Buzzketball Rolls Charleston Southern 87-59

ESPNU runs a fun little segment during halftime of many of their games called "the Little Experts." The premise is to get a team of three children to interview basketball coaches and players, and let hilarity ensue.

Apparently these children got more than they bargained for when Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Buzz Williams came calling.

What is a HOKIE!?! @VT_MBBall's @TeamCoachBuzz explains it to the #LittleExperts pic.twitter.com/wLpxpXwxQ4— ESPNU (@ESPNU) December 21, 2016

The clip starts innocently enough, with Buzz explaining what a Hokie is to the trio of tykes. But it ends with him scolding one of the kids' posture, telling him to act mature (and not like a six-year-old) because they're all on TV.

It's a fun, light hearted clip (for everyone except Paxton, that is. Poor kid never saw the life lesson coming.) But it also perfectly sums up the way Williams and his team approached their 87-59 win over Charleston Southern.

The Hokies are ready for ACC play. You could see it in their win against the Citadel, you could see it as they beat the Buccaneers on Tuesday night, and you're sure to see it against UMBC next Wednesday. The crowds are dead, the squad is bored, and doing their best to take care of business against overmatched opponents.

But if there's any coach in the conference who won't let his guys sleepwalk through a mid-major matchup, it's Williams. And just like Buzz telling the unsuspecting child to straighten up, he refused to allow any tomfoolery while the Hokies were on national television.

Tech didn't play well. They shot poorly from three, turned it over too much, and committed a plethora of bad fouls. But like top-25 worthy groups tend to do, they work around their issues and end up squeezing the life from their opponent.

The Hokies took advantage of whistle-happy referees and got to the line with ease. Chris Clarke continued his torrid pace with a double-double (17 points and 11 rebounds), Zach LeDay and Seth Allen provided their standard contributions off the bench, and Ahmed Hill wrecked havoc making his way into the lane.

This is yet another performance that reminds how far the program's come over the last three seasons. The lead was just 12 midway through the second half, and could easily have been tighter. Instead of panicking or pressing, Tech continued to push forward. They outscored the Buccaneers 28-14 over the last 10 minutes of play, and ended with a blowout victory.

"I've got to figure out how to help them get back to us quicker," Williams said after the game. "Because we're not going to be able to absorb these stretches.

"Like the last two games, how we've started has been abysmal. We've had three turnovers prior to the first media timeout in the last two games. Like I told them at the first media timeout, maybe we need to change who we start because, we keep up with the ATO scores, and we're losing, we're losing that first ATO score and we're not, going forward, going to be able to absorb that."

Up next, Buzz's bunch has one final tuneup before ACC play begins, as they welcome University of Maryland Baltimore County to Cassell Coliseum next Wednesday the 28th. After that? A bit tougher of a challenge, as they host Duke on New Year's Eve.

A Few Quick Thoughts

Clarke and Hill are a fantastic forward pairing. They're often the fastest two players on the court, push in transition, and crash the glass like guys four-to-five inches taller than them. We all know size is a team problem (see: the Texas A&M loss), but as long as the two sophomores bring the energy whenever they're on floor they pose unique challenges to any defender.

They're also each fantastic examples of Buzz's most underrated quality as a coach: taking a good player and making him even better.

We could talk for days about the transformation Zach LeDay's made since his days at South Florida, but throughout his career Buzz has made a habit of taking his most talented players even better. At Marquette, his two marquee NBA players were now-Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler and current Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder.

Both came to Milwaukee by way of junior college, which makes for a nice story, but they're not both professionals because of their background. Williams took two guys with a ton of talent and pulled even more out of them.

Two years ago Hill was an unhinged mess. He routinely played too fast, lost his handle in transition, and badly bricked jump shots (no matter how open they were). Now? He's a perfect three-and-D wing who hits 47 percent of his threes and can ice a game at the free throw line.

Clarke had many moments in 2015-16 showing why he was the top basketball recruit in the state. He also missed a huge chunk of conference play and was often the rawest player on the court when he made it back. This year he's been unleashed as a do-it-all weapon on both ends. He runs the baseline and picks off passes on defense, and often initiates the offense from the wing (that is when he's not throwing down dunks off his steals).

"I think he plays with such poise with the ball in his hand but, at like the fastest rate you can imagine," Williams said. "There were multiple times in the second half tonight, when he's zooming it past me and I'm like, 'Man. That was (the right on-court decision).' But I didn't see it, you know."

The transformation of the two youngsters has been borderline staggering, and it'll be fascinating to watch the pair grow together as competition increases over the ACC schedule.