Buzzketball Central: ACC/BIG10 Challenge: Virginia Tech Hokies (5-1) at Michigan Wolverines (5-1) 715pm Nov30 ESPN2

IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatUM Crisler Arena 7:15 PM ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/2dtV3jnsfF— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 30, 2016

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: November 30, 2016 / 7 p.m. ET
Opponent: Michigan
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Arena)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser and Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ESPN2
Talent: Jason Benetti & Sean Farnham
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech

ACC/Big10 Challenge

Buzzketball takes on the Wolverines in the ACC/BIG10 Challenge. The challenge is tied at 4 wins for each conference going into tonight's matchups. This will be the sixth time Tech has faced Michigan on the court. The Hokies are 1-4 all time, with a 65-53 win over the Wolverines in the 2002 Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.

Michigan come in favorites with a KenPom ranking of #25 and a money line making them six point favorites Michigan will be another opponent that has a tall lineup compared to the Hokies. Michigan has seven roster spots that go 6'8 or taller so the Hokies are going to need to be able to push the pace on this game from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

One thing Michigan does have in common with the Hokies is a well balanced offense with three double digit scorer's and two others above 8 PPG. The Wolverines rely on an eight man rotation so far this season. Regardless of their size down low, Michigan's primary scorers are their guards, working in tandem to bring an inside drive and an outside shot to each game.

The Wolverines come in 5-1 with wins over #314 Howard, #182 IUPUI, #40 Marquette, #39 SMU, and #254 Mount St Marys. Michigan's only loss came against #36 South Carolina.

The Wolverines are an established roster with three seniors in the starting rotation, one other as the sixth man. No freshmen play a major role and only one sophomore and one junior break into the starting lineup regularly. The Hokies need to build a big lead and be able to defend it considering the experience Michigan brings to the table here.

Michigan is coached by John Beilein, who took over the program in 2007. Michigan has been quite successful under his leadership, with six NCAA tournament appearances in nine seasons, with a loss in the National Championship in 2013. Beilein has taken four different programs to NCAA tournament as well as one other to the D-II Playoffs. He is one of only three coaches to have 20 win seasons at Division I, II, and III going 20-6 with Nazareth in 1983, 24-6 with Lemoyne in 1988, and 31-8 with Michigan in 2013. (Represents his best at each level, as he had twenty plus wins at Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan) As good as Beilein has been, the Hokies look to hand him his 400th career loss tonight. (and prevent his 670th win)

Defensively, the Wolverines primarily run man-to man defense while in out of conference play but also employ a 1-3-1 zone and a 2-3 zone when Coach Beilein thinks it is opponent appropriate. In this game, the Hokies possess a height/size advantage on the perimeter but are the opposite under the basket. The 1-3-1 defense combined with Michigan's height advantage inside will make ball movement to the interior extremely difficult. In the 1-3-1, at least one big will position himself in a frontal defensive position to whomever is in the lane for the Hokies, while their two guards will try to cut off the corner pass or the cross court pass at the top of the key by positioning themselves in the passing lane. Weaknesses in this zone are a complete cross court pass to a perimeter shooter and also being able to drive the ball inside forcing the zone to breakdown.

Offensively, Coach Beilein runs whats known as the Beilein Two Guard Offense which compared to Buzz' offense has many similarities. Beilein's offense spaces four players to the perimeter while rotating one man to the interior. In his bigs, he looks for those that pass the ball well to the perimeter, because this offense keys on hitting open shots. The intricacies of this offense though are the precise movements of the players, especially off the ball that it requires and the willingness to make the next pass rather than settle for a poorer shot. The offense is focused on waiting for the defense to make a mistake and then exposing that error.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

The Hokies advantage as it will be most of the season is speed and athleticism. Other than that though they might be looking at a slightly taller inside version of themselves tonight. Similar offensive styles, similar fluctuations on defense depending on opponents on the floor. The way the Hokies win is if they can push the pace and force Michigan into mistakes.

The Hokies if facing the zone defenses from Michigan will need Seth Allen, Chris Clarke and Justin Robinson driving the ball to the basket early and often. If facing the man to man, then they need to find the speed mismatch amongst their opponent and expose it. Michigan is a fairly disciplined team though so expect to see this game fluctuate back and forth most of the night.

Khadim Sy needs a bounce back game tonight to keep Michigan honest in the lane, especially on the defensive end.

Each team is shooting around 25 three point attempts per game, so whichever team is more successful in converting these shots will hold a big edge. This game though Tech needs to not get lost out there and find ways to work inside, causing the Michigan bigs foul troubles.

Michigan players do not stop moving on the offensive side of the ball so keeping up with this movement and being prepared for the shots will be important for the Hokies defensively. The Hokies will need to find a way to disrupt the Michigan passing game and create turnovers so that they can score in transition.

Wolverines Backcourt

Derrick Walton Jr, #10, 6'1, 190 lbs Senior guard plays the point for the Cornhuskers. So far this season he is knocking down 13.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, while shooting better from outside at 43% than inside 36%. Webster so far is shooting 96% from the charity stripe so this is not the guy Tech wants to have to foul late to try to come back against. Fortunately he is only averaging about 4 trips to the line per game.

Senior Zak Irvin, #21, 6'6, 215 lbs is putting up 12.8 PPG, 5 RPG, and 3.5 APG. Irvin and Walton are interchangeable at the top of the key for Michigan. Irvin is much less likely to be found taking a perimeter shot though, relying more on his ability to drive to the basket or create an open look for another shooter.

Junior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, #12, 6'4, 190 Lbs is the wing in this offense, right now averaging 9.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.5 APG. I unfortunately expect a big game out of him because it will likely fall to Clarke or Hill to close out on him on the perimeter and both have been slow to do so this season.

Senior Guard Duncan Robinson, #22, 6'8, 215 lbs covers the sixth man role, bringing a bigger body to the outside. He averages 5.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, while shooting terribly from the field. Known more for his defensive presence outside, he makes getting a clean shot difficult with the extra height to his advantage. He is only on the floor when one of the other three above needs a breather. Walton, Irvin and Abdur-Rahkman all average over 31 minutes per contest so far this season.

Wolverines Frontcourt

Senior Forward Mark Donnal,#34, 6'9, 240 lbs provides 10 PPG, and 4.2 RPG, while shooting 63% from the field. Donnal also shoots well from the perimeter as well as the free throw line shooting 66% and 87% respectively. Expect to see a lot of movement from this big man to try to create holes in the lane while only being on the floor for about half the game.

Sophomore Forward Moritz Wagner, #13, 6'11, 240 lbs. who is contributing 8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, while shooting 55% from the field and 55% from behind the arc. Wagner accounts for most of the minutes that Donnal is not on the floor. Tough assignment trying to guard him on the perimeter but you have to do it considering his ability to hit from outside.

Junior Forward D.J. Wilson, #5, 6'10, 240 Lbs gives the Wolverines around 27 MPG right now, acting as their primary big man in the lane. He isn't as adept a scorer as his counterparts but is a rebounding machine. He comes in averaging 6.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1 APG, and 1.7 BPG.

Names Announcers will Butcher

Michigan brings a mouthful to challenge the announcers. First there is Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman followed by Ibi Watson, Brent Hibbitts, and Moritz Wagner. That first one makes Khadim Sy easy enough to say.

What to expect from Michigan?
Michigan will start this game playing man to man defense but hopefully be forced to change to a zone as the Hokies beat them off the dribble early in this game. Once Michigan shifts to a zone, the Hokies will have to adjust to some perimeter shooting.

In a half court set, the Wolverines regularly move without the ball, using cuts and picks to create open shots. Two of their bigs move extremely well, even out to the perimeter. Michigan forces opponents to guard all five players rather than being able to concentrate on just one or two.

Rebounding wise, Michigan is a little light due to how often they have four players on the perimeter. Michigan may need to collapse down to start getting second chance rebounds in this game, especially if they want to prevent Sy and Leday from having giant games.

The Hokies

pic.twitter.com/Dgp4G8ELSZ— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 30, 2016

Hopefully the Hokies reached Michigan well rested, after spending an extra day on the West Coast before travelling to Ann Arbor. They will need fresh legs tonight to be able to run. A frenzied pace, with controlled shooting, could be the turning point in winning this game for the Hokies. They cannot afford another second half like they had against A&M or a first half like the Nebraska game because Michigan is not likely to have a bad first half like the Cornhuskers.

Somewhat Dj vu, another BIG10 team, another team with experience in their starters but not much depth. If the Hokies can get into the bench of Michigan, it becomes a much more manageable contest. Michigan has three guards playing more than three quarters of each game, find a way to short circuit that and its definitely a Hokies advantage.

Be prepared to adjust based on Michigan's defensive approach if the Hokies aren't scoring in transition. Beilein will have his guys ready to go and I expect them to try to confuse the Hokies on the offensive end of the court to gain an advantage. The Tech guards need to blow right past this to drive to the basket causing all kinds of havoc.

Highlight of the Nebraska Game

Highlight of the game: there were two emphatic dunks in this game, both by Hill. One was the exclamation point at the end of the game, but the other was even more beautiful because you saw him realize he had a path and it didn't matter that defenders rose to stop him, he was still putting that ball home.

Congrats to @ZachLeDay32 Named to 2016 Wooden Legacy All-Tournament team. #Hokies pic.twitter.com/XErKoZ2DHS— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 28, 2016

In Closing

This game will be like looking in a distorted mirror from a traveling fair. Both teams run similar offenses and defenses, one is just a little faster, while the other is a little bigger. Otherwise, what you see on each end will look pretty much the same, just alternating uniforms and positions.

The key to this game could be getting someone from Michigan's starting five into foul trouble. So far this year, the Wolverines have been able to run the floor with their full complement of players. If Tech can force them further down their bench, the talent drops off significantly, especially in the guard play offensively speaking. Making the Michigan guards reach on drives to the basket could be a critical factor.

There will be stretches in this game where perimeter shooting will be all the Hokies can manage so hitting their open shots will likely determine if they stay in the game or fall behind an experienced Michigan squad.
Tech wins this game in a slugfest that likely goes down to the final minutes. I expect a lower score than normal so a final of 62-58 seems about right with the way each team plays. The higher the scores get, the more likely Tech has an advantage.

#WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/JXwgN5XMPC— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 30, 2016