HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #19 Florida Atlantic University (4-1) vs Virginia Tech (5-1) 1PM ESPN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #19 Florida Atlantic University (4-1) vs Virginia Tech (5-1) 1PM ESPN

The Real MVP 👑🔥Don't get caught in a dance-off with Bodie Garnes! pic.twitter.com/CpLKvA67NX— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 25, 2023

Florida Atlantic University (4-1)
vs. Virginia Tech (4-1)
November 26, 2023
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Orlando, FL
1 p.m. ET
ESPN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ESPN
Play-by-Play: Dave O'Brien
Analyst: Cory Alexander

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

Current Spread: Owls -3.5
Over/Under: -151.5

XXL dub‼️Playing for a 'ship on Sunday at 1PM 🦃🔥#StoneByStone pic.twitter.com/aSBP0EwKMj— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 25, 2023

Lets get the Ship
The Hokies play for the championship of the ESPN Events Invitational against Florida Atlantic University. The Hokies face the Owls after a 71-62 win over Iowa State.

The Florida Atlantic University Owls squad comes in 4-1 after winning Conference USA and then reaching the NCAA semifinal last season. This will be the fourth meeting between the Hokies and Florida Atlantic University. The Hokies are 3-0 with the last meeting a 79-35 win in 1994. The Hokies also beat FAU in 1992 and 1993.

The Owls are coached by Dusty May, who is in his sixth season at Florida Atlantic University. The Owls are 104-61 under May. This is his only head coaching job with assistant stops at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida. Florida Atlantic University has been to the postseason in three seasons under May, last year's magical NCAA run and two CBI appearances. The Owls also changed conferences since last season, moving to the American Athletic Conference. The Owls opened their season with wins over Loyola and Eastern Michigan but then took a head scratching loss to Bryant. Here at the ESPN Event Invitational, they advanced to the finals by beating Butler and then almost putting a hundred on Texas A&M in a 96-89 barnburner.

In a rare instance in college basketball, FAU did not have any players transfer in or out after last season. They added two freshmen guards in Devin Vanterpool and Jakel Powell. Neither freshman has played so far. The only other change was the graduation of Michael Forrest, a guard who averaged 8.2 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 1.6 Ast coming off the bench for 20mpg.

The Owls have seven players averaging more than 20 mpg and eight average more than 12 mpg. Injuries have forced starter Nick Boyd to miss the last two games along with reserve Forward Giancarlo Rosado. The starting five are Goldin, Davis, Weatherspoon, Greenlee and Boyd although if Boyd misses the game he is likely replaced by Alijah Martin. The bench is limited by injuries so really only Jalen Gaffney and Tre Carroll contribute.

May is a disciple of Bob Knight so defensively, FAU play a sagging man-to-man that shifts slightly based on the location of the ball on the floor. They look to deny access to the lane by sagging inside to prevent dribble penetration. This defense allows opponents to shoot 48% from the floor and 34% from outside but Butler and Texas A&M shot over 45% from outside. They have forced double digit turnovers in all five games and average three blocks per contest.

Offensively, the Owls rely heavily on motion to create offense. FAU will likely have four guards and one forward on the floor, especially if Rosado is unable to play. The biggest threat is the players moving that do not have the ball as the Owls use a variety of screens and shifts to get players open to receive lob passes underneath, none more so than 7'1 Forward Vladislav Goldin. Goldin leads the Owls in scoring and rebounding. They also have intricate rotations to create mismatches in the paint. This unselfish style of offense though is typically more successful against zone defenses which will not be what FAU sees today. In their lone loss, the Owls could not hit their shots, where they only managed 26% from the floor and 16% from the perimeter. Against Texas A&M they shot 53% from inside and out.

Owls Backcourt
Johnell Davis
1 JR G 6-4 185
14.2 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 1.6 Ast

Alijah Martin
15 JR G 6-2 185
11.6 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Brandon Weatherspoon
23 SR G 6-4 186
9.6 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 1.6 Ast

Bryan Greenlee
4 SR G 6-0 190
8.2 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 4.0 Ast

Jalen Gaffney
12 SR G 6-3 185
6.8 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 2.8 Ast

Injured (Questionable) Upper Leg injury has missed last two games
Nick Boyd
2 JR G 6-3 170
10.7 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 3.3 Ast

Owls Frontcourt
Vladislav Goldin
50 JR F 7-1 240
14.8 Pts, 6.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast

Tre Carroll
25 JR F 6-7 227
4.0 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.3 Ast

Injured (Questionable) missed last two games injury unknown
Giancarlo Rosado
3 JR F 6-8 239
9.0 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 2.0 Ast

What to expect from Florida Atlantic Universitys?
The Owls will look to move the ball and rely on all five players being able to take the open shot. Focus is on Vladislav Goldin, especially inside. Goldin does tend to get in foul trouble, averaging 3.4 fouls per contest. With the injury to Rosado, having Goldin in foul trouble could have a major impact on the lineup May is forced to use.

Johnell Davis, the second leading scorer, also struggles with foul problems. He averages 3.6 fouls per game. Having him off the floor takes away their top perimeter shooter. He is shooting 50% from outside and was six for nine against A&M.

One area defensively that is baffling is the low number of assists they allow. Opponents are only averaging around nine assists per game. Even the Aggies only had eight even though they put up 89 points. I am not sure if they just have had opponents that play hero ball or if they really are that good at denying the pass to an open look.

Rebounding has not been a consistent advantage for the Owls. They dominated Eastern Michigan and finished with a significant advantage over Butler but Bryant had a slight edge and the Aggies had an almost two to one advantage.

The biggest concern is a confluence of FAU hitting their perimeter shots while the Hokies allow open looks from outside. If the Hokies let FAU mirror their 16 for 30 performance against the Aggies then it could be a long afternoon.

The Hokies
Hunter Cattoor continued to impress his hometown by knocking down three more threes while also going 7-8 at the line. Pedulla again dropped five threes on his way to a seventeen-point night while also dishing out six assists. The Hokies come into this contest averaging 17.7 assists per game so something will have to give between the Hokies and Owls in this regard. I think this goes more the Hokies way due to FAU trying to deny the paint leaving them vulnerable to open outside shots.

BOOM‼️📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/hqz9iquUic— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 25, 2023

The Hokies shrugged off the slow start of their first game and came out much more balanced against the Cyclones, slowly building a lead that they rarely relinquished. They will need exactly this type of consistent effort to be successful against the Owls.

Can MJ Collins find his shot? I have been fairly vocal in my displeasure with Collins shot selection and tendencies, but Coach Young seems to accept this based on the other things Collins contributes. He had 4 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. I will give him his defensive tenacity but he is very Wabissa Bede on the other end. His energy on display here is infectious

M😤😤D ‼️‼️HOW BOUT THEM HOKIES?! pic.twitter.com/x5xeyAhLAU— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 25, 2023

Lynn Kidd had a "quiet" thirteen points and four rebounds. Tyler Nickel again provided double digit scoring and Coach Young continued to give him minutes over Beran. Kidd will need a much better afternoon on the boards to keep Goldin from getting easy put backs. This matchup may be the most important of the game as neither player has matched up against a similar quality opponent this season. If Kidd can get Goldin in early foul trouble it creates a great opportunity to build a lead with him off the floor.

Long and Beran put up 8 points in 4 minutes. Seems that this is going to be the norm for this duo.

Congrats @CattoorHunter for being etched into the record books. Big time achievement!! 👌🏽🦃— Justin Robinson (@5Alive_) November 25, 2023

In Closing
The Hokies seem to have two advantages here in that the Owls allow teams a high percentage on perimeter shooting and the Hokies are the best passing team the Owls will have faced. The Owls style of sagging to protect the lane actually works against them here as the Hokies do not attempt consistent dribble penetration in favor of finding the open shooter.

Two similar areas work to the Owls advantage in that they also can get hot if left open on the perimeter, which the Hokies have allowed too often and that the Hokies have had a weakness of losing their man off ball on screening actions which opens up lob opportunities for the Owls to exploit.

Can the Hokies shut down the perimeter? Are the Hokies able to hit their outside shots? Neither team is strictly reliant on the outside but the difference here goes a long way to deciding this contest. Foul trouble for FAU is the other component that could tip this in the Hokies favor.