BUZZKETBALL CENTRAL: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT BLUE DEVILS (4-4) AT VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (5-1) 5PM ACCNE 12/1/2018

We'll see you tomorrow at 🖐#getBETTER | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/57jg3B80wM— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 30, 2018

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: December 1st 5PM
Opponent: Central Connecticut Blue Devils
Site: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV: ACCNE
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
SXM 194 (Streaming 956)

Licking their Wounds, No Time to Slouch

Buzzketball comes back to Cassell after a frustrating bogged down loss to Penn State on Tuesday. They will be facing an unfamiliar foe with a hated mascot. This is a very different Blue Devils team that comes to Cassell this Saturday. This is the first game between the Hokies and Central Connecticut. Those fans hoping to see a stress free blowout after dealing with the stress of watching the football team take on Marshall, might want to find a different activity than watching this game because its likely to be a lot closer than many were expecting.

The Blue Devils are coached by Donyell Marshall, in his third year at the helm of Central Connecticut. Many of you will recognize the name from his 15 years bouncing around the NBA. He spent time on eight different teams after being drafted 4th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves out of UConn. In the two previous years, his teams have yet to make the postseason or even have a winning season. Marshall spent time as an assistant coach at George Washington, Maine, Rider, and Buffalo before being hire as the head coach at Central Connecticut.

Marshall is 24-45 at Central Connecticut as a head coach. So far this season the Blue Devils are 4-4 with wins over Hartford, UMASS Lowell, Florida A&M, and Pine Manor. Their losses have come against Georgetown, Appalachian State, North Carolina A&T and Louisiana Monroe. Even though they haven't had a winning season yet under Marshall, their 14 wins last season was the highest in over six years, so marked improvement over where the program was before he took over. One reason he has enjoyed early success is the use of JUCO recruitment to help fill the ranks. He brought in seven JUCO players in the last two seasons.

Defensively, the Blue Devils primarily use a two three zone. They especially focus on perimeter shooter closeouts which leave their bigs sometimes exposed underneath in terms of positioning, size and strength. The Blue Devils have allowed opponents to shoot only 32% from outside. The defense was extremely effective against Georgetown, where they took a lead with 12 minutes to go and only trailed by two with four minutes left in what was ultimately a 7 point loss.

Offensively, Central Connecticut under Marshall is a bit of an enigma as I couldn't find much in the way of written or video of the Blue Devils on offense. Their shooting percentage as a team has jumped significantly since Marshall took over, leaping over 130 spots in the rankings. They have seen marked improvement in their three point shot, but considering that Marshall was a three point savant in the NBA this isn't exactly surprising that he could coach players up on shooting the ball. They have an obvious focus on defensive rebounding as well to spark their offense, as they have outrebounded opponents on the defensive end by 30 through 7 games. One other aspect of this differential though is the Blue Devils ability to get the ball in the basket, currently outshooting opponents 50% to 42%, giving opponents fewer defensive rebounding opportunities.

Blue Devils Backcourt

Senior Guard Tyler Kohl-Ross (#1), 6'5, 220 lbs, is in his second season starting for the Blue Devils after JUCO transfer from Mineral Area College. He is averaging 22.9 PPG, while also pulling down 8 RPG and dishing out 5.1 APG. He is shooting 48% from the field but 36% outside so far and is making 89% of his free throws. He also contributes 1.4 SPG on the defensive end, while racking up 2.7 fouls. Kohl-Ross is literally a one man show when he gets rolling but he does have help when he needs it.

Freshman Guard Ian Krishnan, (#3), 6'2, 180 Lbs is averaging 15.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.1 APG. He has grabbed 1.3 SPG as well as half a block per game. He is hitting 51% from the field while hitting 45% of his three pointers. He is also hitting 78% of his free throws. If the trend of almost unknowns lighting Tech up for three's continues, Krishnan is a pretty good candidate to do so. He averages over 5 attempts per contest.

Jamir Coleman (#15), 6'7, 215 Lbs Junior Guard in his first season with the Blue Devils after leading South Plains to the JUCO National Championship last season. He is averaging 10.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG so far. He also has 1 SPG and 1.5 BPG. He is shooting 56% inside and 69% outside although he only attempts about 1 per game. He is also shooting 75% from the free throw line.

Tyson Baptiste (#13), 6'2, 170 Lbs Junior Guard, is averaging 3.6 PPG, 1.3 RPG and 3.1 APG as the backup point guard when Kohl-Ross needs a breather. He is shooting 47% inside, 50% outside and 22% from the free throw line.

Blue Devils Frontcourt

Joe Hugley, (#21) 6'7, 210 lbs Junior Forward is an All American JUCO transfer in his second season with the Blue Devils, averaging 11 PPG, and 4.3 RPG while shooting 48% from inside, 50% from outside and 88% from the line. He also adds 1 SPG on the defensive end and over a half block per contest as well. Hugley comes off the bench and only sees about 18 minutes a contest.

Deon Bute, (#14), 6'9, 220 Lbs Senior Forward is the third JUCO transfer on this roster in his second season with Central Connecticut. He averages 9.3 PPG and 5 RPG. Defensively he adds 1.3 BPG. He is shooting 76% from inside and 63% from the free throw line.

Getting to Know Freshman Karrington Wallace! @kwallace_115 pic.twitter.com/0eihA5XBQg— CCSU Basketball (@CCSU_MBB) September 20, 2018

Karrington Wallace, (#23), 6'7, 200 Lbs Freshman Forward is averaging 4 PPG and 1.6 RPG. He is shooting 48% from the field and is 83% from the free throw line.

Kashaun Hicks (#2), Sophomore Forward is averaging 3.7 PPG and 2.1 RPG. He is shooting 67% inside and 33% outside while hitting 71% of his free throws.

What to expect from Central Connecticut?

The Blue Devils have an experienced group that can spread the ball around, with almost five double digit scorers on the roster. They shoot the ball exceedingly well so defending the first shot is critical against this team. The majority of the team takes its cues from Tyler Kohl-Ross but can effectively run the floor in his absence.

Central Connecticut excels on defending the perimeter, holding opponents to 32% on 24 attempts per contest. They are effective in getting up on the shooter, preventing open looks, and this is only possible because their frontcourt is stout with some size to go with it, making penetrating the lane difficult.

Six of the top nine Blue Devils are averaging more than 2.4 fouls per contest. Bute and Hicks are averaging 3 fouls, so Coach Marshall is constantly having to adjust his players on the floor. Fortunately for Central Connecticut, their bench players have performed extremely well shooting the ball, although defensively there are some areas for improvement.

The Blue Devils also struggle with turnovers, giving the ball away on average 14.4 times a contest. The struggles especially are focused on the starting five, who account for 9.4 of the 14.4 turnovers per game.

Minutes wise, Ross-Kohl and Krishnan are averaging over 33 minutes a contest but the other three spots on the floor remain in flux with seven players seeing at least 12 minutes a contest. Coleman, Bute and Baptiste each see the floor over 20 MPG so that is the five you are most likely to see in this contest for the majority.

While the Blue Devils have yet to face a team with the talent of the Hokies, they have played closely contested games in each of their losses until this latest loss to North Carolina A&T, losing by two in both the Appalachian State and Louisiana Monroe games, and only by seven to Hoyas.

It's hard not to speculate that Central Connecticut might have looked past NC A&T, with their game against the Hokies looming two days later, as the Aggies moved to 2-5 with the win over the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils seemingly forgot how to shoot the ball against the Aggies, shooting a season low 34% from the field. This is an experienced team with a deep bench so the Hokies need to be razor focused lest they learn a similar lesson that the Blue Devils learned Thursday night.

The Hokies

The Hokies need to come out prepared for a long closely contested game, rather than the blowout many were anticipating when they saw Central Connecticut on the schedule. This opponent obviously can be beaten but with their ability to score, their size across their roster and play stiff defense, they also could be a real threat to beat the
Hokies.

Due to the size of the interior players for Central Connecticut, Blackshear needs to remain out of foul trouble. We have touched on all the reasons that Blackshear is critical for this Hokies squad in previous write ups. Being on the floor to help defend against Hugley and Bute will go a long way to securing the Hokies sixth win of the season.

Robinson and Alexander-Walker need to focus on controlled drives to the basket rather than getting caught overcommitted leading to turnovers. This team is susceptible on penetration drives by guards, while also giving up a ton of point in transition off turnovers so the Hokies need to get back to their normal 16-18 point transition burst, as opposed to the two fast break points they were able to muster in the loss to Penn State.

The Hokies rely heavily on creating open looks from outside and looked surprisingly strong doing so against Penn State in the first half, hitting 8 of 12 attempts against the team that was 6th in the nation defending the three pointer. Then came the second half where the Hokies only managed 2 more three pointers the rest of the game. It wasn't that Penn State did that much better a job defending the perimeter, it was that the Hokies stopped shooting the ball, attempting only 7 perimeter shots in the second half of a game the Hokies lost by 1. 19 attempts for a team that came into this game averaging over 26 attempts per game. They will need to get back to their normal perimeter shooting to keep the Blue Devils spread out.

One other area the Hokies need to continue to be strong is limiting opponent's free throws; where they are currently 3rd in the nation with 64 attempts from the line by opponents or less than 11 per game. Central Connecticut comes in averaging 22 trips to the line per game so something will have to give between those two stats.

In Closing

Physically, these teams will look like mirror images, with a smaller point guard, bigger wings and a traditional big on the floor. Game speed and tactics also are very similar. This game likely comes down to who executes better.

Who will be the X Factor? Do we see another breakout game from Isaiah Wilkins or maybe a strong game from P.J. Horne? Does Ian Krishnan have that three point barrage Tech opponents are notorious for bringing with them to Cassell?

Will the Hokies come out focused with distractions abounding around them? Coming off a bad loss to Penn State, having an emotional football game just prior to this game, and no update on the futures of Chris Clarke or Landers Nolley all will pose challenges to winning. The confines of Cassell filled with Hokie fans should be just what this team needs to get back on track since this game is confirmed Sold Out. Hokies win 78-71 in a game much closer than just a glance at the schedule would lead you to believe.

Do the hard things...Because that is where the growth happens 💪— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 29, 2018