HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Notre Dame (12-18) at Virginia Tech (17-13) 230PM ESPNU

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Notre Dame (12-18) at Virginia Tech (17-13) 230PM ESPNU

Senior Day at the crib 🏰🧡🆚 Notre Dame🕝 2:30 p.m.📺 ESPNU🤝 @BlacksburgEye #StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/PKTymMtITb— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 9, 2024

Notre Dame (12-18)
At Virginia Tech (17-13)
February 10th, 2024
Purcell Pavillion
6 p.m. ET
ESPNU Virginia Tech Sports Network

ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Jay Alter
Analyst: Malcolm Huckaby

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

Current Spread: Hokies -9.5
Over/Under: -134.5

Stealing the Pot of Gold
The Hokies return to the friendly confines of Cassell for the final game of the season, taking on a suddenly hot Notre Dame squad. The Hokies look to improve on their 13-2 home record while getting revenge on the earlier 74-66 loss in South Bend. The Hokies are coming off one of their best offensive games of the season, beating Louisville 80-64.

Virginia Tech could move up to the No. 7 seed in the ACC Tournament with a win over Notre Dame, a Wake Forest loss to Clemson, and a Pitt loss to NC State. That would result in a three-way tie with the Hokies getting the No. 7 seed. Hokies appear to also be looking for Miami to beat Florida State. Virginia Tech can finish as low as the No. 10 seed with a loss to Notre Dame and wins by Florida State and NC State.

The Fighting Irish are coached by first year coach Micah Shrewsberry, who was hired away from Penn State after head coach Mike Brey left Notre Dame. This season had been a complete disaster for the Irish until they played the Hokies. Since then they have gone on a 5-2 run with wins over Clemson and Wake Forest.

Notre Dame with the coaching change, overhauled their lineup with three transfers and four incoming freshmen. Two of the freshmen and all three transfers are playing at least 25 mpg.

The starting five Shrewsberry has used most consistently are C. Booth, M. Burton, T. Davis, J. Konieczny, and K. Njie. Not certain if injuries have been the factor of just a new coach trying to find something that works. They have used eight different starting lineups this season. Outside of the starters, Shrewsberry's son is the only other player seeing over 20 minutes per game.

Defensively, Shrewsberry wants his team to force opponents to take the shots they don't want to take; his team makes it their goal to force teams into shooting contested mid-range jumpers - some of the toughest shots to make. Combined with getting stops, building accountability through communicating, and shrinking the floor. Its primarily a gap man-to-man defense looking to keep opponents out of the paint and force shooters to the sideline.

Offensively, the Irish are utilizing a Five Out Delay Offense which looks to create space and pace that allows significant latitude to the primary ballhandler Markus Burton to create with dribble penetration. They employ Wide splits and screens at the elbow of the lane to free up driving players. They also focus on drawing a defense in to give space to Shrewsberry and Konieczny.

Fighting Irish Backcourt
Markus Burton
3 FR G 5-11 166
17.0 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 4.3 Ast

Braeden Shrewsberry
11 FR G 6-3
9.9 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 0.8 Ast

J.R. Konieczny
20 JR G 6-6 195
8.4 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Julian Roper II
1 JR G 6-3 180
5.3 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Fighting Irish Frontcourt
Tae Davis
13 SO F 6-9 204
8.7 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Carey Booth
0 FR F 6-10 203
6.2 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 0.4 Ast

Kebba Njie
14 SO F 6-10 237
4.2 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast

What to expect from Notre Dame?
Notre Dame is in a growth year without much pressure and their season is essentially over so they are free to just go out and play. The results recently turned around as they started to gel late in the season. They have shown the ability to take down a team that is off their game offensively as the Hokies experienced first hand. Only three Irish were in double-figures, led by Burton and Shrewsberry. The Hokies got beaten by inches in multiple facets. There wasn't one glaring area that Notre Dame just dominated although the biggest weakness was letting Burton get into the paint.

Expect to see a three guard, two forward set most of the game. They use a nine man rotation but primarily focus on the top 6. Burton is the main threat, especially off the dribble. He may be in contention for ACC Rookie of the Year and is the Rookie scoring leader. He averages nearly 11 shots a game inside the perimeter.
The Irish have five shooters averaging at least three perimeter shots per game. As a team they are shooting only 32% in ACC play, led by Shrewsberry at 41%.

Defensively they lead the ACC in interior shooting allowed, holding opponents to 44% shooting. They look to prevent interior passes and force opponents into long possessions. They are allowing the second fewest points per game behind UVA so expect a low scoring game, making every possession that much more important. That said they are slow on transitioning around screens and get drawn into the lane allowing multiple open perimeter looks.

Offensively they are sloppy with the basketball, averaging thirteen turnovers per game while creating less than ten on defense. Shooting the ball is another significant weakness, as a team they shoot 44% overall and 32% from outside.

The Hokies
The Hokies got beaten by a few free throws and a couple extra possessions by way of offensive rebounds. They led by as many as nine in this game early on but trailed nearly the entire second half. The turning point was scoring only three points between the 9:28 mark and the 2:38 mark. Three points over a seven minute period is going to lose you almost every game. The Hokies had three double-digit scorers in Pedulla, Cattoor and Poteat. The problem was that Cattoor and Pedulla shot 11-38 to get their points. Kidd and Collins were 2-9 from the floor. Needless to say shooting wasn't great from the starters.

The Hokies need to use their passing on the perimeter and screening actions to get Cattoor and Pedulla free to shoot and actually hit those shots. This is also a game where Young might be best served giving Poteat a longer run. Notre Dame struggles defensively in the paint against stronger bigs and Poteat was 6-8 from the floor and 2-3 from the line. He was essentially the lone bright spot in an otherwise ugly loss to a team that had only 2 ACC wins the last time these teams played.

The Hokies are the more experienced team here but the Irish definitely have the athleticism edge in their favor. The biggest area Tech needs to be focused on defensively is dribble penetration as it drives everything Notre Dame does. Denying access through pick and rolls at the elbow and maintaining coverage on off ball slashers paralleling the ball handlers drive is another key.

In Closing
Can the Hokies mitigate the Irish athleticism edge? Might be the theme of the season. Opponents have found success outside against the Irish which bodes well for the Hokies in the confines of Cassell where they have shot nearly 40% this season. Hopefully they can tap into the magic touch they had at Louisville.

All of our season-high-tying 13 3FG from last night 👀🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🔥 https://t.co/pWBgtdA5qy pic.twitter.com/i8CDaI8iJg— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 6, 2024

Can Kidd, Beran and Poteat find a way to score inside? The teams that win by double-digits are those that successfully get their bigs to contribute. The Irish are consistent defensive rebounders so there will not be a lot of second chance opportunities.

This will be Senior Day, it appears they will be honoring Cattoor, Long, Beran and Poteat.

For our Seniors 🦃🥹🆚 Notre Dame🗓️ Saturday at 2:30Fans are encouraged to be in 🏰 by 2PM! pic.twitter.com/SnDdhKF3hw— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 9, 2024

Should they win? Yes. Do I trust them to do it? More so because it's a home game.

Confidence Factor: