Buzzketball Central: Virginia Tech Hokies (19-8, 8-7) at Boston College Eagles (9-19, 2-13) 4PM RSN

IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatBC Conte Forum 4 PM RSN pic.twitter.com/KFVoTb9v4D— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) February 25, 2017

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: February 25, 2017 / 4 p.m.
Opponent: Boston College
Site: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (Conte Forum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: The ACC Network
Talent: Wes Durham & Mike Gminski
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
XM Radio: XM 193 (Internet 955)

Where can you watch @VT_MBBall at Boston College? Check out the list of affiliates on #HokieHuddle. https://t.co/nmCTrXi2Ra pic.twitter.com/0cdudXFdpH— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) February 25, 2017

Make sure to listen to @LazeVT & @MikeBurnopVT's Keys to the Game before this afternoon's tip against BC!https://t.co/1yOtSu8men— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) February 25, 2017

One last charge unto the road we go

Buzzketball goes to Boston College high on a thrilling win over Clemson, while the Eagles come home after a thrashing at the hands of the Seminoles. The Hokies must be ready to fight to win this game even with BC only having two conference wins so far this game. Boston College has been very up and down in its ACC schedule so far so you are not sure what team to expect. They lost by one to Miami and only by eight to #9 UNC. Still, they beat Syracuse by 15 and lost to them by 23, they bear NC State by 8 and lost to UVA by 17. The Hokies really should win this game to improve their tournament picture.

On the road for the last time in the regular season, likely to a very small crowd with how BC draws crowds, the Hokies need to be able to draw energy from each other and not let the dormant building lull them to sleep. Boston College will aim to hit them hard early and survive from there. Jerome Robinson will be front and center in most things that BC tries to do. Boston College comes home smarting after a thirty two point beatdown at the hands of Florida State.

This will be the Twenty Ninth meeting between the Hokies and Eagles. Boston College leads the all-time series 18-10. The Hokies won the January matchup 85-79. All that said, the Hokies are a dreadful 3-11 when entering the halls of Chestnut Hills. This is another road house of horrors for Tech.

The Eagles are coached by Jim Christian, who has been at Boston College since 2014. His first season the Eagles were a dreadful 13 -19 while his second year was even worse at 7-25. This season the Eagles have already surpassed the win total for last season and have a few surprising wins on their resume. That said, their ACC schedule has not gone well, currently sitting in last place with wins over NC State and Syracuse.

Defensively, the Eagles rely on pressure to limit opponents, mostly in a man to man approach. He is big on help defense, especially in crashing the lane. Coach Christian relies on assertive defense with hands up in the passing lanes looking to disrupt opponent's game plan. His teams are usually top 50 in defensive efficiency. Boston College is currently holding opponents to 33% shooting from behind the arc but struggles more inside where opponents are hitting almost 53% of their shots. They do rebound fairly well which limits second chance opportunities. One major problem is how often they foul while opponents are shooting. Boston College opponents are 71st in shooting the most free throws, at almost 22 free throws per game.

Offensively, Boston College has made significant strides since last season, when they had the least efficient offense in the ACC that averaged only 61.2 PPG. This season they have increased the pace and have improved by almost 9 points per contest at 70 points per game. One Achilles heel still remains and that is turnovers, where they are averaging over 17 per contest. Coach Christian favors more traditional looking motion offense, utilizing multiple bigs more than a four guard set on the outside. If Tech goes to a zone, expect to see Connor Tava at the top of the key controlling the attack against the zone. They don't exactly have a strong perimeter game shooting 33% but how often have we said that and watched teams have banner days this season.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

The Hokies are going to be challenged by Boston College's height but no more so than against other ACC teams and arguably less talented. Leday and Sy likely will be a big key to the Hokies scoring today. Also expect to see Allen and Robinson at the line on multiple occasions.

The Hokies have to come out ready on the road today or they will take a bad loss in terms of Tournament resume. It also is a great opportunity to put away another ACC win, needing one more to guarantee a .500 record in the ACC this year. They will need to be careful in selecting three point shots as Boston College closes out the perimeter amongst the best in the nation.

Offensively Boston College has made some big improvements but those go away when they are pressured significantly. This is not a team that deals with pressure very well so I would hope that Buzz has his guys turn the pressure all the way up, especially early on in each half. Create some turnovers, get some transition baskets, and force the Eagles to have to play from behind.

This is another game where the Hokies need to run, run, run, to keep the Eagles off balance. The Eagles have a tendency to make more mistakes as the tempo increases. Pushing the pace, getting the ball in the hands of the shooters in the fast break before Boston College can close in with their stifling perimeter defense.

Eagles Backcourt

Jerome Robinson (#1) 6'5, 190 Lbs Sophomore Guard is averaging 19.2 PPG, 4 RPG, 3.1 APG and 1.7 SPG. He is shooting 33% from behind the arc and 43% overall. He makes about 3.9 threes per game. His efficiency hasn't really changed offensively but his usage has. Robinson does have a tendency to get in foul trouble, averaging over 3 per game so far, so something for the Hokies to keep in mind as they press forward.

BEWARE THE HAIR
Ky Bowman, (#0) 6'1, 182 Lbs Freshman Guard comes in averaging 14.4 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.1 SPG. He is shooting 45% from outside. He also struggles at the free throw line, shooting 69%. He is better known for his quick first step and ability to drive inside. So far on the season he is shooting better than 50% inside the arc. Another thing on Bowman, he is the kind of offensive player that began the season having disappear games but then the occassional TYRONE kind of night. Since the Hokies played BC last, Bowman has become a steadying force for the Eagles, consistently giving them double digit scoring performances. This still comes with foul trouble, averaging over 2.5 per contest.

BEWARE THE THREE, OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN
Jordan Chatman, (#25) 6'5, 198 lbs Sophomore Guard is averaging 8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1 APG. He is almost strictly an outside shooter for the Eagles. His shot outside the arc is going in at about 40% while inside the arc it drops to 38%. He is a terrific free throw shooter as well, hitting from the line at an 88% clip. Chatman is on the floor so much though for his defensive abilities. His long arms and aggressive play make him an ideal player to guard athletic wings. Expect to see him match up with Clarke and or Hill quite often.

Eagles Frontcourt

A J Turner, (#11), 6'7, 188 Lbs Sophomore Forward is averaging 8.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 3.2 APG. Turner's interior scoring is at 37% and perimeter scoring is at 43%. Just to round things out, he shoots just under 68% from the free throw line as well. Things have not gone well for Turner since the Eagles last matchup with the Hokies. Almost all his metrics are down to include his shooting percentage being down almost 10 percent. Much like Leday, Turner gets banged around a bit down low against the larger bigs of the ACC.

Connor Tava, (#2) 6'6, 250 Lbs Senior Forward, transferred to Boston College for his final season from Western Michigan. He is averaging over 27 MPG and comes in putting up 6.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.4 APG. He is shooting 50% from the field, and hardly is seen shooting from the perimeter. He struggles somewhat from the line at 69%. Tava continues to have foul trouble, averaging 2.6 per contest so far. He doesn't have the height that many of the ACC bigs do but he does have some bulk to throw around down low. The Hokies will likely struggle to keep him off the boards.

Nik Popovic, (#21) 6'11, 243 Lbs Freshman Forward from Bosnia. He is averaging 6 PPG and 3.7 RPG. He comes in shooting 52% from the field but a lowly 53% from the free throw line. He also experiences foul trouble at almost 2.2 per game, limiting him to about 13 minutes per game. If he can stay out of foul trouble, expect the Eagles to utilize his size quite often against the Hokies.

Mo Jeffers, (#15), 6'9, 240 Lbs, Senior Center is a graduate transfer from Delaware this season for the Eagles. He is averaging 5.5 PPG and 5.7 RPG across 20 MPG playing time. He shoots about 49% from the floor and only 56% at the free throw line. He is another Eagles big that struggles with fouls, averaging 2.7 per contest.

Garland Owens, (#5), 6'5, 222 Lbs, Senior Forward has been relegated from a starters role last season to filling in when needed this season. He is averaging 1.7 PPG, 223 RPG, and 1 APG in about 10 minutes per game. His shooting percentages all around are not good and probably play a major factor in the change in his role from season to season.

Names the Announcers will Butcher
Aser Ghebremichael is the winner but honorable mentions go to Ervins Meznieks and Gordon Gehan.

What to expect from Boston College?

The Eagles rely on a rotation of eight to ten players. They rely heavily on their guards to do most of the scoring. That's good news for the Hokies, who have struggled against size at every turn. That said, a large portion of Boston College scoring still comes inside the paint, as their guards often dribble penetrate to get layups.

Boston College has five players that average more than 2.2 fouls per game. If that happens tonight, they will be forced to rely more on their bench players which would be a huge boost for the Hokies. Scoring goes down, pressure goes up.

The Eagles will look to expose weaknesses in the lane. Don't be surprised to see quite a few alley oops or high lobs over the top to a big under the basket for an easy score. This will usually be with Popovic in the game, so getting him in foul trouble could simplify things on both ends of the court.

The Hokies
Tech needs to drive inside to get fouled. Controlled drives right at a specific big. They need to disrupt the BC offense that relies so heavily on having at least two bigs on the court at any point and time. Early foul trouble could give the Hokies a window to work up a lead.

The Hokies defensively need to prevent interior passing and also disrupt dribble penetration from the Boston College guards. They need to be aware of quite a few back door follow up drives by BC shooters.

Ahmed Hill and Justin Bibbs need to have their A games tonight. Might even throw Outlaw into the mix too at this point. Shooting from the arc needs to probably be around 50%+ for the Hokies to stretch a decent lead on the road.

Highlight of the Clemson Game

GT layup, 15.9secClemson three, 28.8 secUVA jump stop, 3.1 secPitt three, 66 secClemson three, 3.8 secMr. Clutch pic.twitter.com/GSEsZrYvZQ— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) February 23, 2017

Seth Allen putting in his third game winner in 10 days with seconds remaining. Magical.

In Closing

Boston College is going to look to pound the paint either by pass or by drive. The Hokies have to find a way to keep the ball out of the interior. Expect to see a lot of 1-3-1 zone with defenders blocking their big counterparts from the front. This still may not prevent scoring as these bigs are more than capable of accepting a lob or directed pass for alley oops or lay ups.

The offense has to be operating at a fluid clip. The Hokies should have some mismatches in terms of speed versus size on the offensive end so using that to their advantage and getting the Boston College bigs in foul trouble could play a key role in a critical Hokies win. They must also be cognizant of the open shooter outside as they penetrate the BC defense.

This place always gives me the creeps to watch a game at because its almost always silent like a tomb. Rarely does BC seem to draw huge crowds. This is worrisome because the Hokies always seem to draw energy from a crowd, even a strong away one. It seems to drive their pace and ability to knock down open looks. When things get quiet, they seemingly get slower and off balanced.

Hokies overcome the creepy environment and win a critical road game to extend their record to 9-7 in the ACC and the second season of at least a .500 record in conference. Hokies win 83-71.

You don't rise to the occasion. You sink to the level of your preparation. #GamedayGuide: #BeatBC pic.twitter.com/VTRlOzcDwp— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) February 25, 2017