HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: LONGWOOD (1-6) VS VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (6-1) 8PM ACCN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: LONGWOOD (1-6) VS VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (6-1) 8PM ACCN

We wrap up our nonconference schedule tomorrow night in Cassell against Longwood 👊#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2020

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec 21st 2020 8 PM
Opponent: Longwood
Site: Cassell Coliseum
ACCN, Jay Alter (play-by-play) and Dan Bonner (analyst)
Virginia Tech Sports Network. Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst)

"Coach, I think I got my swagger back."- @J15Cone probablyJalen, who has worked his way back into the rotation after overcoming a preseason injury, poured in his third-most points (18) as a Hokie last night thanks to five 3-pointers #StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/CuBjrWIgZT— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2020

Long faces....

The Hokies face another one win team in the Longwood Lancers. The Hokies are 3-0 against Longwood going into their 4th meeting. The Hokies come into this matchup 6-1.

The Lancers are coached by Griff Aldrich, who is in his third season as head coach at Longwood. Aldrich is 31-42 overall guiding the Lancers. He had a solid second season in conference but the Longwood out of conference slate must be pretty draining to prepare for. Aldrich was the Director of Player Development at UMBC when they took down #1 LOLUVA in the NCAA tournament.

Coach Aldrich's Lancers are 1-6 with a win over NC A&T. Their six losses are at Wake Forest, VMI, twice at Radford, and at home against Greensboro and the Citadel. Three of their six losses have been by a single basket.

Coach Aldrich lost longtime Lancers Shabooty Phillips, Jashuan Smith, Jaylon Wilson, and Jordan Cintron. These four accounted for about 34 points per game and were 4 of their top 5 scorers.

The Lancers come into this season with three new Freshman and several transfers. Zac Watson transferred from UC Riverside and Jermaine Drewey committed from JUCO school Panola College. Neither transfer has made a huge difference. Freshman Justin Hill has had the biggest impact of any newcomer. This team is led by Senior Juan Munoz as the point.

Defensively, they play man-to-man defense, with a focus of retaining inside position to facilitate defensive rebounding and limiting second chance opportunities. They rank 85th overall this season in rebounding with a team that doesn't play anyone taller than 6'7.

Offensively, Coach Aldrich initially has his team look to push the ball down the court quickly with the ball handler looking to get into the lane early to create opportunities before a defense is set. If the initial push up the court doesn't work, his team focuses on floor spacing and finding the open three pointers in his "Let it Fly" philosophy. His entire squad would be considered guards on most D-1 rosters. Forty Five percent of the team's overall shots so far this season have come from the perimeter. The good news is they only shoot 34% from the outside. Another major facet are backside and baseline cutting passes similar to the Princeton Offense.

Lancers Backcourt

Juan Munoz (#55, SR, G, 5-11, 170 lbs) 15.1 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 3.3 Ast, shoots 38% from outside, 73% from the line. He is their floor general and will control the point the majority of the game

Deshaun Wade (#3, JR, G, 6-2, 210 lbs) 14.0 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.0 Ast, shot 6 of 8 from the floor in his first game back from injury and hit both free throws. Accounted for points in 7 out of 8 attempts so definitely needs to be trailed by the Hokies best defender

Justin Hill (#11, FR, G, 6-0, 185 lbs) 12.7 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 4.4 Ast, freshman has jumped out to a great start, would not be surprised if he transfers up after this season. Only area he is struggling is his perimeter shot at 23%. Wade returning likely spaces the floor better and improves his opportunities for cleaner looks.

Nate Lliteras (#2, SO, G, 6-7, 205 lbs) 4.3 Pts, 1.9 Reb, 0.4 Ast, shooting 60% from inside and 47% from outside. Not sure why he hasnt garnered more time unless he is a liability on the defensive side of the ball.

Lancers Frontcourt

Our fourth "This BIG" of the season
Christian Wilson (#1, SO, F, 6-6, 195 lbs) 9.7 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 1.3 Ast, shoot 36% outside, 65% inside and 67% from the line.

Leslie Nkereuwem (#0, SO, F, 6-7, 215 lbs) 8.6 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 0.3 Ast, shooting 77% from the floor and would likely do alot more for his team if he wasn't averaging 3.9 fouls per game. So a good candidate to attack and get off the floor early and often.

Zac Watson (#4, JR, F, 6-7, 210 lbs) 5.4 Pts, 4.6 Reb, 0.4 Ast, shooting 55% from the floor but racks up 3 fouls per game

Jesper Granlund (#35, FR, F, 6-6, 210 lbs) 4.9 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 1.1 Ast, contributes really well in limited minutes but is still on the freshman learning curve when it comes to fouls, gathering up 3.3 per game.

Do you get the Kyle Guy Creep factor here?
Bennett Mohn (#5, FR, F, 6-6, 175 lbs) 3.4 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.0 Ast, shooting 40% from the floor.

What to expect from Longwood?

The Lancers commit more than 22 fouls per game and opponents average 23 FTA per game. The bigger an opponent down low, the more Longwood struggles.

As a team the Lancers are shooting a 34% from the perimeter on 22 attempts per game. Lilteras, Mohn and Munoz are their consistent perimeter shooters.

Longwood's five starters all average 8.6 ppg or higher. 10 players are getting 10 or more minutes a contest so a fairly balanced workload. Deshaun Wade is back after missing their first six games. He had 14 points in his season debut Saturday.

Longwood excels at rebounding, especially considering their size. Freshman Justin Hill leads the way with 5.3 per game but five Lancers grab four or more per game. Opponents still have a slight rebounding edge over the Lancers

To give an example though of how poor the Lancers defend away from the paint or foul opponents shooting, they outscored the Citadel 58-24 in the paint but still lost 91-89. The Citadel hit 11 three pointers and 30 free throws.

Hill and Munoz are the primary distributors, averaging 7.7 assists between them.

Longwood must hope to get a majority of their points in transition because once the Hokies are set in their half court defense, the Lancers will struggle to score.

The Hokies

The Hokies need to focus on getting Aluma or Pemsl the ball down low. The Lancers smaller lineup has made it very difficult for them to protect inside.

The Hokies will generate a ton of open looks again from the perimeter and should be able to hit at least ten 3's in this contest after their 20 three bombardment in the last game.

The Hokies need to protect the basketball. Longwood isn't as prolific as Coppin State in creating turnovers, but they are more likely to turn those opportunities into points.

We saw what creating additional opportunities for Cattoor and Cone led to. Cone dropped 18 and Cattoor chipped in 11. Alleyne was also able to add 18. We likely won't see this level of production in this game, but the growth is there.

This is the opponent where the Hokies would like to be able to get N'Guessan, Bamisile and Maddox some meaningful minutes as they did in the last contest but this one likely is too close for Coach Young to feel confident turning the game over to them.

Highlight of the Clemson Game

After, admittedly, struggling from beyond the arc recently, it sure was good seeing our shots from deep go in tonight ✊#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/grwJqnvavd— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2020

Three pointers 20 of 37. More threes then made free throws.

In Closing

The Hokies dominate on the perimeter again, hitting ten threes as a minimum. 50+ points from the perimeter or free throw line combined.

There will be at least four Hokies in double figures. The starters play more in this game then the previous contest which will cut down significantly on the bench production. Aluma has a big night.

Hokies push the pace and stick the Lancers in the ground. Hokies don't outscore Longwood by 40 but it will be double digits at the end. 75-61

The Future....

Was good seeing @rexjoee & Darius shine down the stretch last night 👊The two freshmen combined for 18 points & four rebounds, showing flashes of their potential & what's to come#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/SP1HsZgfYF— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2020