Bryant (1-3)
at
Virginia Tech (4-0)
7pm ACCNX
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV | ACC Network Extra
Evan Hughes, PxP
Mack McCarthy, Analyst
RADIO | VT Sports Network
Zach Mackey, PxP
Mike Burnop, Analyst
VIDEO STREAM LIVE STATS
ESPN.com and ESPN app stats.hokiesports.com
First Time
Hokies face Bryant for the first time. The Hokies are coming off a struggling win but they finished strong. They have a chance to move to 5-0 tomorrow.
Bryant is struggling this season, especially offensively. There is a 35 point difference between these teams in points per game. Bryant is 1-3 after beating winless Dartmouth. The losses have all been double-digit defeats with a 39 point loss to Georgia Tech mixed in.
They are coached by Jamion Christian who is 148-164 overall and 1-3 in his first season coaching the Bulldogs. He spent time as the head coach at Mt St Mary's. George Washington and Siena.
The Bulldogs are led by a Freshman Point Forward from Russia named Timofei Rudovskii. He and Neo are both 6'9 so should be an interesting matchup. Rudovskii and Senior Guard Quincy Allen are the only starters in double-digits. Allen seems a misnomer on this roster. Former Top 100 Recruit with stops at Colorado, James Madison and Chicago State prior to this season.
Forward Ashley Sims, Forward Kergan Harvey and Guard Ty Tabales round out the starters.
Roster has six internationals and then four players from the DC area and very few players close to the Rhode Island school.
Bulldogs will go ten deep due to the high energy style Coach Christian expects. The results though are not good as their record indicates. They get around 18 points per game from the bench and 43 from their starters.
I wasn't able to find much film on Bryant from this season. In the past Coach Christian uses a system he calls Mayhem that has both offensive and defensive components.
Offensively uses a variation of the Penn playbook, with a variety of cutting but also very focused on getting open perimeter shots. Constant movement by every player is a critical component of his style. The stats would seem to confirm that they have a heavy perimeter focus. They are averaging 29.5 attempts per game. The good news though is they are only hitting 7.5 of those. They do not get to the line frequently so not a major concern.
Defensively he uses a variety of presses in the front court and then moves to an aggressive man-to-man in the half court set. They do have the size to match up against the Hokies effectively. So far this season, opponents guards have really had big games. Expect Schutt and Bradford to be key tomorrow.
BULLDOGS STARTERS
Timofei Rudovskii
#99 FR G 6-9 215
13.3 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Quincy Allen
#4 SR G 6-7 190
10.0 Pts, 5.8 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Ashley Sims
#0 FR F 6-8 230
7.5 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Keegan Harvey
#14 SR F 6-11 220
3.8 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Ty Tabales
#1 FR G 6-2 170
7.3 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 2.5 Ast
BULLDOGS BENCH
Aaron Davis
#3 JR G 6-7 215
6.3 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Khalil Williams
#2 SO G 6-5 190
4.5 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Daniel Akoue
#10 FR F 6-11 210
3.7 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Lennart Weber
#8 SR G 6-8 220
3.3 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Langston Bailey
#6 SO G 5-10 142
5.0 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
HOKIES STARTERS
Neoklis Avdalas
#17 FR G 6-9 215
16.3 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 6.0 Ast
Amani Hansberry
#13 JR F 6-8 240
16.0 Pts, 8.3 Reb, 2.5 Ast
Jailen Bedford
#0 SR G 6-4 181
15.0 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Toibu Lawal
#1 SR F 6-8 200
14.0 Pts, 11.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Tyler Johnson
#10 SO G 6-5 215
9.5 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 2.8 Ast
HOKIES BENCH
Jaden Schutt
#2 JR G 6-5 185
10.0 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Ben Hammond
#3 SO G 5-11 170
7.8 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 3.5 Ast
Christian Gurdak
#32 FR C 6-10 260
4.0 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Antonio Dorn
#77 FR C 7-0 230
3.0 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Izaiah Pasha
#4 SO G 6-4 190
2.7 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Hokies are coming off a win where Jailen Bedford had a game high 21 points and Tobi Lawal had another double-double (18/15) but the team as a whole in the second half tried their best to throw it away against Charlotte. Fortunately they got back on track in the final four minutes to lock up a win.
The Hokies shot 37%(22/60) from the floor. Against any decent opponent that game would have been an epic blowout.
They bolstered the win by shooting 83% (30/36) from the line. It was an ugly game for both sides in the whistle category with a combined 46 fouls.
Hopefully that is out of their system but if not Bryant may be one of the few remaining opponents they could get away with that kind of game.
Hokies 91-Bryant 53
Comments
Let's Go!!
Hokies!!!
6'9 guard who wears jersey #99? Respect.
When did they change the rule and allow numbers 6 through 9? Use to be you were limited to 1-5 then they added 0 recently.
The 2023-24 season was the first to allow it.
If I was 6'9" my number wouldn't be 99, I can tell you that.
I know its only 1-3 Bryant on a sleepy Wednesday night, but I have a feeling this game might sell out. No idea why, just a feeling
pretty sure i read somewhere it's sold out
That PSU transfer we picked up has potential.
I'm excited it's gonna be electric tonight
Bryant has a college BB team? Wow, I'm from RI originally and I didn't even know that.
My son went to Bryant in 2004, the first year they went from "College" to "University" level. They were terrible at sports, and during his 1st year at Parent Weekend I went to their football game and I saw Bryant's kicker line up for a 30 yard FG and come up...5 yards short. Oof.
Since then, they've made a major investment in sports, are now D1, and their baseball team is actually very good.
Their basketball team before this season had won 20+ in three of the last four seasons. They got lucky for a couple coaches in a row. Two coaches ago, Jared Grasso was forced to step down after a hit-and-run charge that was eventually dropped but had the Bulldogs 15-7 in Covid, 22-10 the year after and then 17-13 before resigning. He made the NCAA Tournament with that 22-10 season which was first time in school history. Prior to him Bryant only had 3 winning seasons in 10 years.
The assistant coach that took over, Phil Martelli went 20-13 in year one and 23-12 last year, where they made the NCAA Tournament for only second time.
Unfortunately for Bryant, UVA cost them their head coach as he was hired by VCU after UVA hired away Odom. Martelli kind of cleaned them out on his way to VCU.
Neo just got mention as a contender for Freshman of the Year on ESPN
4 games into the season.
Zach & Mike on hot mic (HokieSports app) getting their dates mixed up, then realizing Bryant is one of the two games Frank is set to attend; "we're paying him $8 million & folks paying $20 to see him, I'd hate for him not to stop by" (laughter)
(Edit: just sharing a funny exchange, not any scoop or scandal)
No Hansberry tonight. Dorn gets his first start.
That's concerning. Enough bigs on Bryant to make the paint squirelly without him. Hopefully he and Gurdak can step up
Had hoped to see us jump out right out of gate, not trade baskets
Hell of a slow start...
Starting watching late. Sloppy play and two dudes 6'10" and 7'0" both miss layups.
What are we doing lol
Ugh 6 f-ing points in 8 minutes against a team allowing 75 ppg
We are way off on both sides of the court. Waiting for the superior talent to start playing a factor and put some distance on the scoreboard.
This is awful Another sub 40% and Sub 20% from 3 effort
And miss a fast break layup.
Coaches need to have a serious word with Bedford because he travels almost every time he catches the ball. Noticed it last game too and he got called for it once. That will come back to bite us at some point this season if it's not cleaned up.
99 just traveled hardcore no call bucket Bryant
WTF is happening here?
Sixteen minutes to get our first lead and only second time we have led in rebounds
11-0 run in two minutes!!
Here we go
High energy finish to the half, exactly what we needed
Took them a while to find their groove but once they did they finished the half strong
Guess the tv isn't gonna show Franklin intro 🫤
You needed to wait a min before posting, lol
That technical is a fucking joke
6 for 14 from free throws
Gets away with walk, hits a three
Man we are getting worked on the high pick and roll tonight. Definitely need to work on that defensively going forward
Fucking hell Dorn
That's cheap that's not ejectable
Second flagrant/tech for the same thing unfortunately
Gurdak coming up huge tonight, he'll be getting more minutes for sure this season
It's the Gurdak show tonight, he's earning some extra NIL.
The fact that we have two bigs out of this game and still have a true big skills and contributing well is something we haven't had ever. The depth of our bench is keeping our team in shape.
Man..where has the Offense gone the last 2 games?
Put up 90 for three in a row to struggle with CLT and Bryant...
I think Neo is the biggest factor in this game and vs Charlotte. He's got 11 pts and is 1-5 from the 3.
For tonight, not having Hansberry is a factor.
5-0
No Hansberry definitely affected the rhythm in the first half. Team got better once Dorn picked up his second tech. Gurdak needs to spell Hansberry from now on, 15 and 8 as a freshman and he played calm and looked the part. Another double double for Lawal!
FAM! 🦃
Ugly ugly win. Better than ugly ugly loss though
25%(4/16) from 3
58%(14/24) from the line
Felt like the whistles were really lopsided and no chance dorns first tech is a tech
It was a bad look, elbow to back of the neck intended or not and it was not a play on the ball. Unfortunately that hits the checkmarks for a Flagrant 1
First one was a light arm to the back.. 2nd was to the neck/head
The "Sorry I'm tall" foul
Lawal though...whew... 7 for 10, 18 points and 13 boards Double-Double
Overall it just felt like the team was a little bit listless...like they were waiting for one dude to go off to light the rest of the team, but that never happened.
Some good periods where the Hokies flexed in the 2nd half, so credit for never letting it get into their heads.
A win is a win
Any word on why Hansberry was out?
On the broadcast they said he was day-today with an injury.
Nothing major, held out because coach wants him to have time to get ready for upcoming games. Could've played if necessary.
For anyone not watching there were 3 pretty nasty dunks in the game. Unfortunately 1 was a Bryant windmill. The other 2 by Lawal made up for it though. Wouldn't be surprised if the Bryant dunk and first Lawal dunk are SC top 10.
Not just a windmill dunk, but an alley-oop windmill dunk. One of the most athletic in-game things I've ever seen.
Because they guy is so tall he almost had to duck to not hit his head, walking under the rim.
That dunk was absolutely insane and was the highlight of the game (other than the Hokies W)
Here is the Bryant one...for Lawal's 1,2,3,4 Dunks go over to the Fam post
Lawal missed dunk a couple minutes before would've competed for the top play on Sportscenter
If he landed that reverse dunk, it would have definitely competed for top play.
I could be wrong, but this just seemed like one of those non-conference weaker conference games where we come out lackadaisical and lose and have it glaring on our resume in March.
College of Charleston in 2022, St Louis in 2017, Alabama State in 2015, UNLV in 2010, Temple in 2009, etc
Fortunately we won by 17
Didn't watch the game. What's up with Neo? Shots just didn't fall or not being used correctly?
Shots weren't falling, but still felt like he made some big plays. His alley-oop to Lawal was kind of the back breaker for Bryant.