HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH (15-10, 5-9 ACC) AT GEORGIA TECH (9-16, 2-13 ACC) 7PM ACCN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH (15-10, 5-9 ACC) AT GEORGIA TECH (9-16, 2-13 ACC) 7PM ACCN

Gameday in the 🅰️📺 ACCN🕖 7PM pic.twitter.com/Vp7zYpUn75— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 15, 2023

Georgia Tech (9-16, 2-13 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (15-10, 5-9 ACC)
February 15, 2023
McCamish Pavilion
7 p.m. ET
ACC Network
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ACCN
Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco
Analyst: Randolph Childress

Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop

Current Spread: Hokies -8
Over/Under: -141.5

Injuries/Absence:
GT: None
VT: Rodney Rice (Finger)/ Darius Maddox (Personal Matter)

➤ Husband➤ Father➤ Leader➤ Mentor➤ Hokie Legend@acustis20 is someone our guys look up to daily. Read more about the journey of a young man from Eastville, Va., who produced a Hall of Fame career and continues to impact lives on and off the court.#BlackHistoryMonth— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 14, 2023

Technically speaking....
The Hokies look for their second consecutive road win tonight against Georgia Tech. The Hokies are 22-8 against Georgia Tech. The Hokies are coming off a road win over Notre Dame while the Jackets suffered a close loss to Wake Forest 71-70

The Yellow Jackets are coached by Josh Pastner, who is in his seventh season as head coach at Georgia Tech. Pastner is 102-111 overall guiding the Yellow Jackets. Prior to Georgia Tech, Pastner had a seven-year stint at Memphis and is 269-184 overall as a head coach. The one area that continues to surprise me is the seemingly limited footprint that Georgia Tech recruits from. Only one of Pastner's top seven is from outside Georgia or a state that borders it. In today's game even small schools have a much larger footprint.

Coach Pastner's Yellow Jackets wins have been few and far between in the ACC this season with a recent win over Notre Dame and an early January win where they shocked Miami. In both wins the Jackets were especially effective on perimeter defense. Only a handful of the losses were close with ten losses by double digits.

Defensively, Coach Pastner loves to use a pressure defense that forces opponents to use up shot clock to even advance to the half court. Once in the half court, the Yellow Jackets have used a variety of defenses, especially zone defense to confuse opponents so far this season. They will vary from a 1-3-1, to a 1-2-2 and also a more traditional 2-3 zone. Defensive pressure though is what they really focus on. This is a team that relies on its defense to make its offense go. Creating turnovers and limiting possessions is what keeps this team in games. Regardless, Georgia Tech has been pretty dreadful in conference play, allowing opponents to shoot 54% from the floor. Opponents have especially focused on offensive rebounds though so that may limit what they accomplish based on their norm of fire and forfeit.

Offensively, Georgia Tech runs a constant motion offense. One thing Pastner does not like to hear is that his team is running, he insists his teams sprint, especially off the ball. They are not a prominent offensive team but playing slightly above average offense and exceptional defense is a good recipe for winning at this level. Prior to conference play, the Yellow Jackets were only averaging 18 attempts from outside, but in ACC play, with how they have struggled to stay in games, that number has increased to nearly 24 attempts per game. The Yellow Jackets have struggled all season though and are shooting a woeful 31% from outside in conference play. That said, any teams fifth bench guy is nearly guaranteed to hit 4 or 5 against the Hokies. They lean more towards transition scoring, and drives to the basket to create shots, where inside the perimeter as a team they are making 45% of their shots.

Yellow Jackets Backcourt
Miles Kelly
13 SO G 6-4 171
Liburn, GA Hargrave Military Academy
12.7 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Dallan Coleman
3 SO G 6-6 215
Callahan, FL West Nassau HS 56 (2021)
9.3 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Deivon Smith
5 JR G 6-1 165
Loganville, GA Grayson HS 56 (2020)
8.0 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 3.7 Ast

Lance Terry
0 SR G 6-2 180
Newnan, GA The Heritage School
8.8 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 1.0 Ast

Kyle Sturdivant
1 SR G 6-2 198
Norcross, GA Norcross HS
7.2 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 2.6 Ast

Yellow Jackets Frontcourt
Javon Franklin
4 SR F 6-7 220
Little Rock, AR Parkview Magnet (AR)
8.3 Pts, 6.3 Reb, 1.6 Ast

Jalon Moore
14 SO F 6-6 211
Gardendale, AL Gardendale HS
8.0 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast

What to expect from Georgia Tech?
The Yellow Jackets strength is defense and forcing opponents into extended shot clocks. That said their zone has had a backside weakness all season so that complements Mutts controlling the lane with an option to go to Basile.

As a team the Yellow Jackets are shooting 31% from the perimeter on 24 attempts per game in ACC play. Only Lance Terry is shooting better than 35%. While an area of weakness, the Hokies cant shrink in from the perimeter based on usage.

Only Miles Kelly of Georgia Tech's five starters is averaging double figures. My initial thought was that Pastner must be using more bench guys which is somewhat true as nine players are getting 10 or more minutes a contest but production is extremely limited the further down you go.

Georgia Tech has been consistently out-rebounded in ACC play, mainly due to their size. The entire top seven are all 6'7 or smaller. Rodney Howard at 6'10 may be called on for more minutes in this contest to contest the Hokies bigs. Howard has had foul trouble though so his time may be affected by that.

𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙇𝙞𝙩 🔥🔥🔥#VTGivingDay begins now!🤝 https://t.co/L8522lGRRD pic.twitter.com/YLIBygsXho— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 15, 2023

The Hokies
The Hokies need to focus on getting Basile or Mutts the ball down low. The Yellow Jackets smaller lineup has made it very difficult for them to protect inside. They are giving up 44 paint points on average this season in ACC play.

The Hokies will need to keep Georgia Tech honest by hitting their open shots on the perimeter. The Jackets are pretty good at getting a hand in the face of shooters but have struggled with teams that can play inside out.

The Hokies need to protect the basketball. Georgia Tech forces opponents into 11.2 turnovers per game, third best in ACC play and convert 15 points per game in transition. In addition they must force Georgia Tech into mistakes. The Jackets commit 9.7 turnovers per game and allow 15 points off those. If it goes as normal the turnovers and points average out.

Georgia Tech opponents right now average 8 offensive rebounds per game on 30 missed shot attempts. Hopefully the Hokies coaching staff notes this and makes it a point of emphasis in this contest. Getting a second chance on 30% of your misses is a huge opportunity.

Highlight of the Notre Dame Game

Basile 30 pointer streak....

1️⃣3️⃣📈📈GB set our program record for FG made in an @accmbb game 🫡 pic.twitter.com/cF3jKI5ugI— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 12, 2023

In Closing
The Hokies continue much of the script used to beat Notre Dame by scoring 45+ points in the paint. Scoring inside frees up the perimeter and keeps the defense from focusing outside.

The pace in this game will not be like the Notre Dame game as the Jackets will work to slow the game by extending the defense, even just as a single guard to slow the ball crossing halfcourt.

All the Hokies starters finish in double figures as long as Young doesn't start an odd five like Kidd, Camden or Poteat.