Buzzketball Cruises 90-60 Against North Carolina A&T

On a sleepy day in a college town whose students were away on break, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team livened things up with a high-powered 90-60 drubbing of North Carolina A&T.

The Hokies (3-1) attacked the winless Aggies with intensity throughout the contest, and put up the most points Buzz Williams has seen in his short tenure in Blacksburg. Forward Zach LeDay lead things again for Tech with 26 points and 12 rebounds, his third double-double in four appearances, but his teammates chipped in from everywhere in the well-rounded affair.

Freshman Chris Clarke relentlessly attacked his way to an efficient 14 points (5-7 from the field, 4-5 from the line), Kerry Blackshear Jr. finished well around the rim for a cool 12 and Justin Bibbs found his way to 12 of his own.

The night also marked the return of point guard Devin Wilson, who played a solid 23 minutes in his return from a groin injury. Though he failed to attempt a shot, the Hokies moved the ball fluidly and it's not a secret to say it did so when the junior was on the floor.

Despite it being a snoozer against a dreadful opponent, the game against the A&T was quite important to the Hokies. Not only did it stand as another chance to wash the taste of Alabama State from their mouths, but it was the final matchup before the team faces their first power five foe.

Tech now heads to Florida for the Emerald Coast Classic, one of those destitute tournaments around Thanksgiving whose sole purpose is to trick people into watching college basketball by making them think college football bowls had started early. There they'll play Iowa State (one of the top teams in the country), and either Illinois or UAB. Not exactly a setup that'll inspire a ton of confidence about a team still who's still, to put it lightly, figuring things out.

But against the Aggies, who lost to Division II Roanoke earlier this month? It was the perfect chance to come in with specific, bar raising goals, and execute them accordingly. Buzz's bunch came out with multiple defensive looks, including a press headed by Clarke which provided moments of chaos. It was far from perfect, but the effort resulted in less open shots and a more frenetic pace.

(Clarke, by the way, runs around like a banshee. It doesn't always seem like he knows where he's going, but it's exciting. Will he have games where he misses ten shots and gets lost on defense? Absolutely. But at least we'll be entertained.)

I sit down before each game and make a list of between three and five specific things to look for over the course of two halves. In ACC play these are often the difference between a win and a loss (or over the last few seasons, a loss and a blowout). Early on, however, they're trends to watch as we move forward. Here's what I wrote down today:

Is a rotation coming together?

Remember, with Buzz it's almost never about who starts, but who finishes each half. Unfortunately for this exercise Williams ran 11 players in and out which makes it still tough to grasp. It's clear that LeDay's energy and hustle (as well as the injuries to Ty Outlaw and Ahmed Hill) have solidified his place atop the minutes chart. It also looks like Satchel Pierce has lost much of his time to junior college transfer Johnny Hamilton. Other than that, Buzz's approach remains to be seen.

A development to keep an eye on is the return of Wilson and what it means to Justin Robinson and Seth Allen. Robinson was the most impressive of the three ball handlers on the night, consistently looking to push while also reading the defense relatively well. Allen, on the other hand, played off-ball next to Wilson when their teammate was on the bench.

While it was an awkward fit at times, Allen played within himself much more than he did last week. I'm unsure if it's something we'll see a lot of or if it was a move to ease him back a little better, but if three players are competing for one position someone will be left out.

What's sustainable from LeDay?

A very important question, because as fun as LeDay's reign of double-double terror has been, he isn't exactly Charles Barkley. Don't get me wrong, his pitbull mentality has earned him every single bucket and board thus far, but it's unreasonable to expect him to score like this moving forward.

That's not to take away from anything he's done early on. Tonight the South Florida export never stopped moving, ran the floor with vigor and used his body to gain perfect position around the hoop. LeDay's showing against the Aggies illustrated exactly why he's a huge upgrade at the forward position from last year's hodgepodge of misfits. When Buzz played a Malik Mueller or a Bibbs at the four, he hoped to spread defenders out for an open jumper. But in doing so, he cut his losses on the other side of the court and on the glass.

LeDay provides a physical presence who fills the lane and can pass out from the post. How he'll handle other skilled big men and ACC-caliber forwards remains to be seen. He's a bit slight to be the banger he's been, but his constant scowl may signify an aggressive streak that helps him play up to competition.

Also noteworthy: in garbage time when the likes of Matt Galloway and Greg Donlon saw some action, he was the first guy off the bench waving a towel. I'm not going to say he's the leader of this squad just yet, but the way he interacts with his teammates says he might be.

Can Allen shake off the rust?

It shouldn't have been surprising to watch Allen struggle in his debut. The Maryland transfer shot 43% over the last two months of his freshman season, and then didn't play a competitive minute for 18 months. Add the time off to a player who's been dubbed as the face of Buzzketball's perspective turnaround (go back and read the comment section of any basketball article last year, his arrival was long-awaited to say the least), and you can understand Allen's play as he pressed into mistakes.

He only saw 13 minutes after his best performance of the year against VMI, and was on and off for much of it. He got to the basket a few times, but never found his stroke, a theme through four. As much as his defense may stress the coaches out at times (it's not Adam Smith-bad, but it's not good), the Hokies will need a calm veteran in the backcourt. While he's not their only option, Allen still seems the most likely to provide a controlled explosion needed down the stretch.

But the explosion wasn't needed on this night, which was a great showing from a team who desperately needed one. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, and n the post game quotes distributed by the Virginia Tech athletic department, it sounds like the head Hokie knows just that.

""I think the game for us is the race to maturity," Williams said. "Even in the untrained eye you guys can see some growth and maturity in what we are trying to do collectively and individually."

How quickly can this team blossom before they take on the Cyclones will remain to be seen. But their improvement from just a week and a half ago means they'll have a chance to at least keep things interesting.