Hokie Hoops Central: Virginia Tech (16-8) at Clemson (20-4) 7pm ACCN

Hokie Hoops Central:
Virginia Tech (16-8)
at
Clemson (20-4)
7pm ACCN
Littlejohn Coliseum

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV | ACCN
Evan Lepler, PxP
Dan Bonner, Color
Jim Boeheim, Color

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

VIDEO STREAM
ESPN.com and ESPN app

LIVE STATS
stats.hokiesports.com

Clemson -8.5
O/U: 136.5
ESPN Analytics: Clemson 86.7%

Hope is Dwindling
Hokies lost the NC State game in waves, similar to their loss to Wake Forest. They would tease a comeback for about 5 minutes to get it to 24-21 but then melted down a second time to trail 36-24 at the half. They surged again to make it 54-51 with a 13-2 run, only to let the Wolfpack run away for good and never got closer than 8 points after that. It dropped the Hokies to 5-6 in ACC play with a brutal schedule to close out the year remaining.

Clemson on the other hand comes into this 10-1 in the ACC, tied with Duke for first place and if not for a starter missing the NC State game, they likely are undefeated. They still took the Pack to OT before falling. They are not blowing teams away though, with 5 wins by 3 scores or less including Pitt, Syracuse and Stanford. Their best ACC wins were by 4 over SMU and 10 over Miami. Their best OOC win was over UGA. They are 1-2 against ranked teams. A sliver of hope is that the Tigers overlook the Hokies with a game at #4 Duke looming on Saturday.

Brad Brownell reportedly got a significant bump in NIL and an improved portion of Rev Share and used that to bring in a whole new team just about. He brought RJ Godfrey back from a one year stint at UGA and he is leading the Tigers in most offensive categories but this is a very balanced top five scoring wise with Godfrey at 11.9 ppg and the fifth, Dillon Hunter at 8.1 ppg. The actual 5th starter though is Forward Jake Wahlin, who is in more for passing/rebounding. Forward Nick Davidson comes off the bench to add 9.3ppg/4.2rpg.

Brownell's offense this season has not changed much from prior seasons. He is focused on half-court execution, low turnover rate and shot selection discipline.
He trusts his veteran players decision-making to make the right calls. They are built on efficiency per possession.
The offense prioritizes ball security, physical paint touches and playing through experienced guards and forwards to execute cleanly.

The primary offensive sets are all based on high ball screens, often initiated at the middle of the floor. They use 4-out spacing with shooters at a 45 degree angle from the free throw line.

The ball handler's are expected to turn the corner for a downhill drive, hit the roller or lob to a big. They will attempt to draw focus to one side and then pass to open weak-side shooters. The offense is very much driven by making the defense commit first.

In terms of offensive rebounding, Clemson Forwards will attack hard but guards drift back to set the defense.

Scoring wise, Davidson and Godfrey are both shooting over 70% in ACC play inside the perimeter. Seven of the eight contributors are shooting 47% or better inside. They shoot 36% from 3 on about 23 attempts. They are a 71% Free Throw shooting team. Turnovers for and against are nearly even as are rebounds. They rarely get in foul trouble so expecting free throws should not be a "game plan". They take the fewest and allow the fewest shots per game in the ACC this season.

All of this indicates very little margin plus or minus and is proved out by their close results.

Clemson this season has leaned into a compact, positional man-to-man defense built on containing the ball, protecting the paint and forcing contested jump shots.

Brownell's approach remains consistent: make opponents score over you, not through you. This is not a turnover-hunting defense. It's a shot-quality suppression defense.

Clemson plays primarily man-to-man with strong gap positioning, help defenders sitting at the center of the free throw line. The Hokies will seel imited over-rotation to shooters, while Clemson looks to take away straight-line drives, funnel penetration into traffic and contest without fouling. They rarely gamble. Rotations are short, controlled, and disciplined.

Clemson prefers to defend ball screens with drop coverage as the primary look. Brownell expects his Forwards to protect the rim and his Guards to fight over the top of screens. They defend hard against allowing lobs, rim runs and deep paint touches.

Clemson's perimeter defenders have emphasized bodying ball handlers early to force lateral movement and take away rhythm dribbles. They don't extend full-court often, but they do apply steady half-court pressure to slow offensive initiation.

Tigers Starters
RJ Godfrey
#0 SR F 6-7 225
11.9 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Jestin Porter
#1 SR G 6-1 180
10.5 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Carter Welling
#22 JR C 6-11 225
10.1 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 1.4 Ast

Jake Wahlin
#10 JR F 6-10 204
5.9 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 0.7 Ast

Dillon Hunter
#2 SR G 6-3.5 193
8.1 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 3.1 Ast

Tigers Bench
Nick Davidson
#11 SR F 6-8 210
9.3 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Ace Buckner
#21 SO G 6-2 170
7.5 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Efrem Johnson
#4 SR G 6-4 180
5.5 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.8 Ast

The Hokies must be offensively efficient and/or have the defensive game of the season. Clemson rarely misses compared to other teams, especially if Godfrey or Davidson get the ball down low.

They need to try to speed up Clemson on both ends of the court. The snails pace will only accentuate the Hokies flaws and help Clemson to separate.

The Hokies are running out of opportunities so if they want to dance they need to show some desperation tonight. Fight for every ball as if the season tilts on it.