies back to basketball, rather than the MMA style sport of their previous two contests.
Lowlight of the CoC game
Zebras pretending to be Blind Mice.
#Hokies getting thrown all over the floor but hey nothing to see here. Officials.... pic.twitter.com/9mvtuVQZgH— Robert Peterson (Hokies IceintheVeins) (@REPETEinDC) November 18, 2022
In Closing
The Hokies are at home in front of a sold out Cassell and should be able to close this one out by halftime. Hopefully this game gets the Championship loss out of their head and gets them focused for a difficult two-week schedule that lies ahead. The Hokies will face Minnesota on Monday night and then have a week to prepare for the #1 Tar Heels coming to Blacksburg. A game against Dayton on Dec 7th buffers the schedule before the Hokies head to NYC to take on Oklahoma State as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational on Dec 11th.
Charleston Southern's only path to success lies in keeping the Hokies out of the paint while avoiding significant foul trouble. This is not a likely scenario but this is Hokies Basketball.
Hokies return to form on the perimeter and get a boost from the home crowd. 91-63 win for W #6.
#HappyThanksgiving from our family to yours 🦃🧡Reply in the comments what you're most thankful for __________⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SsgbAyYJv2— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 24, 2022
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