HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Boston College (11-7) At Virginia Tech (11-7) 9PM ACCN
โซ๏ธ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐ก๐๐๐ โซ๏ธ๐ Boston College๐ 9PM ET๐บ ACCNโซ๏ธ Wear Black๐ค @TruistNews #StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/TGOX6qv5uWโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 23, 2024
Boston College (11-7)
At Virginia Tech (11-7)
January 23rd, 2024
Cassell Coliseum
9 p.m. ET
ACCN
Virginia Tech Sports Network
ACCN
Play-by-Play: Wes Durham
Analyst: Cory Alexander and Jim Boeheim
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: Hokies -5.5
Over/Under: -148.5
๐ฟ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐Tomorrow's @HokiesMBB game against Boston College is a blackout! Stop by the HokieShop to dress out for the big game!โ HokieSports (@hokiesports) January 22, 2024
Blackout Effect
The Hokies face off with Boston College after going on the road to beat NC State. The Hokies come home with a surprisingly successful trip to Raleigh and overcame a turnover filled game that saw the teams combine for 38 turnovers and 52 free throw attempts. The Hokies scoring outside was the difference as they hit nine threes.
The Boston College Eagles come in 11-7. They have beaten most of the teams they were expected to and lost to those they were expected to. They are off to a rocky start in ACC play at 2-5. They beat Georgia Tech in a high scoring affair and Notre Dame. The Eagles took NC State to overtime but ultimately lost in the ACC opener, after that they lost to Wake Forest, Syracuse, Clemson and most recently North Carolina. This will be the 37th meeting between the Hokies and Boston College. The Hokies are 13-23 overall against the Eagles.
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 40-44 overall record guiding the Eagles.
Hopefully Coach Young can break his 0-5 record against the Eagles in this one. They are the only ACC team the Hokies have not beaten with Young at the helm.
Hokies ๐ under Mike Young in ACC play ...Tonight's opponent ๐ pic.twitter.com/Rt36sRY4Vzโ ึ รัตีง (@OX_VT) January 23, 2024
Boston College returned 59.4% of minutes played and 59.3% of scoring return from 2022-23 roster. The only contributing transfer is Claudell Harris Jr. from Charleston Southern. The biggest freshman commit was Fred Payne, a four-star Combo Guard, along with Jayden Hastings and Elijah Strong. The freshman are not contributing much to the Eagles.
The starting five are Quinten Post, Claudell Harris, Devin McGlockton, Jaeden Zackery, and Prince Aligbe. All but Aligbe are on the court at least 28 minutes per game. Aligbe is only playing around 23 mpg. They only have two other players averaging more than 15 mpg. Very reliant on starters to carry the load.
Coach Grant aims defensively to employ 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. They struggle rebounding and are in an almost nine rebound deficit in conference play.
Offensively, Coach Grant uses a motion offense but with guard dribble penetration. The Eagles do not focus on perimeter shooting but do average 35% from outside in conference play. Eight players are averaging at least 5.8 points per game but the focus is definitely on a triangle of Post down low with Harris and Zackery alternating at the top of the key. They do an outstanding job protecting the ball with only 8.4 turnovers per game. They get to the free throw line nearly 18 attempts per contest but shoot an average 71% as a team.
Either way, if you are at the game, you will get the Red Panda haltime show to enjoy.
Late Night with the Hokies ๐โซ๏ธ๐ Boston College๐ Tuesday at 9PMโซ๏ธ Wear Black๐ผ Red Panda at halftime๐ฅ Smithfield Bricks for Bacon in 2H pic.twitter.com/bJQHkQq3bgโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 22, 2024
Eagles Backcourt
Claudell Harris
1 JR G 6-3 190
14.4 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Jaeden Zackery
3 JR G 6-2 200
11.9 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 4.3 Ast
Mason Madsen
45 SR G 6-4 190
6.8 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Donald Hand
13 FR G 6-5 195
5.8 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Chas Kelley
00 SO G 6-5 180
4.0 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Eagles Frontcourt
Quinten Post
12 SR F 7-0 240
17.1 Pts, 7.6 Reb, 3.1 Ast
Devin McGlockton
21 SO F 6-7 220
9.9 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Prince Aligbe
10 SO F 6-6 225
6.6 Pts, 4.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast
What to expect from Boston College?
The Eagles will run primarily a two guard, three forward set focused more on getting the ball underneath to Post, but very dependent on Harris on the perimeter. The biggest challenge with the Eagles though is that Post is fully capable shooting from outside so Kidd will have to stretch coverage outside the lane which creates opportunities for others to get inside.
Even in the short moments that Harris steps off the floor, he is followed by Senior Guard Mason Madsen off the bench. Madsen is shooting an incredible 47% (24-51) from outside so the Hokies must maintain perimeter pressure throughout.
Post, while leading the team in scoring, can disappear in games. Against Syracuse, he played 26 minutes and failed to score a single point. Zackery in that game also put up an egg in 27 minutes.
The Eagles have a much more stout starting five than some of the Eagles squads the Hokies have faced in recent years. Three players 6'7 or taller on the floor at all times barring significant foul trouble.
In four of their five conference losses, Boston College shot under 43% from the floor. They seem to go through stretches similar to the Hokies where none of their shots would fall. They really have struggled in the paint.
The Hokies
The biggest concern continues to be turnovers. In their last three games, the Hokies have turned the ball over 54 times, including 20 times at NC State which led to 25 of their 78 points. Let that sink in, almost one-third of all of the Wolfpack's points came after a Hokies turnover. The saving grace was that NC State was almost as sloppy and the Hokies turned 18 turnovers into 20 points. Those kind of numbers are not sustainable and Boston College comes in only allowing 8.4 per game so the Hokies must protect the ball better.
As most know, I have been pretty critical of Robbie Beran. In the NC State game though, he stepped up late with some critical plays. He had 11 points and hit some big free throws late, had a great block and managed a couple of steals. If he can do this consistently, it takes pressure off Pedulla and the guards to be the only scorers.
Young and company also did better at getting into the paint to score but going up against Post, seeing how Kidd and Poteat perform impacts this game in several ways. Kidd and Poteat combined for 22 points and 8 rebounds. That kind of contribution is what the Hokies need each game. If they are even able to find ways to score 10-12 points, it will draw the Boston College defense inside allowing the guards open looks.
The Hokies showed resolve similar to how they fought back against Florida State but were able to finish the job this time. The outside shot saved them as the Hokies went 9 for 19 while NC State only managed 6 for 19.
Winning plays ๐ฏ pic.twitter.com/YrWJyNrzriโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 21, 2024
In Closing
Can the Hokies handle the Boston College press defense and not turn the ball over? This likely defines the game. Hokies are home, favored to win and should be able to beat this team but if they end up in a -5 or worse turnover situation then the game trends the other way.
Boston College is good at protecting possessions but not a great jump shot shooting team outside of Madsen and Harris from the perimeter. If the Hokies continue to play solid defense than expect them to hold BC to at or below 40% from the floor and come out victorious.
If the Hokies get out to an early lead, the Eagles struggle at getting back into games. In three of their five ACC losses, they were down double digits early and the final scores were double digit losses.
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๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ซ๐ก ๐ฑ๐ฅ๐ข โญ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ค pic.twitter.com/DOnV8WIHtSโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 23, 2024
Comments
Let's GO!
HOKIES!
Mike young has never beaten BC!? wow, stat I didn't need to see prior to watching tonight's game ๐
believe we actually have a losing record to BC both all time and since joining the ACC, its embarrassing
This will be the 37th meeting between the Hokies and Boston College. The Hokies are 13-23 overall against the Eagles.
Losing to shit BC teams is an art for us.
I feel like it is a stat you do need to know.
We need to win but I worry the brusing affair Saturday and the max minutes put on Pedulla will show.
The freebie tonight is a Hokies beanie
That looks like a toboggan. Beanies have propellors........
A toboggan is a wooden sled that doesn't have runners on the bottom.
That is a knit cap.
Grew up in the 50s and we called the knit caps beanies. I think I'll continue to do so. Some of my friends did call them "boggans" later in life, and skull cap was also used on occasion.
All I know is mine is orange with a double thick maroon band at the bottom to keep the ears warm.
Uh huh. Loved Calvin and Hobbes, best comic ever in my book. We saw the helicopter beanie back then also, but never on anyone except on TV. The hat's a beanie and I'll continue to think of it as so. The helicopter is just a stupid option that didn't exactly catch on with kids in my life. We wore beanies playing football in the winter, copters wouldn't have fit in, I guess, if we even knew any kids dorky enough to wear one.
Going down this memory lane reminded me of a gift I made for my son when he was three. It was a backpack "jet pack" with 2 liter bottles and orange/red streamers coming out the bottom. But, being an engineer, I decided to improve upon the Pinterest post my wife wanted it to look like. So I put two brushed 4" muffin fans on it with a push button switch he could hold. I powered it with three 9v batteries in series so it really howled once it got spooled up. So he excitedly puts it on and has a huge smile on his face right before he mashes the button. Then as it gets louder the smile disappears and his eyes get wide and he lets go of the button. Never played with it again. He told us later he was afraid it would actually take off and he didn't want to hit the ceiling or fall out of the sky if he used it outside,
Now how cool was that? Great story and props for your super dad stuff.
Watching Iron Man with my son for the first time when he was 4 or so. Stark builds the Mark2 and my son disappears to his room and reappears wearing his astronaut costume gloves on.
He throws his hands at the ground a couple of times and howls "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!?!?!"
Wife and I nearly died holding in our laughter.
I love that you still use the popcorn for confidence factor. Warms my heart.
Just saw that Long, Rechsteiner and Camden are out tonight. Pedulla forced into double duty is not a good recipe.
Looks like we'll be getting plenty of Collins tonight. On the bright side, Nickell should play a lot too
They both are already averaging over 24 minutes a game so not a big change there.
Young will be the one that probably sees more time.
Collins and Beran with 8 of our 10 points, I'll take it. LET'S GO!
HOKIES!
Getting killed on the offensive boards.
Getting absolutely dominated on the boards...by not Quinton post. Come on guyyyssss get some rebounds
Can we get a rebound please?
I'm shocked we didn't get a foul called on the Harris block at 6:30.
They need to let more students in on these mid week ACC games.
Yeah Cassell looks especially weak half empty and so many that didn't get the Blackout or didn't care.
Definitely seeing the poor shooting that has been BCs weak spot.
Kidd had to take that ball up into Post. Get him that third foul
Happy MJ is finding the bucket again. Watching him dribble is painful though ๐ญ my man could use some handles work this offseason
I like 95 points over the last two halves against ACC opponents
I'll take an 11 point halftime lead. Don't let up in the 2nd half, pour it on!
Do they practice the end of half possessions? That's the fourth or fifth one I recall that just looked broken from the start.
I'd say it happens more often than not. Not just you. Was good call by BC giving a foul mid play though
Can you imagine the score if Pedulla wasn't a turnover machine?
Nicccce mj dunk
What are the students chanting at #3?
I think "forehead"
We haven't gone inside since Post got his 3rd foul. Why not?
Young and staff never adjust in these situations. Even when it's a clear advantage to get him off the floor.
Harris shuffled both feet on that fake pass, no whistle, and then hits the three.
Wow that Collins pass everyone could see coming
Ref's are changing up the game since the first half calling.
Rebound rebound rebound
Getting utterly dominated on the boards. It is an embarrassing 29-15 right now.
Paint scoring 42-26 with BC grabbing 13 offensive rebounds
Post was hanging all over Kidds back there
Kidd scared down low
All of a sudden can't buy a freakin basket. Had plenty of good looks
Pedulla shooting all arms at this point. Dead legs. Form looking terrible.
๐คท๐ฝโโ๏ธ lol
That was after a timeout. His three before the break were all arms. His legs went straight up there.
Oh I know man just yanking your chain
Surprised they didnt T up the bc guy there
Or when their guy hung on the rim on the dunk with no one even near him.
They should have, no reason to hang on the rim.
Hm....VT struggling, up 2 scores on BC with just about 4:11 left in the game.
I've seen this before and NO GUSTO
Announcers have already spent way too long talking about Fuck Matt Ryan.
Got the timeout...time to hit from 38 feet for Pedulla
Of all the possible complaints I could have about this game, FT shooting is not one of them.
MJ dribbling up, no passes, taking a long two with shot clock remaining was not my ideal play call
Should have at least tried to force a foul while driving to the basket IMO.
Can we please not have a two hour stomach ache that ends in the 11pm hour?
That possession was so awful. I don't even know where to start. Everything about it was terrible.
Have to get it into Pedulla on the inbound
Pedulla has to get them to foul him there
Press the inbound
And don't foul the three point shooter lmao
16 for 16 from the charity stripe.
FT Win games FAM
I'd like to vote for basketball to incorporate a penalty box for committing a foul in the last 30 seconds. 20 minutes to kill 60 seconds is ridiculous.
Not sure if it is still around but I really liked the way they did the game ends in the TBT. Basically at the end of the 4th quarter, they set a target score of 7 (?) more than the team in the lead. The game ends when that number is hit.
That game almost killed me, I was on the elliptical for the first half when we had a good lead. Got off to rest, and BC started closing the game. With 6 minutes to go in the game I hopped on the elliptical again.
Glad to see them finish it out.