HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #22 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-1) AT BOSTON COLLEGE (6-6) 630PM ACCN
Ready for tonight ✅#BeatBC pic.twitter.com/vsXWVqaxSh— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 21, 2022
Virginia Tech (11-1, 1-0 ACC)
at Boston College (6-6, 0-1 ACC)
December 21, 2022
Conte Forum
6:30 p.m. ET
ACC Network
Virginia Tech Sports Network
TV Broadcast
ACCN
Play-by-Play: Jon Meterparel
Analyst: Chris Spatola
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: Hokies -9.5
Over/Under: -133
Snap the Streak....
The Hokies (21st in AP Poll/20th in Coaches Poll) look to avoid the trap Holiday game on the road. The Eagles lead the series 21-13 and come in having won the last three. The Hokies defeated the Eagles last in 2019. The Hokies always seem to struggle at the Conte Forum, where they are 4-13 overall.
The Eagles are coached by Earl Grant. He began his college coaching career at The Citadel as an assistant coach in 2002. Boston College is his second college head coaching job, taking over the job in 2021 after coaching College of Charleston for seven seasons. He has a 19-26 overall record guiding the Eagles.
The Eagles are a wavering 6-6 after breaking their four-game losing streak against Stonehill. Boston College has some BAD losses, including Maine, New Hampshire and Tarleton State. They managed to beat a decent George Mason squad but after that there is nothing good about their schedule. Four of their six losses have been by 16 or more points.
The Eagles are a veteran team by way of the portal but seem to lack an identity. This team ranks in the bottom third nationally in rebounding, scoring, three-point shooting, free throw shooting, personal fouls and turnovers. The only stat they rank in the top 100 on is blocked shots. Coach Grant spreads the minutes out pretty evenly across nine players.
Coach Grant defensively employs a full court defense the majority of the game. The problem though is that teams have been exposing this defense for quick scoring opportunities. The Eagles are experimenting with a slightly less aggressive mid court defense to cut down on these chances. Expect to see a mix of zone and man-to-man at different points. Defense though is definitely their better half.
Offensively, Coach Grant uses a motion offense but with guard dribble penetration. The Eagles do not focus on perimeter shooting, likely because they have not been very good at it. Eight players are averaging at least 6.2 points per game. They average over 14 turnovers per contest. They get to the free throw line nearly 18 attempts per contest but shoot a mediocre 67% as a team.
2️⃣1️⃣ can you do something for me 🦃📈Our highest ranking since Feb. 22, 2021 👀 pic.twitter.com/6CBOlxctxN— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 19, 2022
The Eagles Backcourt
Jaeden Zackery (#3,SO, G ,6-2, 200) 11.3 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Makai Ashton-Langford (#11, SR, G, 6-3, 185) 10.6 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.1 Ast
Mason Madsen (#45, JR, G, 6-4, 190) 6.6 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 1.0 Ast
DeMarr Langford (#5, JR, G, 6-5, 195) 7.0 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Chas Kelley III (#00, FR, G , 6-5, 180) 3.4 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 1.2 Ast
The Eagles Frontcourt
CJ Penha (#24, SR, F, 6-7, 230) 10.3 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Devin McGlockton (#21, SO, F, 6-7, 220) 7.3 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 0.4 Ast
T.J. Bickerstaff (#1, SR, F, 6-9, 207) 6.6 Pts, 7.3 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Prince Aligbe (#10, FR, F, 6-6, 225) 6.2 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast
What to expect from Boston College?
Forward CJ Penha will be a tough matchup down low for Mutts and Basile. Kidd and Poteat will likely be called on to counter Penha. He plays a clean consistent low post rarely fouling which is surprising due to his size. That may change though as the Eagles get further into their ACC schedule.
Full Court Defense, Mid Court defense, and multiple styles of defense. This may be the smallest lineup in the ACC. They try to make up with speed what they lack in size but it hasn't been very successful.
The Eagles try to slow the pace and limit shot attempts overall. Opponents average 67 points per game against the Eagles. This is misleading due to holding four lesser opponents under 56 points per game. The stronger D1 opponents have been averaging nearly 75 points per game.
The Hokies
This is a game for balanced scoring across the roster by whomever has the open look, of which there should be many. Pedulla and Cattoor should have big games offensively.
Hokies scoring in transition could reach a season high. I expect no less than 20 points in transition. Not necessarily a dunk fest but I could see folks calling for a Giftory after this one to go under their tree. Calling two Cattoor dunks ahead of time.
Avoiding the Holiday lull road game trap is likely the biggest risk area in this contest. Expect a sparse crowd in a near silent arena so the guys have to be able to motivate themselves without crowd energy to feed on.
Highlight of the Grambling State game
Pedulla Oblongata continues to shine.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰That's our PG 🫡 @PedullaSean pic.twitter.com/6WY4oDhBUu— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2022
In Closing
The Hokies go on the road, break out of the funk early and lead by double digits for the entire second half.
Scoring inside and out in a very balanced output. The guards lead the way in scoring though, shooting 43% from outside. Pouring in the points early to get the Eagles looking forward to the buzzer rather than a win.
Hokies move to 2-0 in the ACC grabbing Dub12 and win 81-60.
This is a Five Popcorn Decision. Road game but overcome it early.
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Comments
Could he be playing tonight?
Havent seen anything beyond that, not sure he will be needed and that would give him 10 more days to get stronger.
Get up big and throw him in to get some game speed play. Agree on bot rushing him back but I'd hate to break him out "cold" when we really need him
Hey, at least he's not a spinning circle!
LET'S GO!!!
HOKIES!
Hokies! Let's do the win thing.
Hopefully MY gets over the Boston College curse- he hasn't won there yet. Fingers crossed.
Thank you again Rob for your write ups- I read through every one, but don't comment frequently. They are always top shelf.
Go Hokies!
Rodney Rice allegedly in uniform warming up.
Edit: nevermind
BC is sooo fooked
Shouldn't need him and now he gets ten more days.
BC will be missing starting point guard
I'm really tired of not being able to watch ACC games
Edit: never mind, just took 8 minutes to show up on ESPN streaming
Sloppy on the offensive end early....5 TO's already.
And not hitting 3's
I do love the create a player look of someone wearing 00
Looking very out of sorts early
#3 for BC looks like he's 34 years old
Until MY beats BC, I'm just prepping to lose this one.....
Might be a Mutts night
🍑🍑4️⃣🐶🐶
6 minutes to go in the half and the good guys only have 2 personal fouls.
I know that we know that CMY is a hell of a coach, but I'm not sure we even realize how good of a coach
You are not wrong, but at the same time, ACC refs do know who the ranked teams are and do tend to give them the benefit of the doubt during games.
By no means do I think that is a good thing.
Unforced turnovers are gross
So many reach in fouls not being called on BC 😂 if that flips in the second half they're screwed
Pedulla has made a couple of crazy assist passes today......
Wouldn't be the ACC without us giving up the buzzer three
It would be proper if they can reverse the 1-10 from behind the arc in the 2H
10-1?
Nobody is in foul trouble
Terrible 3-point shooting. 1 for 10
5 for 6 on free throws... very good. In a close game need to keep that up.
6 turnovers... not good. However, only one since about the 13 minute mark, so getting better.
Still seems like we're missing a bunch of layups. I guess we're trying to pad our offensive rebound stats! ha Fortunately it looks like BC is doing the same thing.
Although we are outscoring them 20 - 8 in the paint. So there's that.
Let Poteat eat! Give me him and Mutts down low
Getting murdered on boards by a much smaller team....where have I seen this script before
To's and missed free throws.....hope they don't come back to haunt us....
Mutts carrying the whole team right now
Well this isn't the cleanest game we've played all year Jesus why can't we play at BC
Maddox quit with the low percentage mid range jumpers please
Wish I could leg this 1000x. Shooting about 20%
Then misses two lay up attempts. Man is slumping hard right now
Poteat run over from behind
Well, being ranked for a week and a half was fun
These refs. I can't stand refs. All sports they suck ass
Jesus the contact that is being allowed is unreal
BC is very physical and not getting called for it. Then they call foul on us for watching a layup.
If that's how it's gonna be...I say get your money's worth on the foul. Get angry.
Mutts just clobbered down low lol
The amount of point blank shots we've missed today, we absolutely deserve to lose
And now we are just throwing the ball out of bounds on horrible pass attempts.
Yikes, what a bad game
It's difficult to execute against a team that is allowed to constantly foul you
These kind of games happen. Play through it and stop bitching about it.
We don't have the team to do that. They are stronger and bigger.
"Play through it" is meaningless when the refs won't let you
This is atrocious, it's amazing we're only down 2
Calling no contact on VT, and ticky tack for BC
BC owns Mike Young
Mutts is having himself a really bad game. Shots are off, passing is way off, he's losing the ball on the dribble. Just not good at all
Every drive is a mugging
If I was Mike young I'd take a technical for my team. This is unbelievable what they are allowing on our drives to the rim. Wow.
If they're going to allow physical play, then throw someone's ass to the ground the next time BC drives the paint. Take a foul so hard they have to overcorrect the rest of the way. Dumbest thing we can do at this point is bitch and moan while being passive defensively.
How's that working for us?
I'll let you know when we sack up and try
If you are going to get the Tech make it worth it by bludgeoning someone
Look I know that the refs suck but this is also some of the laziest defense and and offensive ball control I've seen out of us all season. Yikes.
Really ok with Kidd hammering there
These no calls are fucking egregious
These refs are allowing so much contact
Refs just letting BC abuse this team.
And for anyone saying "we should play rough too"...it's clear hand checks are gonna be called on VT
If they're going to call it, fucking earn it.
There you go... cattoor tried to earn it and broke his wrist. Fuck this
I mean for fucks sake
Mutts stands there bitching to the ref after that turnover and BC takes it right down for a easy layup with nobody covering the paint, because Mutts is behind
I don't care they are letting things get physical. Man the fuck up and play basketball. The more time we spend bitching about it, the easier looks and points we are giving them.
We are not built as a team to handle getting rocked in the lane when they run us off the three point line. It's just facts.
I downvoted you there, not your stalker.
Your bitching about their "bitching" is even more annoying. Refs are calling this game one way
It's amazing how BC can hack the hell out of Mutts and no call at all. It's basketball - those are fouls.
Catoor hammered on the layup...no call for and 1... Mutts fouled on the last play in the lane....no call turnover. Total bullshit.
Make BC earn every point at the line the rest of the way. No more layups no more dunks without a body hitting the floor
And right on cue they hit a 2 foot jumper without someone even putting a hand in a face
Dear Refs
Please we don't want body bags
This loss could end up being the difference between the 8-9 game and the 6-11 7-10 game in the NCAAs. Really bad loss.
Two observations:
1. We simply aren't a very physical team. Period.
2. Why aren't we doubling down in the post? BC will not beat us from the 3 pt line.
You let one team get away with assault on every possession, eventually there's gonna be an injury. Hope Cattoor doesn't miss time
Our lack of adjustment to physical play will haunt us all year. At this point letting any shot be clean inside six feet is unacceptable.
Roger Ayers is making his way into my wall of hate.
That said our offense has been terrible today they are physical inside and letting contact go we need to get smart. Basile has really really struggled to handle the pace and physicality tonight that's a big concern
There is a list of reasons why we are losing this game....plenty of them. One of then is damning. 26 points off the bench with 16 coming from one player.
that BC only has six fouls this half is hysterical
Collins gets his bell rung and knocked down trying to keep it in but it's just out of bounds
Down 4 in this game might as well be down 15
Sean pedulla is a MAN!
FUCK YOU BC LETS GO BOYS
BA-SILLY
CHEF SEAN COOKIN'
Manned the fuck up the last few mins. Hot damn
Oh, good. A 2 hour stomach ache
Catoor did not look good with his arm just hanging while sitting in the bench.
Sheesh, didn't see that coming
Holy cow. Fouls are BC: 14 - VT: 10. Please shut up about the refs.
It should be 28-14
Cattoor getting hurt forced them to start calling a few. I think 3 or 4 of BCs fouls came since that one
It sure doesn't feel that way just like us out rebounding them 39-32. Wouldn't have guessed that.
Why are we up now? Finally playing tough D and refs starting to call fouls on BC
How tf is that not a shooting foul on Darius??
same reason thr nfl refs didnt call PI on the giants
Overtime
Maddox knocked down but again nothing
Like I get being hesitant to call a foul on the last play like that....but dear God he got mugged in mid air and STILL almost made it.
That will never be called at the buzzer
Ever
On replay, doesn't look like he was shoved. I thought so too initially
Hate leaving a timeout on the board. MY has done that a few times and based on the shots we've taken I'd rather see a set play out of a TO.
I don't care if it's a team I'm rooting for or not, hero ball sends me into a fit of rage. You are in the bonus and the game is tied, the last thing you should do is throw up a horrible 3 point shot with 6 seconds left on the clock
100% this. There was no way they would get a decent offensive set after a drive and possible foul. Pedula should have driven hard.
Announcers definition of well defended is different than mine
Basille has not seen a 3 he didn't like in this game
We are about 0 for 50 from 2 feet
That's not the shot you want there collins....
FR. Hesitated on a great 3 opportunity.
Collins if you ain't going to the rim don't shoot
Shot selection tonight leaves a lot to be desired
The damn mid range floaters have to stop
This is nauseating to watch.
Why would you tap a rebound out on Defensive end????
This cost the game.
UNBELIEVABLE
Goddammit Basille just get the fucking rebound, enough of the fucking tip drill
And they hit the 3 to end it
Fucking hell
Basile trying to punch that rebound sealed it
Basile took it off of mutts there wtf
How big is the buzzer beating three at the half?
Missed free throws too.
Ehh...this is a game we should have won by 15 points with a performance that anything beyond putrid.
15 Turnovers. Probably even more Offensive rebounds given up. At least 10 point-blank shots missed under the basket.
This was a full-out bed shitting. The kind where you don't just throw away the sheets but the mattress too.
Grant...my guy...
Played about 3 mins of big boy basketball tonight. The rest of the game we looked scared of physical contact
That absolutely has to change if we want to have any postseason success.
Would REALLY like an update on Cattor
15 turnovers wow
This is a bad loss. Not just because we lost but we got clowned by physical play. The book is written on how to beat us, expect everyone to utilize it going forward
It's Charleston all over again
Embarrassing loss flat out. Empty crowd and a bad team and we fold completely. We are soft
Yep
This is the biggest takeaway tonight. Second time this year we get completely taken off our game by a mediocre at best team just bodying us.
Too many times guys were flat footed instead of going up and challenging shots just lazy. MJ Collins needs more minutes he was much better defensively when he was subbed on handled the aggression best.
Defensively we were so soft tonight. If they're going to let physical play go on the other side of the court, do the same when we are on defense. They weren't calling body contact but they were calling hand checking. So then take the body.
But we stayed stubborn and it cost us.
FIFY
TURNOVERS says it all
God dammit we fucking suck. How do you lose this game EVERY YEAR. How do you not have it circled???
Boston College....you've got to be fucking kidding me. Team played soft and entirely undisciplined for damn near the entire game. Seemed uninterested in even being there
Welp. You can't win them all.
But in the end, CMY needs to make an adjustment regarding this teams physicality. We are charmin soft.
Something about VT and being in the top 25 almost feels like a curse lol. Whenever we get there we always lose to some bad team by being dumb. every. single. time.
Some could argue that's VT Athletics in general....we're allergic to any kind of spotlight. Big reason why we're one of the very few universities in the entire country with 0 National Championships
Wrestling team doesn't
Maybe we did need Rice to play tonight afterall
I'm fine holding him untill he's 100%, last thing you need is him to get hurt in a physical scrap like tonight
Fucking BC man
It is law when the Virginia Tech Football team has good fortune, so shall the Virginia Tech Basketball team have bad fortune.
One of the shittiest games of VT basketball I've ever seen. I don't follow basketball that much but it was so blood boilingly bad that I had to get on here and say something just to vent a little. Cherry on top is Basile trying to swipe away an easy rebound at the end 🤦♂️ thanks for
listening and please carry on.
I don't understand how they expect to compete in the NCAA tournament with that softer than shit kind of effort they showed tonight.
Just take care of business against lesser opponents and we were on track for a #1 or 2 seed, no bullshit, that's how weak the ACC is. Instead we're going to hover around bubble land again and get an 8 seed tops and are probably an easy out first round
I am kind of baffled by that play from Basile. Was it just a total brain fart and he thought it was an offensive rebound, or was he trying to tip it to someone for a fast break? Really a mind boggling bad play in that moment.
Turnovers
Offensive rebounding by BC
Bench scoring by BC
Almost nonexistent D
So many missed layups
Piss poor and almost nonexistent from 3's
Missed FT's
1H buzzer beater 3 for BC
Hitting a 3 in OT 4 feet off the arc
The refs foul calling nuance
Anyone who ranks us next week should have their vote take away. That was horrible, good teams don't lose those games.
Stats
Sort by Tech and miss if you dare - 14 layups.
they scored 15 points off of our 15 turnovers
not good bob
What is it with refs letting teams play WWE against us. I hardly ever see the level of physically against us play out in other college games
Yeah, it just seems like it takes too long for us to realize we can play back WWE back.
When we play WWE back, 90% of the time they call fouls.
We gotta start doing the Roy Williams method. Act surprised and mad as hell when we get a foul called on us (even if it's super obvious) and also get in the refs ear the entire game, and never shut up
As far as straight up bribing them that's probably the only part we can't replicate, but also the most important piece
How were we even in the game? So many turnovers. BC had 10 billion offense rebounds. We gave no/late help on the roll man in the second half. Like wtf, I would think we would concentrate on clogging the crap out of the paint since BC is horribad at 3 point shooting. Our offense wasn't good but we missed so many layups. like wtf.
I'm confident that we will rebound and play good defense vs Wake Forest(just look at what happened after the last loss.)
Any word on Cattoor?
He was sent to the hospital for further evaluation. People close to the bench said his elbow swelled up after the fall, but that's not really all that informative because it can do that whether its broken or just bruised. We'll likely know by tomorrow.
Eh, shit happens. Sucks, but not surprising to see a team get caught in late December right before the holidays, especially on the road. And for whatever reason, playing in BC is typically a problem for us. Don't get me wrong, we should have won and should play better, but I'm not sweating this one much.
I'm MUCH more concerned about Cattoor. That's potentially a far greater loss. That fall was nasty. Hoping its just a bruise and not a break.
We suck in that fucking building. Not mentally tough enough. We will drop at least one to a shit Clemson team too, because that's what we do. We lost to a bottom 3 ACC team, so I don't want to hear about "its a tough place for us"- it's not tough for any other fucking acc team to win there.
Also the "crowd" was mostly Hokies.
Remember when everyone was salivating over a team that finally had depth. No more 6-7 man rotations they said.
We had ONE point off the bench. Not the first time this has happened either. Similar issue last year. Maybe Rice can help this. He needs to, because you can't make the tournament with no scoring off the bench.
Maddox shooting 27% from 3 with a reasonably high sample size. We're in trouble if he doesn't get it figured out.
Basile showing his mid major status again. CMY loves these good mid major players who aren't quite ACC level, like Storm last year.
Bubble team again IMO
last night was the fucking suck- big time, but Basile is an ACC level player. He can play. He had 20 P5 transfer offers. He is not a "mid major guy". Have to be fair. We lost last night because we are choking fucking dogs in BC- 5-14 there all time. And BC hoops fucking sucks. Choke. Weak. Has nothing to do with the roster.
This is a team that had managed to win a handful of games despite being outscored in the second half. It bit us in the ass last night. We have got to figure out how to be more consistent for a full 40 minutes of gametime.
We should have watched the tape from how Tarleton State ran them out of that building I guess? Shame on Young
Well, I think we can officially add Conte Forum to the Hokies cursed venue place with Heinz Field and the stupid Dome in Syracuse.
Empty lame ass venues that host 6-6 at best football teams or 8-22 basketball teams aren't fucking cursed. It takes being mentally soft to lose to inferior teams there. Fact.
Any word on Catoor yet?
It's ok we're a wrestling school anyway.