Hokie Hoops Central: Virginia Tech (14-5) at Syracuse (12-6) 9pm ACCN

Hokie Hoops Central:
Virginia Tech (14-5)
at
Syracuse (12-6)
9pm
ACCN

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV | ACCN
Jay Alter, PxP
Randolph Childress, Color

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

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

Syracuse -3.5
O/U 149.5
ESPN Analytics Syracuse 67.8%

On the Road in the Dome
Hokies got back in the win column, beating the Crying Irish 89-76. Now they go on the road to a Hokies Dome of Horrors. Virginia Tech is 2-9 all time at Syracuse. That said, this is a team the Hokies should beat despite what Vegas and ESPN Analytics think.

The Orange are 12-6 and 3-2 in ACC play. They have basically faced the bottom of the conference with wins over GT, FSU, and Pitt. In their last game they went to the other ACC morgue, to lose to Boston College in OT. Thats four of the bottom six ACC teams. The other ACC loss was to Clemson. Their four OOC losses were to Hofstra, Houston, Kansas and Iowa State. Thats three ranked Quad 1 games so hard to judge them losing there. The best win this season was upsetting #13 Tennessee in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Head Coach for the Orange is Adrian Autry, a Syracuse, '94 alum in his 3rd season.
His overall record is 46-37.

JJ Starling has clearly been Syracuse's most important player. He is clutch at creating his own shot, dribble penetration, and late-clock scoring. He is their primary ball handler. When he's efficient, Syracuse's offense functions; when he's bottled up, the offense often stalls. He struggles against physical defense, especially trying to get around post players.

Donnie Freeman, #8 player in Class of 2024, Forward, has been a revelation for Syracuse, putting up 20 points and 7 rebounds a game.

Guards Nate Kingz and Nathan George round out the primary scorers for Syracuse. Forwards William Kyle and Kiyan Anthony(son of Carmelo) both provide just under 10 points per game but Kyle also is a key rebounder.

Autry does not go deep in his bench, relying on an eight man rotation so foul trouble can really disrupt the Orange game plan. Freeman is the most likely of the starters to get in trouble, averaging almost 3 fouls per game.

Defensively, the 2-3 zone is the foundation, but Autry has introduced more man-to-man possessions, multiple zone looks within the same game, greater flexibility in matchups and coverage. He expects his wings to take away rhythm threes and his bigs to protect the middle and the rim, which they excel at, as they are 2nd in the nation in blocks at 6.6 per game.

The zone still incorporates aggressive closeouts that dare teams to make extra passes but compared to Boeheim they use less extreme extension on the perimeter and more emphasis on containment than chaos. We will see fewer "run-and-jump" gambles from the wings as Autry has tried to tone done aggression versus controlled defense.

Autry is far more willing than Boeheim to play man-to-man, especially after timeouts, against elite shooting teams and late in halves to prevent runs. The man defense is relatively straightforward with switch-heavy focus on the perimeter, conservative ball-screen coverage and designed to complement the zone rather than replace it.

Defensive Takeaways
Zone remains the backbone
Defensive rebounding still an issue
Effort and connectivity are generally solid
Man-to-man defense is improving but inconsistent

Under Adrian Autry, Syracuse's offense has moved away from the rigid, motion-light Boeheim model toward a more modern, flexible, guard-centric system.
The emphasis is on multiple ball handlers that create advantages off the dribble.
A focus is playing with better spacing and optionality while still being capable of pushing in transition.

Autry prefers a moderate pace so expect to see them run off misses and turnovers but pull the ball out if the early advantage isn't there. They flow quickly into half-court actions to avoid the "quick shot or bust" feel of some Boeheim-era offenses while still leveraging athletic guards.

Ball screens are now central to the offense and feature high pick-and-rolls to force switches, spread-floor alignments with four shooters or dunker-spot spacing and the guards are empowered to score or pass, not just initiate. Autry asks his bigs to set solid screens, roll hard or pop selectively and create vertical spacing more than post dominance. This is a major philosophical shift from Syracuse's historical avoidance of heavy ball-screen usage.

Autry emphasizes a modern shot diet of
Catch-and-shoot threes, drives to the rim and getting to the line.

They are pretty poor shooting threes and free throws. They hit 33.2% (233rd) and 62.8% (363rd) overall. They stay in games by shooting 55% inside and taking almost 63% of shots inside.

Syracuse does have a bigger, more physical lineup so that will be something to watch.

Only player on Syracuse injury report is a freshman that has not played this season.

Offensive Takeaways
Strong guard-driven scoring
Heavy reliance on individual creation
Shooting inconsistency limits spacing
Offense struggles against physical, switching teams

Orange Starters
Nate Kingz
#4 SR G 6-5 190
10.3 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 1.1 Ast

Donnie Freeman
#1 SO F 6-9 205
20.2 Pts, 7.3 Reb, 1.7 Ast

JJ Starling
#2 SR G 6-4 200
11.4 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 2.4 Ast

Naithan George
#11 JR G 6-3 180
10.1 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 5.6 Ast

William Kyle
#42 SR F 6-9 215
9.7 Pts, 7.6 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Orange Bench
Kiyan Anthony
#7 FR F 6-5 185
9.3 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Tyler Betsey
#5 SO F 6-8 225
7.9 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.3 Ast

Sadiq White
#0 FR F 6-9 195
6.6 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Hokies Starters
Amani Hansberry
#13 JR F 6-8 240
15.8 Pts, 8.9 Reb, 2.8 Ast

Neoklis Avdalas
17 FR G 6-9 215
13.9 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 5.2 Ast

Ben Hammond
#3 SO G 5-11 170
11.7 Pts, 1.9 Reb, 3.2 Ast

Jailen Bedford
#0 SR G 6-4 181
10.3 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Christian Gurdak
#32 FR C 6-10 260
6.3 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.3 Ast

Hokies Bench
Jaden Schutt
#2 JR G 6-5 185
9.7 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Toibu Lawal
#1 SR F 6-8 200
12.4 Pts, 9.1 Reb, 0.4 Ast

Antonio Dorn
#77 FR C 7-0 230
3.5 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.6 Ast

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

OUT
Tyler Johnson 10 SO G 6-5 215 Orlando, FL Oak Ridge (FL) 9.5 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.9 Ast

Tyler Johnson remains out but Coach Young indicated he is nearing a return in an interview this week.

The Hokies need to maintain their high intensity man-to-man as that's been Syracuse Kryptonite this season. Their loss at BC was all about poor shooting due to aggressive defense. It was their worst inside perimeter effort on the season.

As an indicator on how reliant they are on the starting five, in the loss at BC, the bench scored TWO points and only took six shots in an 81-73 OT loss. Force them to use their bench and its game over.

One thing to watch is how well the Hokies adjust to facing a consistent zone defense. The best way to beat it is getting transition baskets. Otherwise, the Hokies need a good 1-2 lane passing game between the bigs to adjust against a good blocking team.

Hokies will need to be crisp on the perimeter if they are going to get open looks. Syracuse is holding ACC opponents to 29% perimeter shooting.

Final result comes down to the defensive side of the ball for both teams. Both are capable of 100 point runs so whichever team is more consistent defensively wins tonight.