IT'S GAMEDAY!🏀 #BeatUK📍 Rupp Arena🕑 2 PM EST📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/hNIDZobPbt— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 16, 2017
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec. 16, 2017 / 2 p.m.
Opponent: University of Kentucky
Site: Lexington, Kentucky (Rupp Arena)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV: ESPN2
Talent: Dan Shulman & Dick Vitale
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Top offensive efficiency » 🦃Top defensive efficiency » 🔵⚪️Us vs Them. Saturday. 2 PM.📰 » https://t.co/N8dVMkfFc1 pic.twitter.com/udalm7fBbx— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 15, 2017
Playing with the Bluest of Blue Bloods
Buzzketball now goes to Rupp Arena for what is arguably Tech's toughest Out of Conference opponent since Buzz William took over the progam. Let's hope that the Hokies are ready for prime time. The game likely comes down to how well the Hokies shoot from around the perimeter. Either way, this game break the Hokies season but it sure could be a big help if the Hokies end up a bubble team down the road.
The last time the #Hokies went to Lexington in December to face a ranked Kentucky??• Howard Pardue recorded 1⃣9⃣ points & 7⃣ boards• Tech shot nearly 5⃣0⃣%• 8⃣0⃣-7⃣7⃣ Hokie victory 👊 pic.twitter.com/kokI4U0fcD— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 15, 2017
The Kentucky Wildcats come in 8-1 on the year with an average margin of victory of 12.7 points. Their wins this season are against Utah Valley, Vermont, East Tennessee State, Troy, IPFW, Illinois-Chicago, Harvard, and Monmouth. Their only loss came against their only other P5 opponent so far this season in Kansas. This will be the fifth meeting between Tech and Kentucky. The Hokies are 1-3 all time, going back to 1924. The Hokies in those contests found a three point win in 1962 at Kentucky, and also a one point loss in New Orleans.
The Wildcats are coached by John Calipari, who took over the program in 2009. Calipari is 659-192 overall as a head coach and 256-54 at Kentucky. In his first season, he led the Wildcats to a 35-3 record and have broken the 30 win barrier in four out of eight previous seasons. They have played in the NCAA tournament each year other than 2012, which correlates to Calipari's worst season, finishing with 21 wins. This year is the second time in three years that Calipari has had to replace all five starters in the offseason, losing about 85% of his scoring production from last year. So far this season he has had to roll with a starting five of all freshmen. His top six scorers are freshmen. Only one sophomore gets more than 20 minutes per game on the floor. The scary part is that they are missing two more freshmen, a five star big and a four star guard, due to injury.
Defensively, Calipari would love to be able to rely on his team to play man to man but they haven't shown the cohesion necessary to do so, so he has relied on a 2-3 Zone much of this season so far. This defense though plays perfectly to one key area of strength for the Wildcats. Length, as the Wildcats rotation of players has seven guys with wingspans larger than seven feet. Quade Green is really the only starter that does not possess such a wingspan. This has allowed Kentucky to also focus on protecting the lane and inside the arc with blocks and adjusted shots. Kentucky has blocked 18.2% of its opponent's 2 point shots this season so far and are 18th in the country at blocking shots. One area the length has not really transferred is in steals or creating turnovers as they manage to turn opponents over just 13 times per game so far which rates 277th in the country.
Offensively, the Wildcats are as opposite of the Hokies as possible. They do like to get transition baskets but you won't find the Wildcats shooting from the perimeter very often, especially if Quade Green is not able to go. So far this season the Wildcats have taken 77.6% of their shots from inside the arc, which is the highest amongst Division I teams. They only attempt 13 shots outside the arc per contest. They do however make just over 70% of their shots around the rim. Combine that and their offensive rebounding at over 37% of opportunities, they tend to dominate opponents down low.
What does that mean for the Hokies?
The Hokies have to play to their strength and hit their perimeter shots. Scoring from outside will be critical to competing in this contest. It likely will be even more focused because another area of scoring the Hokies usually rely on will likely be greatly diminished. That is scoring from the charity stripe. So far this season Kentucky opponents only average 17 trips to the line per contest. The Hokies average almost 22 made free throws per contest on 29 attempts. Only three Wildcats currently average more than 2.5 personal fouls per game.
The Hokies will need to find ways to provide help defense, even at the risk of letting perimeter shots go, to keep Blackshear and Horne upright in this game. Expect the Hokies to struggle giving up points down low but if they are forced to do so without their two "Bigs" than it could be pretty ugly.
This game may be the first time all season that Buzz shortens the bench, with guys like Bede and Jackson finding it hard to get much time on the court. I would not expect to see Fullard or Ammerman at all.
Tech will not be the first Kentucky opponent to focus their efforts on perimeter shooting. Opponents have shot 43% of their attempts from outside the arc against the Wildcats this season. Those shots are only going in at 30% though, so it will be a test to see which ends up closer to season average after this game. The Kentucky 30% or the Hokies 47%, which is 2nd in the nation. If the Hokies can hit better than 40% from outside in this game I like their chances.
Wildcats Backcourt
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Quade Green, #0, 6', 180Lbs, Freshman that is dealing with an eye injury. He missed their last game against Monmouth but Coach Calipari detailed in his latest press conference that he had returned to practice this week and should play against the Hokies. He is averaging 10.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 3.6 APG. He shoots 57% from inside the arc, 45% from outside and 91% from the line.
Hamidou Diallo, #3, 6'5, 190 lbs Freshman is second on the team in scoring this season averaging 14.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.1 SPG. He is a terrible perimeter shooter so far this season, hitting just 31% of his shots but inside he is only shooting 50% from the field. Expect to see him drive to the basket most times as he only attempts 2 outside shots per contest. He hits 68% from the line.
Freshman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, #22, 6'6, 180 lbs would step in at the point if Green is unable to go. He is putting up 10.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.4 APG and 2.3 SPG. Gilgeous-Alexander is their best on ball defender and also the only other Wildcat that shoots better than 40% from outside other than Green. He shoots 53% inside and 85% from the line.
Beyond these three, the Wildcats are kind of scraping the barrel at Guard, which is where they miss the services of 4 Star Freshman Jemarl Baker, who had a medical procedure before the season and has yet to play. Calipari's son, Brad, #12, 6', 178 Lbs Sophomore is one of those guards way down the roster.
Wildcats Frontcourt
Kevin Knox, #5, 6'9, 215 lbs. Freshman Forward was a surprise commitment for Kentucky and there is no telling where they would be without him so far this season. He leads the team in scoring at 15.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.1 SPG while shooting 54% from inside. He shoots 33% from outside and takes more than twice as many attempts from outside as any teammate at 4.8 attempts per contest. He is shooting 69% from the line.
Freshman Forward PJ Washington, #25, 6'7, 236 lbs is the only starter not in double figures. Washington is putting up 9.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.3 APG while shooting 59% from inside. Washington has had foul troubles, averaging 2.9 per contest, so getting him to the bench early in the first half could be a goal for Buzz. One other area that Washington struggles is the free throw line, where he is shooting just 57%.
Freshman Forward Nick Richards, #4, 6'11, 240 Lbs, is averaging 8.8 PPG and 6.7 RPG, shooting inside at 66% and from the line at 77%
The Wildcats fall back on a trio of Sophomore forwards after the three Freshman above. They are Wenyen Gabriel, #32, 6'9, 213 Lbs, Sacha Killeya-Jones, #1, 6'10, 230, who has also been dealing with an injury that kept him out of the last game, and Tai Wien into foul trouble.
What to expect from Kentucky?
The Wildcats will be very closely monitoring their lineup card because of two recent injuries. Quade Green and Sacha Killeya-Jones both missed the last game against Monmouth but the report from Calipari today is that both are expected to play. If Green misses this game that has a huge impact. Killeya-Jones is not as big but still would be a factor.
Kentucky will work itself inside as often as possible, playing to their height advantage to get in close reliable baskets or get their own rebounds to put right back in. Kentucky is currently averaging 45 interior shots a game and 12 offensive rebounds.
Kentucky will look to slow the game down much like St Louis did to the Hokies in an attempt to limit opportunities. Right now the Hokies average five more attempts per game than Kentucky. That could be a critical difference in the final score.
The Hokies
The Hokies need to methodically hit their perimeter shots. Kentucky's defense inside may not be able to completely stop the Hokies from scoring at the rim but they will put a dent in it. The Hokies will rely on what they have excelled at by shooting the three.
The Hokies will need to make better passes, especially into the interior or across the perimeter due to the long arms of the defense. Making use of every possession will be critical especially with how many continued possessions Kentucky manages due to their offensive rebounding capabilities. On the season the Hokies actually have more rebounds total than Kentucky 380-371, but that is more an indication of the pace of play and the additional game played rather than skill. Per game averages are in favor of Kentucky 41.22 to 38.
May the force be with us... @starwars #Hokies🦃#BeatKentucky#TheLastJedi pic.twitter.com/RE7PNSjpgR— Hokies Basketball 🦃 (@Hokie_Hoops) December 13, 2017
Tough environment, high profile opponent that will likely have a chip on their shoulder since most places are showing the Hokies as slight favorites. The Hokies will need to remain calm in the face of all these pressures. One thing they can't afford to do is put their head down if Kentucky is able to go on a run, which is bound to happen at some point in this contest. They have to stay ahead of that stumbling block and play with tenacity to get things back on track.
Highlight of the UMES Game
We're shooting straight 🔥🔥🔥 this season• We lead the NCAA in scoring offense - 9⃣6⃣.2⃣ png• We're scoring at a 5⃣5⃣.3⃣% clip from the floor• Second in the nation from three-point range - 4⃣6⃣.8⃣% pic.twitter.com/05GTAQ3yNy— VT Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 14, 2017
Highlight of the game goes to First Half Scoring. When is the last time you saw Tech have a 30+ point lead at the Half? The Hokies led 54-22 behind a strong half from Ahmed Hill, who had 11, as well as the perimeter shooting in general. The Hokies hit 11 triples in the first half alone.
In Closing
If Tech gets a big lead, expect to see Kentucky try to slow the pace exponentially. Slow interior play will benefit the Wildcats whereas open perimeter shooting obviously goes the Hokies way.
The Hokies will have to find ways to score inside to keep Kentucky honest. Justin Robinson and Nickiel Alexander-Walker will play a big role with their ability to get to the rim and get off undisturbed shots.
The height advantage could prove to be too much if the Hokies are not able to get out in transition. It could go like the Duke game last year, especially with how inexperienced this Kentucky team is and their lack of tough opponents so far. It could also go the way the Florida State game went last year on the road. I expect more like Duke from this squad than Florida State. Game comes down to the Hokies hitting free throws in the final couple minutes.
Hokies 91 – Wildcats 85
For your work to be significant, it has to be "Hearts & Minds"...not just "Hands & Feet"Toughness is in the soul & spirit, not in the muscles!— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 13, 2017
Comments
LET'S GOOOOOO
HOKIESSSSS
In the words of Dicky V, "IT'S THE HOKIES DAY, BABYYYYY!"
I just hope we play our game, and don't get intimidated by the setting/venue. Talent-wise, we are better and can defeat the opponent IMO, and that includes Coach Buzz and his staff.
This is a huge game for this program. Although getting a win against an ACC opponent is always top priority, getting a win against Kentucky at Rupp Arena would go a long way from a national perception standpoint. Let's go.
Interesting to see we're only 5.5 point underdogs at Kentucky. I wonder if that says more about how good our team is or about a young Kentucky team struggling vs. some lesser teams (Utah Valley, Vermont,, Troy, Harvard).
Either way, we have a great chance to win this!
So I did quit my job, but I'm not done until this Friday meaning I'm fucking working while this game is on...
Take a two hour late lunch. What can thy do, fire you?
This place is huge. Good lord.
Ty Outlaw putting up shots pregame. Looks pretty mobile for only 5 months out from surgery
My sister got me a student ticket for the game, and the ticket scanners were checking for student IDs when I went to get in. I told them mine was at home, so they made me go to some table and give them my name so they could search me in the student directory. I told them that I just dropped out and that I wouldn't be in there because the semester just ended but I had bought the ticket when I was still a student. That didn't work either. So, after trying another gate and failing, I jumped one of the barricades and snuck in through one of the doors for smokers. I'm at my seat now.
EDIT: had "would" instead of "wouldn't" in the third sentence.
via GIPHY
Hopefully the game is half as good as the amount of effort you put into getting inside Rupp lol. But seriously, super jealous you got to go, I'm hoping for a big upset on the road and wish I could be there! Enjoy man!
Doors for smokers that's total SEC right there.
#cigsinside
I think that's KY more than anything else.
Here in Myrtle Beach when the old SEC bar went smoke free. The SEC fan clubs boycotted it.
Here in Roanoke, the bars totally disregard the smoking laws. Some act like they are complying by having a non-smoking area outside on the patio, one has a phone booth with a big non-smoking area sign on it. I wish there was something that could be done.
TIL that NAW had a cousin at UK.
Would love if we didn't stop dribbling in the backcourt against the press and turning the ball over every other possession. Had momentum for about 2 minutes and that has quickly left
Med is an absolute beast, great strength to finish that play!
Can I mute Dick Vitale? This should be an option for every broadcast he is on
I second that emotion!
I can't even hear him over the crowd noise. It's time for Dickie to move to the studio permanently.
Pretty sloppy play from both teams so far, but we've responded nicely with a little run. Gotta keep running and gunning to have a chance in this one. Let's go Hokies!!
5 ain't feelin' it yet
This current lineup though....
Did I miss something I didn't realize espn 2 was broadcasting the Kentucky feed here
We playing scared against the full court pressure. They need to stop picking up their dribble when kentucky aren't even trapping.
Given how bad we are playing, I'll take being down by 2. Boys need to clean it up and play their game.
BTW, I think everyone can agree... I DESPISE JAIMIE LUCKY!!!!!!!!!
Listening to this on XM, so I'm getting the UK sports network guys. They are really wondering about Tech rebounding ability with the lack of height and they really don't think Tech can beat the press enough to win this game.
Beating ourselves with these turnovers. Gotta play a bit smarter, but we are matching up pretty well. Better than I expected so far!
So sloppy against the full court press. Why do we keep picking up our dribbles with nobody around us?
I wish the TV crew would realize that KY is using a full court press and stop following the shooter down the court and stay on the ball.
Dick Vitale can shut the hell up
Doesn't matter who we play, that team will have a record day offensively in some category.
I'd rather have collinsworth call this game vitale is awful
Jesus they need to take Vitale off these broadcasts. He just says random crap now.
One of the worst announcers. I think he just likes teams with Blue. UNC, Duke, Kentucky. Dont think I have heard him say positive about Virginia Tech.
Diallo just tried to fake a foul on the screen hahahaha
Downvote me if yall want... But I love Dickie V.!
When hes not announcing a game with Tech in it I am ok with it.
When he is not announcing a game I'm watching, I am OK with it.
Nah, I only downvote for speaking the dam truff.
Uh, I honestly didn't think we would be this competitive. I'm sure the UK faithful are saying WTF right now. 47-39
Nice spin move yes sir son
So I go into a restaurant to buy a gift card for my wife's nurse come out and Tech went on a run and are up.
Please go back in the restaurant for about the next hour and 20.
Thank you
Our leading the country in scoring offense might not be a fluke.
Even with some of the sloppiness, our boys have played hard and not looked overwhelmed. Great first half!
Lead at half? I'll take that!
I'm with you and also for leads at the end of every second half too!
Can we talk about the team rebounding effort in that first half. There are at least 4 players swarming the defensive glass every time a shot goes up. I love it. It has been my favorite part of this game so far
I also love that those run outs scared UK to not having one guy going after the offensive glass despite their huge size advantage. Multiple times we've had five Hokies boxing out ghosts. It's been a great effort so far
Omg Blackshear. Knocking down the 3 ball and making spin move layups?!
Great last 7 minutes of the first half. Team answered a 9-0 Ky run with a 10-0 run of their own. We need to withstand the initial second half surge by the Wildcats.
I'm very well pleased with what I've seen in the first half. Our dudes are out there hustling.
That first half was very sloppy but we still came out with a 6 point lead. If we can clean it up, and Kentucky cools off from 3 we could have a dominant win on the road.. Very happy with how this has played out so far. Gotta keep Blackshear out of foul trouble and keep playing our style. One more half boys. Let's get it!!
Kentucky boards are losing their minds.... we have not played our best and up at half. I like this whole buzzketball thing
Kentucky game thread
Every time I look at another schools message board I can't help but appreciate the TKP layout and how much better it is. Thanks Joe!
Only site that I've been to that's as good as ours is eleven warriors
Where's PJ? Thought we'd see him by now.
Here we go boys! (and girls)
Kentucky hits a three: Dick Vitale nearly reaches climax
Virginia Tech hits a three: "three points for Virginia Tech"
Do my ears deceive me?! A compliment for Tech from Dickie V.
62% in the first half
Not sure why all the hate for Dickie V, he just said our first half offensive performance was amazing. Give the man a break, he's better than Tommy Tuberville and those clowns that worked the LOLUVA football game.
EDIT: He's also raved several times over Bibbs and what he means to this team.
Even with the score close the entire half, i kept hearing the announcers talking up the 3s for Kentucky. All I kept thinking was that Kentucky's playing with a pace and shot selection that does not go to their strengths, and despite them making the 3s, I was pretty happy they kept shooting them.
I don't think the Hokies have anyone in foul trouble, and I really think that is because KY was settling for the outside shots.
WHY THE FUCK ARE WE SO TIMID AGAINST FULL COURT PRESS
Well that halftime didn't go well for the Hokies. Jesus the XM UK color commentator keeps calling three point shots "Tres" and he needs to stop.
KJ with two quick fouls this half hurts and Ky on a run now.
Absolutely terrible against the press. KJ with 2 stupid fouls to send him to the bench. Knox taking over. Pretty much a worst case scenario for how this half could have started
HOW THE HELL WAS THAT A FOUL ON CLARKE
Quick whistle against the Hokies this half
Weathering the initial punch to start the half.
I like how quiet RUPP has been most of the game
Ky is starting to crash the offensive glass now. We need to push the floor now when we get a defensive rebound.
i swear half of uk's points are from offensive rebound tap ins
Yup. And we knew that would be the case. Just got to make shots on the other end.
This half that is true. They weren't hitting the offensive glass as much in the first half. They are now and we don't have an answer. KJ with his 3 fouls might be a defensive liability, too.
Sheesh we gotta play some defense. I wanna see a bit of fresh legs with Bede and Horne for at least a couple minutes and maybe throw Wilson some minutes as well for defensive purposes
Gotta start boxing out like we were in the first half we're letting them control the glass again
All of those questionable foul calls to start the half are going to kill our rebounding the rest of the way.
Hopefully foul trouble is not too bad and we can go full tilt for the last 5-7 minutes.
UK with 30 points off turnovers.......
We're keeping them in this game. 30 points off of 16 turnovers. Cut turnover in half and presumably points off turnovers in half and suddenly we have a nice lead.
And we're still only down by 1.
Yes! Certainly the turnovers are bad. But even with the sloppy play, we are right in this thing.
Refs are killing us in the second half.
Loving Clarke pushing the pace off a rebound. He reminds me alot of Iguodala
Wow, Kentucky is getting serious home cooking. JROBB's foul was BS. The Kentucky player pushed off. It's 8-4 in fouls against us and they have been in the bonus since 13.5 min left.
Refs are starting to even it our but the damage might have been done.
Not a basketball expert, certainly didnt look like a foul to me. Any insight I'm missing?
This is fun to watch; there are two teams full of playmakers in this game. Every game in the ACC should be entertaining.
That looked like a reach in by Kentucky, NAW clearly had possession.
I thought the Ky was out of bounds too.
Wouldn't bother me except the refs swallowed their whistles on the scrum for the ball earlier that led to a UK basket and call a jump ball almost immediately this time
You mean the reach in that made it ky ball. Yeah go home cooking
Lets not kid ourselves, turnovers are killing us much more than the refs. There have been questionable calls but 18 TO's isn't gonna win ball games.
You mean like when Blackshear was pushed and called for traveling, or the hesitation that the Kentucky player was doing on his freethrows to draw lane violations, and now the missed offensive basket interference on Kentucky with the ball above the rim. Yeah, turnovers hurt, but, this has been very one-sided in the 2nd half. Still proud to see the Hokies hanging in there.
You can't control the refs. You can control turnovers and sloppy plays. We've looked incompetent at times vs the press today. Yeah the refs have been bad, but we haven't exactly put ourselves in a position to win either.
Also as a side note, Blackshear wasn't really pushed, he ran into the defender and then appeared to just fall asleep? Not really sure but that's a good no call IMO.
NAW has been very unimpressive today.. Was expecting more out of him in a big time matchup
WTF, Blackshear was pushed.
KBJ shows us flashes of greatness and flashes of "I have no idea what I'm doing" all in the same game.
Blackshear knocked off balance, they call travel.
Turnovers are going to be the story of this game.
If we can protect the ball the rest of the way we can win this thing
EFFIN bS. Blackshear was fouled on the his last two buckets and then they call that on him.
Refs suck. Home cooking on those lane violation calls
Holy shit I'm actually watching refs try and take the spotlight......what the what?!
EDIT: The second one on Clarke was accurate...sadly. But still my lord they want to be the center of attention.
Except the shooter started his shooting motion and then stopped, which is illegal.
Yeah, he was in the lane because the shooter was hesitating on his shot.
If we lose by 1 after back to back lane violations leading to a made free throw. Ugh
Those lane violations were horseshit. The shooter faked the first two shots.
Wish the hell vitale would retire. He's such a blue blood homer.
His voice is also incredibly annoying.
The refs are getting worse.
Didn't know it was possible to have home cooking be this obvious. What an absolute joke. They've completely dictated the 2nd half and given Kentucky the game. Doesn't help that we haven't even attempted a 3 in like 10 minutes
Even the announcers talking about ky walked and it wasn't called.
"A season high 10 made three's for the Cats today"
Sure would be nice if Blackshear decided to get his head out of his ass this game. He's been terrible today.
He's had flashes of *really good* and then the switch turns off and he goes back to looking like he can't control his limbs
How has he been terrible? He's scored 17 and been hampered on the defensive end with foul trouble in the second half.
Because of lazy ass shit like that last foul
I'll give you that was a bad play, but what we see from him is what he is.
definitely matters more than his 17 points, yeah
He's literally the only reason we stayed in it in the second half
Missed an obvious travel there too
Not sure if anyone knows but Kentucky has made more threes than us today.
I never would have guessed.
via GIPHY
but are they taller?! /s
Fuck these officials. That is all
You've got to be kidding me...
Why is alexander in the doghouse?
Because of the unforced errors in the first half. Too much of a rookie.
These officials aren't bad. We aren't disciplined at all. We are making way way too many mental mistakes
These officials aren't good...
We have our problems but the officials have come up with multiple, crazy calls that have had major impact on the game.
I view this as:
1. We have played good but not great and
2. The officials in the second half have been bad.
This leaves me optimistic about our ability to win games if we play well and have quality officials.
You never call that under the basket. Complete BS. He has the right to the spot to block out under the hoop.
Crap KJ gone.
Really, they are fouling out kbj rather than calling a foul on ky
HOW WAS THAT NOT GOALTENDING
Goaltending?!!!!
Welp
We earned that loss. Got way too out of control for long stretches over the course of this second half. Can't just piss away possessions like we did today and expect to win.
lol
Fuck Dick Vitale
Turnovers and not closing out on the perimeter hurt us this game, period! Great game though by the boys, we fought hard in a hostile environment.
The unforced errors are just unacceptably bad. Can't complain about the loss when you throw a game away like that.
Clarke and Blackshear both had stretches where they just weren't on the same page as the rest of the team. You expect more out of them
Well shit
Turnovers, man
Good efforts by vt, but we couldn't beat ky and the home cooking by the refs in the second half.
Good efforts by vt, but we couldn't beat ky by turning the ball over 19 times and playing sloppy
home cooking by the refs in the second half.No I meant what I said. The turnovers were bad but the refs were worse.
Yeah the refs made some questionable calls. But like I said above, we can't control that. If we don't turn the ball over 19 times and don't make some silly mistakes we win this game. The refs had almost nothing to do with the outcome. We put ourselves in a bad position by being sloppy and making mistakes, and even then we were still in the game till the end. Great effort by our boys! Clean it up and take care of the rock and we'll make plenty of noise!
You can't say the refs had nothing to do with the outcome when KY was in the bonus for 13 minutes of the second half AND it was a 1 possession game with under 2 minutes to go.
You can say that our turnovers kept us from having a quality lead with 5 minutes to go.
There can be multiple reasons VT did not win today and both can be valid. It is true that the turnovers is the only one the players can control.
We clean up those turnovers and we almost certainly win the game. Plain and simple. Were the refs bad? Yes. I don't think anybody watching the game would say otherwise, they made some questionable calls. But again, its outside of our control. We take care of business and boom, we get the dub. Can there be multiple reasons we lost today? Of course. But by far and away the biggest reason is turnovers.
Control what you can control and then you don't have to worry about the subjectivity of referee calls.
Watched the game with the neighbor's boy friend, a U.K. Alum. He was surprised how good we looked. He felt like the the refs were doing some home cooking, but they always do a Rupp, one reason it's hard to wind there, like in most blue blood arenas. Other than that the biggest reason he felt they won was that their threes went in. Usually Calipari was having to pull players for jacking up bad shots, but he left them in this time because they were falling. Said we would have beat them at a neutral site, and would not like to see us in the NCAA's. I told him his team was young and super talented, and I hoped we did not see them unless it meant we got to the later rounds.
Fucking call the goaltending
Turnovers... end of story
I love that Clarke NEVER will back down
Well... Played hard in a tough environment. Three things stand out:
1. The officials straight took over in the second half.
2. We didn't shoot nearly enough three's in the second half.
3. Turnovers... Very sloppy game. But even with that, we were right in this thing till the end. If we can clean that stuff up even a little bit, we will have a great season!
💯
Stop fouling already! Just making the score worse
You want the score to look better by quitting? Even if it is 1/100, keep playing.
When it is a three score game with eight seconds, you aren't going to win. There is such a thing a losing with dignity.
And quitting is not dignified. If it is under 10 points keep playing. Ask Reggie Miller if the Pacers should have just lost with dignity against the Knicks in the playoffs.
Really good showing by the squad. I'm curious why we essentially abandoned the 3 in the second half, but it is what it is. We made it respectable, and showed we can play with anyone even when the 3 isnt dropping.
I know the response to this is second nature (Buzz. System. Guards, speed, blah)
But it sucks not being able to get rebounds or adequately defend guys 6'8 and above in these games
We got a ton of rebounds in the first half. Rebounding is as much about position as it is about height.
So we're instantly disadvantaged by 50%?
I thought we did a pretty good job defending down low today. UK just absolutely buried us with 3s.
The worst part about the turnover issue is it shows that we have the talent to compete with teams like this. Sloppy turnovers and a little bit of poor officiating were the difference makers, not a talent differential.
Really nothing good to say.
Just lost to a bad Kentucky team.
I don't think we watched the same game
What are you talking about? We went into a full Rupp and gave UK a close game with the officials completely controlling the pace.
Ah yes, I remember HokieHonor. The guy who said "Fuck Buzz"
I just won't post on here anymore.
If all you have to say is negative things about our teams then idk what else to tell ya
If you had said there were a lot of made 3's in this game I would not have been surprised. If you had said that Kentucky was the team making most of those 3's and that we didn't convert one from deep in the second half till really late I would have been very surprised. They stole our thunder dammit!
We won't beat many teams when they shoot 15% above their 3pt percentage and we have 19 turnovers and it's in their building. I was actually very happy overall how we kept them out of the paint. Sure we gave up some offensive rebounds but that's always expected with us.
Robinson was great as usual, they had no answer for Blackshear offensively for most of the game and that was the quietest 20 points from Hill ever.
I can accept the turnovers when it is a byproduct of pushing the ball or quick ball movement. I hated the number of turnovers due to the full court pressure, NAW picking up his dribble or by Clarke at the top of 3 point line. I think we will have seen the worst of those errors of the season today.
Refs suck when we win too. Good game. Good learning experience.
There can be multiple reasons VT did not win today (officiating and turnover) and both can be valid. If one were changed, the outcome of the game likely would have been different. Fortunately players can control if they have turnovers or not.
We didn't even play well and took a top-10 UK team down to the final minute in Rupp arena. You can say there are no moral victories but this game was a good sign.
Why did we abandon the 3 in the second half and why did NAW look like he had no clue where he was half the time he was out there?
Great effort by the guys, but a really sloppy game and really questionable officiating lead to a loss on the road. Could have won this game, but we really gave it away with our stupid turnovers and settling for contested shots down low against their length instead of trying to play out at the perimeter. We didn't play to our strength in the 2nd half and it cost us.
News flash: college basketball refs are bad. They'll never be good. We lost a hard fought game. This will pay off in ACC play
We had 19 to their 11 turnovers, although a couple called on us were not turnovers.
Rebounds 30-33 for UK, not bad.
We had 22 fouls to their 16, but, it was 16 to 10 in the 2nd half in their favor and we got 7 of them in the first 6.5mins. That really took it's toll. Buzz should be able to clean up the mistakes. I Don't see UK as #8 in the country.
We'll see, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see KY end up in the Elite 8. They have all the ingredients, just need experience.
Not happy with the outcome, but VT made a good showing in a very hard place to win (Rupp). Clean up the turnovers and make FTs down the stretch and we are talking about anybody's game at the end.
1) We didn't shoot enough 3s in the second half. Missed 3 in a row early then back off of them entirely.
2) Couldn't defend the 3 worth shit for most of the game. Defensive rotations weren't good.
3) Still think we played well and would have beaten UK 4 out of 10 times. Clarke and KJ looked good minus the fouls.
Guys I'm feeling really down rn and Hokie fan. We had this game so close just need to stop the turnovers. I feel like we're always so close in football and basketball but just not getting that little nudge over the edge to greatness. Saw a lot of potential in our game today but was confused why no threes were even attempted until last minute when Hill was knocking them down. Then again UK being so young I only expect to improve as the year goes on.
We played on the road against a ranked team. It's not like we were expected to win and blew it. Chin up, we'll pull upsets this year.
Although the result was not in the Hokies favor, I feel pretty confident going into ACC play (two more non-conference games remaining). Realistically, finishing 6th to 7th in the ACC is expected out of this team.
I mean... We didn't play well enough to win. Too many times we just literally threw the ball to a UK player or straight threw the ball out of bounds. I can accept turnovers because of good defense, but that's not the cause for what happened today. We just made too many bad plays to win.
But let's be real. If that's the biggest complaint about a close loss on the road against the #8 team in the country, you have a very good team. This game was a luxury. Win and it vaults us, lose and it's not really a big deal. We lose like this, and it could be one of those games the team learns from and uses it to pull off huge wins in ACC play.
I don't think that Horne had *any* minutes. Surprised, he has given some quality effort this year.
Yeah I was wondering the same
This hits like the Bristol game
Ugh. Don't remind me. I don't think I've ever been more disgusted after a football game.
That's actually a good comparison. A "no lose" game against a top 10 opponent where we really just shot ourselves in the foot. Luckily we play 30 basketball games instead of 12.
I hope we play them again soon. I would even be ok with like a 3 for 1 deal with UK.
Well that sucked. Great effort by the team. But yeah. Fully, frontal, fisting from the officials.
Turnovers and lack of height if what lost us this very winnable game. I still like the overall effort and expect this season to be a fun one to watch
If this team can keep the turnovers under control, especially in road games, there is no reason we cannot win the league.
There might be another BAG out there that isn't our own that will LEY a big bet against this statement.
We didn't lose because of officiating, like has been pointed out above the refs pretty much always suck, win or lose. NAW seemed lost in the press, and it seemed to me that we were wearing down a bit towards the end and didn't bring the same energy we had in the first half. Props to Kentucky for exploiting our turnovers, props to our guys for their rebounding against a taller team and their scrapping to the end. And if you didn't think it was a good game, you're crazy. No, it didn't go our way, but it was fun, exciting, and really cool to see the Hokies play that well in that venue against that team. To know we had a good chance to whip 'em helps ease the sting a little bit, and I agree with all who have said that we should make a splash in the ACC. And while I'm at it, props to Buzz for scheduling that game.
Loved watching the Hokies give Kentucky a great game at Rupp, and I echo props to Buzz for getting this one on the schedule. My biggest ? came from departure from the perimeter offense in the 2nd half. We seemed to execute it so well in the 1st half, and Hill was on his 3-game. Then in the 2nd half we started going inside on every play - not working our 3-point game at all. And Hill was on the bench for a stretch in the 2nd half when it felt like we really needed him in there taking some 3's. Our game plan worked well in the 1st half - why didn't we stick to it in the 2nd? I know KY turned up the heat with their press in the 2nd half but still.
Calipari answered this in his presser. I didn't have a place to put it in my write up so I'll answer it here.
He said that he told his players that if they didn't close out on every single perimeter pass, he was taking them out. I don't think Tech moved away from their gameplan, it's just that Kentucky adjusted and made it more difficult.
Bingo. It was clear that KY took away the easy 3 looks for us in the 2nd Half.
Good to know. I just noticed that we weren't slinging the ball around to get our open shots -- guess I didn't give Kentucky enough credit for shutting that down. Those Cats do have some wingspans! Still not a bad performance from Tech. You can bet they'll be more than ready for the next press that comes at 'em.
Wow, what a game.
VT was in that all the way to the end. Just needed a few more misses by Kentucky, which they weren't willing to concede.