HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #12 Duke (15-4) At Virginia Tech (13-7) 7PM ESPN

Will drop the game write up later but wanted to put out that it's the White Out Effect game.

POV: you tomorrow 😎Come out to watch @HokiesMBB take on No. 12 Duke tomorrow night and WEAR WHITE! Foam sticks will be given to the student section at halftime to use during the second half. pic.twitter.com/OXkCuu9cVv— HokieSports (@hokiesports) January 28, 2024

Hokies foam sticks will also be given out at the game.

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #12 Duke (15-4) At Virginia Tech (13-7) 7PM ESPN

Big Monday. Big Opportunity‼️🆚 Duke🕖 7PM ET📺 ESPN⚪️ Wear White🤝 @cmgleasing #StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/RXAi4w7ggj— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 29, 2024

#12 Duke (15-4)
At Virginia Tech (13-7)
January 29th, 2024
Cassell Coliseum
7 p.m. ET
ESPN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ESPN
Play-by-Play:
Analyst:

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

Current Spread: Duke -3.5
Over/Under: -146.5

White Out
The Hokies finish up the home stand with #12 Duke after winning their third straight conference game by beating Georgia Tech at home. The Hokies won the game 91-67 led by a huge game from Mylyjael Poteat who had 18 points, 6 rebounds and two huge blocks against the Yellow Jackets. The three post players combined for 50 points and 19 rebounds.

Booz knows ball 🗣️🔥@MisterCBooz 🏀 @mylyjael pic.twitter.com/A7CWC6yurW— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 28, 2024

The Blue Devils are coached by Jon Scheyer. He began his college coaching career at Duke as an assistant coach in 2014. He spent eight years working for Coach K before taking over upon his retirement. He has a 42-13 overall record guiding the Blue Devils.

Duke is off to a 6-2 start in ACC play. The Blue Devils lost to Georgia Tech in their ACC opener and lost to Pitt at home. Their conference wins are over Louisville, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and escaping over Clemson at home by getting 11 free throws in the last five minutes all while trailing. This will be the 66th meeting between the Hokies and Duke. The Hokies are 13-52 overall against the Blue Devils and 4-1 in their last five home games.

Last time out....

Last time Duke came to Cassell 😏‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/jPVquPvgQh— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 28, 2024

The starting five are Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach, Jared McCain, Mark Mitchell and the fifth spot has rotated between Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster. The regular four starters and Tyrese Proctor are on the court at least 28 minutes per game. Foster plays roughly 25 mpg. They only have two other players averaging more than 11 mpg.

Duke returned 73.6% of minutes played and 77.9% of scoring return from 2022-23 roster. Freshman contributing right away with starter McCain and sixth man Foster. The other two freshmen play a few minutes in each game but are not contributing much. The lone transfer got in garbage time in five early games but has not played since.

Scheyer defensively plays primarily man-to-man, but they like to deploy zone in limited situations. Switching defenses kind of brings a chaos to the offense and they seem to utilize it most if an opponent has gotten on any sustained run. Duke also employs more zone against teams that use a significant amount of perimeter screening.

Offensively Scheyer mainly relies on the inside out game of Filipowski and Roach. The addition of freshman guard Jared McCain has given the Blue Devils two perimeter shooters though. Both Roach and McClain shoot over 42% from outside. Usually there will be a three guard-two forward set with high perimeter screens to allow penetration and force defenses to choose to shift and possibly leave Walking bucket Filipowski with space to contest the drive.

Blue Devils Backcourt
Jeremy Roach
3 SR G 6-1 175
13.8 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 3.1 Ast

Jared McCain
0 FR G 6-3
12.5 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 1.6 Ast

Mark Mitchell
25 SO F 6-8 220
12.8 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Tyrese Proctor
5 SO G 6-5 175
11.1 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 3.8 Ast

Caleb Foster
1 FR G 6-5
7.9 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.3 Ast

Jaylen Blakes
2 JR G 6-1 208
2.6 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Blue Devils Frontcourt
Kyle Filipowski
30 SO C 7-0 230
17.7 Pts, 8.7 Reb, 2.9 Ast

Mark Mitchell
25 SO F 6-8 220
12.8 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Ryan Young
15 SR C 6-10 245
3.2 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 1.1 Ast

What to expect from Duke?
The Blue Devils will run primarily a three guard, two forward set that looks to get the ball inside to Filipowski. He has a soft touch inside and is an excellent passer so the Hokies wont be able to double him without risking leaving Roach or McClain open.

Touching on perimeter shooting, this season teams have put a heavy emphasis on guarding Filipowski down low so the Duke guards have enjoyed many wide open looks. Duke shoots 38% from outside led by McClain, but Kidd will have to defend out to the perimeter as Filipowski does take 3.5 perimeter shots per game.

One surprising stat, in conference play, opponents are actually shooting a higher interior percentage than Duke as opponents have shot 49.7% inside against the Blue Devils. They are slow to adjust across the paint and are allowing quite a few unchallenged layups.

Duke wins basketball games by shooting the three better and getting to the line for seven more attempts per game. They make .8 baskets per game more in conference play but are outscoring opponents by 8 points per game.

The Hokies
Pedulla and Cattoor continued to show improvement using dribble penetration to create offense both by getting to the rim or drawing Georgia Tech inside to open up an outside shot.

The Hokies limited the turnovers against Georgia Tech to seven which is the first time they have been under ten turnovers since out of conference play. Duke is 11th in the ACC at forcing turnovers so typically not a strength for the Blue Devils.

Rebounding against Georgia Tech was surprisingly strong, led by Beran with nine. They still struggled though allowing offensive rebounds. Georgia Tech pulled down 13 but fortunately were not able to convert them into significant points. Against Duke though, that could quickly be exploited by Filipowski on put backs down low. That said, Duke has not been dominant rebounding the ball either.

The Hokies should still manage open perimeter looks. Duke allows opponents to shoot 36% from outside and considering the poor perimeter shooting ACC teams they have faced I would expect the Hokies to be at or near 40% in this game.

In Closing
Duke is a far better perimeter shooting team than most of the ACC. The guy's shooting are the ones that can make it so not a lot of lost possessions on bad shots. The Hokies must close out the perimeter as well as they have all year to take away Duke's normal advantage here.

Can the Hokies limit the differential at the free throw line? Unlike the women's games where Kitley gets mauled repeatedly without calls, Filipowski and Mitchell have gotten calls all year and are combining for 15 free throw attempts per game between the pair. Fortunately, Filipowski is a relatively poor 67% from the line. Duke on the season has a 119 free throw attempt advantage. That's a 6+ advantage average per game.

Home Game, White Out Effect, sold out Cassell, Cassell Guard in full effect ...have to hope for Duke tears!!

It's gameday 😤@HokiesMBB is facing No. 12 Duke tonight at 7 p.m. ET. BE THERE & WEAR WHITE. pic.twitter.com/6LmGwb9KKL— HokieSports (@hokiesports) January 29, 2024

Confidence Factor: