Hokie Hoops Central: #21 UVA (11-1) at Virginia Tech (11-2) 2pm ACCN

#21 UVA (11-1)
at
Virginia Tech (11-2)
2pm
ACCN

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV | ACCN
Eric Rothman, PxP
Chris Spatola, Analyst

RADIO | VT Sports Network
Zach Mackey, PxP
Mike Burnop, Analyst

VIDEO STREAM LIVE STATS
ESPN.com and ESPN app stats.hokiesports.com

UVA -5.5
O/U 154.5
ESPN Analytics: 67% UVA

THE ACC SCHEDULERS ARE IDIOTS GAME

Battle of the 6'9 Euro Point Forward Freshmen

Hokies end the calendar year against the Wahoos in a game advertised as Sold Out but color me skeptical on how full it will look with the students on Winter Break. Just another sign of incompetence by the ACC putting this game here.

Both teams had successful OOC schedule runs. UVA's only loss came against a really good Butler team at the Greenbrier Classic.

Now for the bad news up front. Tyler Johnson is out after stepping on Ben Hammond's foot. Dorn (back) and Lawal (ankle) are highly doubtful. After missing at least one player for illness the previous two games, I wont be surprised by someone else being out at gametime. Thats 26.2 ppg and 17.8 rpg off the floor.

UVA is a much different looking team this season with Ryan Odom at the helm. Gone is the pack line defense and the snails pace offense that relied on experienced players and very little bench depth.

In are the Havoc full court pressure and extremely aggressive man-to-man defense looking for turnovers and transition scoring. High pace means high turnover on the players on the floor so expect UVA to go as many as twelve deep (13 of 14 have played in at least 8 games) and Odom is relying on Freshmen in key roles.

Last season UVA was 354th of 364 D1 schools in scoring at 64.8 ppg. This season they are 43rd at 87.2 ppg. They are dominating on the boards with an almost 10 rebounds per game margin and are 4th in D1 in blocks per game at 6.5 per.

Those numbers are driven by their Freshman from Europe, Johann Grunloh and Thijs De Ridder along with transfer Forward Ugonna Onyenso from Nigeria. The trio put up 31.8 ppg, 17.7 rpg and 5.6 bpg. De Ridder does most of the scoring at 16 ppg and the other two most of the blocks.

Handling the ball is another Freshman Phenom that had the Hokies in his final two. Chance Mallory is putting up 11.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 3.6 apg as a change of pace off the bench. The kid can absolutely take over a game though. He ran Texas ragged.
BYU Transfer Senior Dallin Hall is the starting PG putting up 6.7ppg, 2.8 rpg and 4.2 apg.

Their defense isn't yet where Odom wants it in terms of creating turnovers as Opponents are averaging just 11.7 per game. Odom has a stated goal of 15 per game. They dont run full court press the entire game but Odom definitely uses it early to try to create an early lead to set the tone.

Offensively they utilize a high number of pick and roll plays with as many as three players attacking simultaneously. The only weakness to this is it exposes them to transition opportunities in the other direction but they attack the basket for second chance opportunities. They are averaging 14.9 offensive rebounds a game and putting up almost 13 second chance points. Shooting wise, they are hitting 57% inside and 39.6% from perimeter (16th in D1). Malik Thomas and Jacari White are their volume shooters outside, accounting for about 40% of their perimeter shots.

They have double-digit scorers consistently on the floor with Ridder/Thomas starting and Mallory/White off the bench so they rarely have those four minute scoring droughts that Hokies fans have come to dread the last few seasons.

If the Hokies were healthy I think this would be a close game. Unfortunately with the players that will potentially miss this one, I expect a ten point loss.

WAHOO STARTERS
Thijs De Ridder
#28 FR F 6-9 238
16.1 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.1 Ast

Sam Lewis
#5 JR G 6-6 200
9.6 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 1.7 Ast

Johann Grünloh
#17 FR C 7-0 238
9.0 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.1 Ast

Dallin Hall
#30 SR G 6-4 200
6.7 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 4.2 Ast

Malik Thomas
#1 SR G 6-4 190
11.1 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 1.8 Ast

WAHOO BENCH
Chance Mallory
#2 FR G 5-10 186
11.1 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 3.6 Ast

Jacari White
#6 SR G 6-3 170
10.9 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Ugonna Onyenso
#33 SR F 6-11 225
6.7 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Devin Tillis
#11 SR F 6-6 215
5.9 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Elijah Gertrude
#12 JR G 6-4 180
2.6 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Martin Carrere
#7 SO G 6-8 180
0.9 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Hokies Starters
Amani Hansberry
#13 JR F 6-8 240
16.3 Pts, 8.4 Reb, 3.3 Ast

Neoklis Avdalas
#17 FR G 6-9 215
14.6 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 5.0 Ast

Jaden Schutt
#2 JR G 6-5 185
10.6 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Christian Gurdak
#32 FR C 6-10 260
5.7 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.2 Ast

Jailen Bedford
#0 SR G 6-4 181
8.3 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.7 Ast

Hokies Bench
Ben Hammond
#3 SO G 5-11 170
10.1 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 3.5 Ast

Izaiah Pasha
#4 SO G 6-4 190
3.0 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Sin'Cere Jones
#5 FR F 6-7 230
0.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.0 Ast

OUT
Tyler Johnson
#10 SO G 6-5 215
9.5 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.9 Ast

DOUBTFUL
Toibu Lawal
#1 SR F 6-8 200
12.8 Pts, 10.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast

Antonio Dorn
#77 FR C 7-0 230
3.9 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast