HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Virginia Tech (16-13) at Louisville (8-21) 7PM ESPNU

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Virginia Tech (16-13) at Louisville (8-21) 7PM ESPNU

Road finale in the Derby City 🏇🆚 Louisville🕖 7PM📺 ESPNU#StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/cQzfDaxQ6H— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 5, 2024

Virginia Tech (16-13)
at Louisville (8-21)
March 5th, 2024
KFC Yum Center
7 p.m. ET
ESPNU
Virginia Tech Sports Network

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

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

Injuries:
Louisville
Dennis Evans (Center) Shoulder - 1/3/24 Out Evans is idle due to a shoulder ailment, and it is unknown when he will return.
Hercy Miller (Guard) Hip - 2/5/24 Out Miller will sit out the remainder of the season after undergoing a procedure to repair a hip injury.
JJ Traynor (Forward) Shoulder - 1/6/24 Out Traynor is shut down with a shoulder injury, and he will miss the rest of the 2023-24 season.
Virginia Tech
Mekhi Long (Forward) Knee - 2/10/24 Out Long will miss an extended length of time due to a knee injury.

Current Spread: Hokies -7.5
Over/Under: -152.5

Road Game....
The Hokies play their final ACC Road Game at Louisville and the road schedule cannot end soon enough. The Hokies look to sweep the season set from the Cards after winning back in December 75-68 led by Collins 20 points off the bench. This will be the 48th meeting between the Hokies and Louisville. The Hokies are 11-36 but come in winners of three in a row after last years win at Louisville 71-54, the Hokies first win there since 1990.

Locked in for tonight 🔒 pic.twitter.com/eVxGBkzObC— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 5, 2024

The Cardinals are coached by Kenny Payne, who is in his second season at Louisville. The Cardinals are 12-49 under Payne. They have doubled their season win total for last year. Louisville is his first head coaching job with assistant stops at Oregon, Kentucky and the New York Knicks. The Cardinals opened their season with a win over UMBC, then a loss to Chattanooga. They are however 7-8 at home this season so something to watch. Its been a brutal 3-15 ACC season so far for the Cardinals.

Louisville signed the #6 recruiting class last season but lost the most impactful player, Trentyn Flowers, who opted to go pro in Australia. The remaining class led by center Dennis Evans added five new faces to the program. The Cardinals also added three transfers as Payne continued to overhaul the program. Amongst the newcomers, Skyy Clark from Illinois has had the most immediate impact but is joined by Tre White from USC in the starting five. Evans has started five of seven games but has had very little impact averaging about 9 mpg and less than two points per contest.

The Cardinals have six players averaging more than 20 mpg but only six average at least 10 mpg. Louisville does not appear to have any injuries coming into this game. The starting five are Clark, White, Michael James, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Evans as the fifth starter. Payne relies heavily on his starting five, who account for 72% of the teams minutes.

Louisville under Payne runs a variation of the Havoc defense, so expect to see a variety of press and trap situations from a man-to-man defensive base. Louisville so far this season though seems slow on getting in front of opposing teams, with opponents taking advantage of the Cardinals in the paint, shooting over 50%.
Defensively they do contest the perimeter fairly after a few lapses in their first couple games. Since the third game, they have held opponents under 30% in all five contests and under 18% in three games.

Offensively, the Cardinals play a positionless motion basketball and Payne specifically said he does not want opponents to be able to predict what they will see which requires him to trust his players to make adjustments as needed with little input from the coaches. The starting guard duo drive the offense combining for over 30 points and ten rebounds. The team averages about 20 perimeter shots per game with four shooters shooting 30% or better but as a team they are averaging 28%.

They reach the free throw line at an incredible rate in home games with four ACC games over 30 attempts, topped by an insane 45 attempts in their win over FSU. 36 of their 101 points in that game came at the line. ACC Opponents are getting to the line over 20 times though so that negates a possible huge advantage. All six main contributors average over 2 fouls per contest.

Cardinals Backcourt
Michael James
0 SO G 6-6 195
13.0 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.4 Ast

Tre White
22 SO G 6-7 210
13.0 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Skyy Clark
55 SO G 6-3 200
13.0 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 3.0 Ast

Ty-Laur Johnson
4 FR G 6-0 160
8.7 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 3.9 Ast

Curtis Williams
1 FR G 6-5 205
5.5 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast

Cardinals Frontcourt
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
5 JR F 6-10 235
12.5 Pts, 8.6 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Kaleb Glenn
10 FR F 6-6 205
3.8 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast

What to expect from Louisville?
The biggest difference for the Cardinals since the last game is that its no longer Clark first, second and third. They have a very balanced scoring effort and dealt with losing double-digit scorer JJ Traynor. Three players now average 13ppg in Clark, White and James with Huntley-Hatfield close behind at 12.5ppg.

Louisville just seems a step slow in their defense which leaves slashing off ball players open consistently under the basket. The ACC has shot 40% from three against Louisville so a major weakness to exploit. The conference also shot 48.4% overall so the Hokies should be able to get Kidd and Poteat involved underneath.

Rebounding is not a significant plus or minus. White and Huntley-Hatfield are the most consistent rebounders.

Expect to see a four-guard set for the majority of the contest. As stated earlier, starters average 72% of all minutes so foul trouble could have a significant impact on the Cardinals game plan.

The Hokies
The Hokies have to find a way to win on the road. Coming into this game 1-9 on the road. Last time it took a big game from Collins to win this game. The Cardinals had five guys in double-digits but Collins and Kidd combined for 39 points. If the Hokies can get balanced scoring they can run away with it.

The Hokies overcame scorching hot shooting by Wake in the last game to pull out a win. The Hokies limited turnovers which will also be key to beating the Cards.

MJ Collins at point against Louisville seems like a no brainer the way the last couple weeks played out especially if it gets Cattoor open looks from outside.

Another elite performance by Agent 0️⃣ 🫡 pic.twitter.com/IJm4TMZyFR— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 3, 2024

Cattoor was the only other Hokie to finish in double digits against Louisville so feeding him on the perimeter against a team that allows 40% shooting is an easy button. Getting Nickel going as well would go a long way to a win.

In Closing
The Hokies face a press defense which does not help the Hokies. Fortunately this will be the weakest version of the press they will go up against. Can the Hokies protect the ball and work it inside to open players underneath?

Can the Hokies get Kidd isolation opportunities to exploit Louisville weak paint defense. Most ACC teams dominated the Cardinals in paint scoring.

LK could not be stopped against the Deacs 🔥🔥🔥👀 pic.twitter.com/pLNuo3ZQJK— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 4, 2024

Hokies should have the edge in this contest and fans have to hope carry the momentum of coming back to beat Wake into this game focused on building an early lead and are able to force Louisville into risking open looks to pressure the ball.