HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: No. 13 Miami (22-5, 13-4 ACC) VS Virginia Tech (16-11, 6-10 ACC) 7PM ESPNU

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: No. 13 Miami (22-5, 13-4 ACC) VS Virginia Tech (16-11, 6-10 ACC) 7PM ESPNU

Turn us 🆙 #HokieNation 🫡See you tonight at 7 🏰🔥ℹ️: https://t.co/dD0iXN89wk🤝: @VirginiaLottery pic.twitter.com/qvOCWSpWQd— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 21, 2023

No. 13 Miami (22-5, 13-4 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (16-11, 6-10 ACC)
February 21, 2023
Cassell Coliseum
7 p.m. ET
ESPNU
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Rece Davis
Analyst: Debbie Antonelli

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

Current Spread: Hokies -2.5
Over/Under: -145

Injuries/Absence:
Miami: None
VT: Rodney Rice (Finger)/ Darius Maddox (Personal Matter)

Round 2
The Hokies are coming off a good win at home but now face a Miami squad that is on six game winning streak. The Hurricanes though do lose on the road, having a 7-5 away record, compared to 15-0 at home.

𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓵Chase is a Hokie for life now 🦃🧡#Hokies x @CarilionClinic pic.twitter.com/OsmUHedPiV— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 21, 2023

Coach giving himself the L

The Hurricanes are coached by Jim Larranaga, who is in his tenth season as head coach at Miami. Larranaga is 247-146 overall guiding the Hurricanes. Prior to Miami, Larranaga had a 14-year run at George Mason where he took the Patriots to the Final Four in 2006. He has led the 'Canes to four NCAA Tournament appearances and an ACC title in 2013.

Defensively, Coach Larranaga primarily employs man-to-man, with the scramble 3-2 zone as a secondary defense. A combination of the two is a series of zones that he calls the Camouflage, which is used strategically as a surprise defense that forces the offense to react to the defense. Once the opponent gets used to a man-to-man and the scramble, the Camouflage defense puts them on their heels immediately. The Camouflage is used most in a full court setting. Each pass, trap, deflection and player responsibility is analyzed.

When they play man-to-man defense, the focus is retaining inside position to facilitate defensive rebounding and limiting second chance opportunities. The ability to box out was also a huge component of Pitt's game plan against the Hokies. Limiting the Hokies second chances will be a huge focus for the Hurricanes.

Offensively, Coach Larranaga typically has his teams playing a form of Zone offense with a specific focus on the use of ball screens to give shooters separation. He emphasizes ball movement, man movement, screening, dribble penetration, and offensive rebounding.

Based on the defensive setting of their opponent, Miami uses three variations of the zone offenses. These are:
Slice & Dice Zone Offense – Use versus a 2-3, 3-2 or 1-2-2 zone. This offense uses four players on the perimeter and one post to force the defense to move, communicate and change their match ups.
Crack & Carve Zone Offense – Use versus a 2-3, 3-2 or 1-2-2 zone. This power game offense utilizes two post players inside and allows them to carve out space, set screens and create good shots for themselves and the perimeter players.
Seek & Find Zone Offense – Use versus a 1-3-1 defense. This offense uses a 4-Out formation and diagonal passing, down screens, back screens and penetration to break down the zone and create open shots. After the game against Pitt expect this to be a common approach against the Hokies for any team with solid perimeter shooters.

Hurricanes BackcourtIsaiah Wong
2 JR G 6-3 180
Piscataway, NJ Monsignor Bonner (PA) 76 (2019)
16.4 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 3.5 Ast

Jordan Miller
11 SR G 6-6 202
Middleburg, VA Loudoun Valley HS
15.0 Pts, 5.9 Reb, 2.6 Ast

Nijel Pack
24 SO G 6-0 180
Indianapolis, IN Lawrence Central HS
13.5 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 2.6 Ast

Wooga Poplar
55 SO G 6-5 195
Philadelphia, PA Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School
7.8 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 1.4 Ast

Bensley Joseph
4 SO G 6-1 195
Arlington, MA Putnam Science Academy 92 (2021)
5.0 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 2.1 Ast

Harlond Beverly
5 JR G 6-5 185
Detroit, MI Montverde Academy 56 (2019)
3.8 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 1.3 Ast

Hurricanes Frontcourt

Norchad Omier
15 SO F 6-7 230
Bluefields, Miami Prep
13.9 Pts, 9.8 Reb, 1.1 Ast

Anthony Walker
1 JR F 6-9 210
Baltimore, MD Brewster Academy
2.9 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.3 Ast

What to expect from Miami?
Isaiah Wong continues to make a case for ACC Player of the Year. In their last game against Wake, Wong put the game away early in the second half by scoring 13 straight while Miami held Wake scoreless. Wong leads the way at 16.4 points per game. Nine players are getting 10 or more minutes a contest so a fairly balanced workload.

As a team the Hurricanes are shooting 38% from the perimeter on 20 attempts per game in ACC play. Wong and Miller are their consistent perimeter shooters. In the first game the Hokies played zero defense and Miami shot 58% from inside and 42% from outside.

Miami has been consistently out-rebounded in ACC play, mainly due to their size, although the Hokies failed to take advantage in the first contest. The first game finished a 26-21 advantage to the Hurricanes. Outside of Walker and Omier their lineup are all 6'7 or smaller. They are however well balanced in this category, as all nine players average at least three rebounds. They are led by Walker and Wong, who both average better than 5 rebounds per game. Brooks and Walker both average almost one block per contest, with the team better than four per game.

"People in this campus and in this community feel like they are included."@HokiesMBB assistant coach @CoachWebbie shares about inclusion at @virginia_tech.#Hokies x #UNITYWeek pic.twitter.com/XouqA8wQjl— HokieSports (@hokiesports) February 20, 2023

The Hokies

The Hokies need to focus on getting Basile or Mutts the ball down low. The Hurricanes smaller lineup has made it very difficult for them to protect inside. Offense was not the issue first time out as the Hokies shot 57% inside and 43% outside. You couldn't even blame the officials as the Hokies had a 20-17 FT attempt advantage.

Coach Young will have Cattoor green lighted tonight. Miami has held few opponents under 35% from outside. Mutts at the top of the key can be a disruptive force in this game both scoring and passing.

Tech needs to protect the basketball, especially Mutts and Pedulla. Miami forces opponents into 12.8 turnovers per game in ACC play and convert 13 points per game in transition.

The Hokies must slow down Wong, who has the dual ability to shoot from the perimeter but is more likely to beat defenders off the dribble to the basket. Beyond that there has to be consistent defensive effort throughout the game. No taking possessions off.

Basile, Kidd and Mutts must be able to position themselves inside to get offensive rebounds. Miami opponents right now average 11.6 offensive rebounds per game on thirty-two missed shot attempts. Last time out the Hokies got TWO offensive rebounds. Unfortunately this seems to be more and more what Coach Young and staff plan for and it's a serious disadvantage in ACC play.

Highlight of the Game
Basile back at it with 22 points on 8/13 shooting but the quiet star was Mylygael Poteat, who had 15 points off the bench, hitting 4/5 and 7-9 free throws. The foul difference alone impacted the game.

In Closing

The Hokies must avoid going under screens (read please play some 2-3 zone) and must force Miami inside the perimeter so we don't repeat the 24 perimeter points for the Canes.

The Hokies must find a way to balance out the rebounds. They have a major size advantage and after what we saw from Poteat against Pitt, we have to hope he gets more run to do similar things.

Have to hope the Hokies have more to tap into after the Pitt game. Knocking another team from the #2 spot in the ACC should be a trend.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 at the crib 🏰🔥⚪️ White Out (wear white)⚪️ Miami on a 6-game win streak⚪️ Let's get 𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙙𝙮 🫡— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 20, 2023