HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: PENN STATE (4-0) VS VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (4-0) 12PM ESPN2
A championship berth is on the line π€π Penn Stateπ TD Arenaπ Shriners Children's Charleston ClassicπΊ ESPN2#StoneByStone π¦π pic.twitter.com/5UEndkxvmlβ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 18, 2022
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Friday, Nov. 18 | Noon ET
TD Arena (Charleston, S.C.)
vs. Penn State
Series: VT leads 6-4
TV Broadcast
ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Derek Jones
Analyst: Perry Clark
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
GoPSUSports.com
Play By Play: Steve Jones
Color: Dick Jerardi
SIRIUS/XM: TBA
Current Spread: Hokies -1.5
Over/Under: 139
PSU: Nittany Lions are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 games following an ATS win
VT: Hokies are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 Friday games
There can be only one....
The Hokies (36th in AP Poll) moved to the second round of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic with a matchup against Penn State. Both teams in this matchup are undefeated. The Hokies are 6-4 against Penn State but have lost the previous three meetings. The Hokies lost the previous meeting with Penn State 75-55 decision on Dec. 8, 2020. The Hokies are coming off a 75-71 win over Old Dominion yesterday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions are coached by Micah Shrewsberry, who began his college coaching career at Wabash as an assistant coach in 1999. Penn State is his second college head coaching job. He coached IU South Bend from 2005-2007. He took over the Penn State position in 2021 and has a 18-17 overall record guiding the Nittany Lions. He also previously was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. Last season the Nittany Lions were 14-17.
The Nittany Lions are 4-0 to start the season after wins over Winthrop, Butler, Loyola and escaped Furman yesterday very similar to the Hokies and ODU. The Nittany Lions had only two players in double figures yesterday with very little contribution outside the starters.
The Nittany Lions come into this season with five new Freshman. Only Forward Kebba Njie appears to factor into the Nittany Lions strategy this season of the bench. This is a very seasoned roster with eight Seniors and three Juniors. Surprisingly the roster has no sophomores at all. The team is led by Guard Jalen Pickett and Forward Seth Lundy, who each had 20 points against Furman.
Other returning Seniors that will impact this game are Guards Camren Wynter and Andrew Funk who both average double digit scoring so far.
Defensively, Coach Shrewsberry's motto is "Gritty, Not Pretty" which is a man-to-man defense focused on clogging the lane and getting defensive rebounds. Coach Reed drills into his players the situational approach of his zones. The intent is to limit second chance opportunities but the weakness is it is vulnerable to a skilled perimeter shooting team. They have held opponents under 50% from the floor and only 32% from the perimeter. The Furman game was the first time this season they had been outrebounded.
Offensively, Coach Reed uses the Motion Screen Offense almost exactly like ODU yesterday which tries to create mismatches of personnel utilizing speed to separate either to create dribble penetration openings or open looks on cuts to the basket. The biggest difference between ODU and Penn State is that Penn State comes in shooting the ball better from the perimeter than even the Hokies. They have hit 46% of their threes on 55-119 shooting. This will force the Hokies to defend all the way to the perimeter which will give the Penn State bigs room to operate. The Hokies can ill afford a repeat of yesterday interior performance or the result will be an ugly loss.
The Nittany Lions Backcourt
Jalen Pickett (#22, SR, G, 6-4, 202lbs) 15.8 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 8.5 Ast
Camren Wynter (#11, SR, G, 6-2, 175lbs) 11.3 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 3.0 Ast
Andrew Funk (#10, SR, G, 6-5, 188lbs) 10.5 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Myles Dread (#2, SR, G, 6-4, 220lbs) 9.8 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Caleb Dorsey (#4, JR, G, 6-7, 230lbs) 6.0 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast
The Nittany Lions Frontcourt
Seth Lundy (#1, SR, F, 6-6, 219lbs) 12.5 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Kebba Njie (#3, FR, F, 6-10, 237lbs) 6.5 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Michael Henn (#24, SR, F, 6-8, 225lbs) 3.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Evan Mahaffey (#12, FR, F, 6-6, 200lbs) .0 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.0 As
What to expect from Penn State?
As a team the Nittany Lions scoring focus is centered more on speed and transition opportunities. Half court set offense tends to lean to perimeter shooting. A large part of this is the size of the roster. While it is fast, its not large. Outside of a 6'10 center the remaining starters are all 6'6 or below.
Penn State focuses on defensive rebounds so while they play a man-to-man style it usually in a four-man shell around the lane to prevent second chance opportunities.
Coach Jones team plays very disciplined defense, rarely fouling. They are only averaging 11 free throw attempts per game by opponents. This is a significant impact area, especially for the limited size on the roster. Penn State cannot afford foul trouble to their bigs.
The Hokies
The Hokies need their bigs to take on a much larger role in this game. Mutts, Kidd and Basile should all be near double-digit scoring for the Hokies to be successful. These same players need to turn in a banner day rebounding defensively. They allowed a much smaller ODU squad to bully them yesterday but fortunately that team was less adept at converting. Penn State will convert if they enjoy the same success inside.
The biggest shortfalls yesterday against ODU were lane positioning defensively and interior shooting. The Hokies allowed ODU 34 points in the paint and 15 second chance points. The interior shooting for the Hokies was an abysmal 44% against a much smaller roster. The Hokies only got 28 points in the paint, their lowest output of the season.
The Hokies need to put their best defenders on Pickett and Lundy. Disrupt those two on offense and it significantly alters Penn State's ability to stay in the game. Mutts should cover Lundy and I believe Cattoor is best suited to cover Pickett.
Pedulla continues to create offense for his teammates by dribble penetration. It will force Penn State defenders into decision points on shell defense or staying with their man. Basile and Cattoor are the two that get the open looks in this situation.
Highlight of the ODU game
Hokies actually beat ODU at something...
ππ¨π§π’-π ππππ’π« π€ pic.twitter.com/Y2c3c2D5jeβ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 17, 2022
In Closing
The Hokies must perform in the interior much better in this game on both ends of the floor. The guards need to be able to focus on forcing Penn State off the perimeter which will leave space inside.
This game is a case of both teams seeing their best opponent so far in this early season and who executes the little things best will come away with the victory. Penn State prefers close games where they can change the outcome with a few breaks their way. Last season two thirds of their games were decided by 6 points or less. Hokies must find a way to play a complete game. They cannot afford a drop-off in the final ten minutes like we have seen in several games this season.
The Hokies will need to score on primary possessions and not count on second chance or free throws to buffer their scoring margin. The Nittany Lions, similar to ODU, are a consistent rebounding team and do not commit an abundance of fouls.
Hokies struggle in the middle but finish strong. 68-63 win for W #5.
Comments
Let's go....
HOKIES!!!!!!
Game Time...Get Poppin
I'd like to see better rebounding today. BOX OUT!
That block!!!
I'm a little late signing in, but I like our paint hustle and effort a lot more today so far.
3 steals in the opening minutes! I like.
Looks like Maddox with the hot hand thus far.
What a BLOCK!
Butts for Mutts!
5 minutes into the game VT winning the rebounds 11-5
POTEAT!
I really like his game. He's big, he's physical. He gets inside and does the dirty work. Hard defense and soft hands around the basket to score. Also doesn't turn the ball over. And WHAT A BLOCK!
He's also a decent FT shooter.
Poteat anagrams to "Eat Pot".
Which from what I hear, while it may take a little longer for him to become effective, he should hit with full force for a good while.
OMG, easiest anagram ever.
I mean, it ain't bad in gummy or brownie form
7 minutes into the game, Maddox has 7 pts.
Hokies up 5 to 1 on offensive rebounds. Big improvement from yesterday.
Falling in to Penn State transition game. Need to slow them down.
Funk is the hot hand for PA St 10 points.. Need to get him cooled down.
That second half against ODU is looking like an outlier. Anything can happen here I guess, but this is a team that feels easy to have confidence in.
Have to admit, not a giant fan of this broadcasting crew. Its discount Bill Roth and the color guy sounds like they picked a random drunk fan out of the crowd to talk
This Tourney is probably between 10th and 12th best during Feast Week and the broadcasters reflect that
Man its not even the actual Feast Week, yet.
And to be fair, its still better than that Bahamas tournament we played in years ago in a ballroom
But the memes were incredible.
Thats offense all the way! Horse shit call.
If an opponent misses both free throws at a neutral site, do the students still win bacon?
LOL that's a horrible blocking call
What the absolute fuck is going on with these refs right now
Holy shit
What in the fuck is going on? Penn St gets to play football while we have to play soccer!
Its not even fucking close to equitable right now. Absolute horseshit blocking call on Cattoor and then Pedulla gets thrown to the floor with the ball, and nothing?!?
Don't forget the dude that threw his shoulder into the defender and stepped back for the three.
Finally a foul call. It had to be an absolute mugging.
This is the dumbest officiating I've seen since yesterday
Just was able to turn in. We are playing basketball, what sport is Penn State playing? MMA?
These refs need to step up big time, Hokies are hitting the floor as PSU is getting more and more aggressive as Refs are letting them.
Both games so far the refs have let people get killed
I mean I get it, the ACC refs definitely lead teams to expecting a lot of ticky tack calls to be made, but there's a giant gulf between that and the mugging we just saw the last 3 mins of play.
And coming out of the timeout, they call a weak handcheck. LOL the consistency here is just nonexistent
LOL and now they call another cheap foul on us. Fuck sakes, they let PSU muscle up, and then get whistle happy against us to reign it back under control. Unreal
Penn St was allowed to turn into the goon squad for a few mins.
I hit'em high, hit'em high, hit'em high, you hit'em low, hit'em low, hit'em low!
Lost visual, but gamecast is now showing foul after foul. Maybe they got a call from management after how many Hokies were hurt by PSU?
I hate sports
Yeah we're well underway on choking this game away. Our offensive execution has been terrible this second half
Our shot selection has been terrible. We are passing around, then standing around waiting on one guy to drive and miss.
what is this? groundhog day?
Mutts gets absolutely crushed in the back going up...no call.
The mugging continue to get no calls. Refs swallowed their whistles this half.
Oh but we handcheck on a drive, and that's 100% a whistle
Call a fucking foul you fucking twats. For fuck sake this is ridiculous.
We have got to start staying on the ground to contest shots.
Stop jacking up threes! Get it down low and get physical. The refs are telling you to play street ball!
When the refs let penn state get psychical tech started to start go downhill. Just like yesterday
Is it me or do all of the B10 teams like to play rough when playing the Hokies?
We have never, ever, shown an ability to play though physical contact. Ever. If we get bodied, we consistently forget how to play
New head cannon, B10 just reuses their hockey refs for basketball season.
Not up in here, Mutts!
Basilly!
Haha, wow! All the shit the have let roll the last few minutes and they call that?
Pickett is committing major offensive fouls on Catoor, right in front of the ref and they just watch.
Just elbowed him in the face on drive...no call.
How/why did they not review that during the TO?
Cattoor gets elbowed in the face on the drive, of course there's no foul.
PSU coach is even pumped that the refs are letting his players elbow their way into this game!
TV showed the PSU coach showing throw more elbows.
How do we have more total fouls then PSU in this game?
PSU coach throwing elbows in celebration of the elbow his player just hit Cattoor with?
Their coach looks like a particular jackass. Fitting for Pedo State
Not helping that every crazy shot they throw up goes in and we can't make an open three.
I just don't fucking understand college basketball reffing. One team just bodies the shit out of the other and no calls are made, but on the other side of the court, they're calling every single hand check. And its been going on for entire final 1/3 of the game.
I just don't understand it. I don't understand how officials can be this incredibly poor and still have a job.
Penn St. has more fouls than us, and they've only called thirteen fouls total this half. They're letting them play, and we've just been sloppy, and stagnant on offense.
Finally offense on that shit!
Well of course they had to call that one, Pedulla got decked in the head
BaSilly!
Double Double for Mutts
That guy never hits that three again in his life
Always against tech
Video feed cut out at 45 seconds to go. ARGHHH>
We just shouldn't be in this position.
That.... was a very bad final possession.
Zero passes and Pedulla takes a desperate 3 with zero off ball movement. Yikes
And he's 0 for 6 from three today.
I would have loved to see him drive the basket and maybe pick up a foul. Then again that depends on the ref's doing their job.
I don't think I'm going to like this last 4.7 seconds.
That's what we run with a full shot clock? Has to be better.
lol what
Winters was coming....
And then Season 8 hit him in the face
thats Hokie ball
Hokies Ball!
Totally surprised they didn't call a foul on Catoor
so clutch! it was all ball too. I thought for sure it was a foul until I saw the other angle.
They aren't even looking at the fact that he took four steps after picking up the dribble.
They can't review that
And then he tried to pants Mutts
Whew!
LET'S GO!!!
Phuck Yeah!!!! GO HOKIES!!!!
Why the heck don't teams do that more often with a second or 2 left in the game? Just go for the hail mary with intent to just play tip drill for a second?
I was yelling to throw it long. He must have heard me.
So silly question.
In this case where we need to inbound the ball with very little time left. How come teams don't just toss it in and let their player volleyball bump it way up into the air? Once the ball's touched the clock starts and then by the time the ball goes up and falls back down, that's at least 3 to 4 seconds.
I think you just called the play!!!!
Even if the ball is bumped out of bounds, you can't call the play as out of bounds until the ball lands, so if you bump it 30 rows deep, who cares.
They probably didn't think of it.
I will take the win, but I want real ref's for tomorrow. Even TV Teddy would have been better than that shit.
This team needs to learn to close out these games. They've dominated the first 30 minutes of both the games this week then allowed the opponent to make it much closer than it needs to be.
For what it's worth, this is a game we lost early last season by choking down the stretch of the game, so I'll take the W.
Also, I'd wager a fairly high percentage of college basketball games end up like this, especially in NOV and Dec. I've watched a good amount of early season games this year and have seen multiple teams blow big leads down the stretch. Basketball is a game of runs and timing of the scoring is almost as important of being able to score in general.
Definitely need to improve down the stretch and can't go cold in the last 8 minutes like we did, but until it happens against a Grambling or Delaware State, I won't be hugely concerned (especially if we win!).
Just ask #24 no longer Texas A&M. Buzz, Radford and his boys got their doors blown off twice in two days.
103-75 loss to Colorado
88-79 loss to Murray State (AKA Transfer U) 7 of their players came in this season. 6 transferred out at end of last season. 5 to bigger schools, 3 went to LSU as a package.
Boots is still playing?!?
Yup, it's his senior year. Feels like he has been around forever, doesn't it?
Whew! This game looked sloppy in the 2nd half.
I don't think (and certainly hope) that there won't be any more games where Pedulla, Basile, and Cattoor go a combined 3-14 from behind the arc.