Buzzketball Central: Virginia Tech Hokies (16-3, 5-2) at Miami Hurricanes (9-10, 1-6) 7PM ESPN2

Game day!We seek our second ACC road win🏀 vs. Miami (Fla.)📍 Coral Gables, Fla.🕚 7 p.m. ET📈 https://t.co/x0LoDRFkHL📻 https://t.co/Y5WNSie1Vm📺 ESPN2💻 https://t.co/Tp5qxqKA07#getBETTER | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/Vx5rYtzTxZ— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 30, 2019

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: January 30th, 2019 / 7 PM
Opponent: Miami
Site: Coral Gables, Florida (Watsco Center)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV: ESPN2
Talent: Mike Couzens & Jordan Cornette
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Sirius: 121 XM: 201 Internet: 968

.@JustinBibbs10 leads this afternoon's TOP #NBAGLeague performances with a SEASON-HIGH 30 PTS & 6 triples in the @maineredclaws' Wednesday win 🦞@HokiesMBB ↗️ @maineredclaws pic.twitter.com/PPc5l6pq7A— NBA G League (@nbagleague) January 30, 2019

Back in the Saddle

Buzzketball heads to Coral Gables looking to add its sixth ACC win on the season. The first step is to focus on beating a downtrodden Miami team. Miami comes in having lost three in a row, during which time they received the news that Dewan Hernandez, 6'11, 235 Lbs, (rated 27th overall in class of 2016), was facing missing this entire season and 40% of next season in a ruling by the NCAA. He instead decided to withdraw from school and prepare for the draft. Hernandez was expected to be a big piece this season for the Hurricanes so that leaves a gaping hole in their starting five. The Hurricanes also lost their primary big reserve in Deng Gak, 6'11, 195 Lbs after eight games to a leg injury that will keep him out all season.

The main concern in this game will likely be the environment. Miami struggles to pack the arena when they are contending so now that they are at the bottom of the ACC it is likely to be a very light crowd. This will be the thirty seventh meeting between the Hokies and Hurricanes. Miami leads the all-time series 22-14. The Hurricanes are 9-6 at home this season while the Hokies are 5-3 on the road or at neutral sites.

The Hurricanes are coached by Jim Larranaga, who has been at Miami since 2011. Miami has won at least twenty games in six of his seven seasons, but do not appear to have that on the horizon this season. Larranaga has taken the Hurricanes to four NCAA tournament berths. He also guided them to an ACC Championship both in the regular season and tournament in 2012-2013. Larranaga is currently 170-89 as head coach of Miami, while 640-423 overall with other coaching stops at George Mason, Bowling Green, and American International.

Defensively, Miami runs three different defensive schemes, primarily playing a high pressure man to man which usually rotates into the Scramble defense which is essentially a man to man defense with some zone trapping techniques utilized and then rounding it out with a curveball they call a 3-2 Disrupting Camouflage Defense which is a high pressure, perimeter zone defense that sags to the middle of the court. The 3-2 Disrupting Camouflage is almost the reverse of the Scramble defense. This defense has players back off their offensive players as if they were going to trap but then they shift into passing lanes rather than close the trap.

Offensively, the Hurricanes switch between a four out, one in and a three out, two in Motion Offense, based on the personnel on the floor. This season, with a void of talent, the Hurricanes have primarily used the four out, one in. When Miami is in with two bigs, those bigs typically rotate between the top and bottom of the lane to create gaps in the defensive coverage while also opening up opportunities for the guards to drive to the basket. The Hurricanes usually attempt 23 threes per game but this is a game against the Hokies, where everyone seems to add 5-10 attempts. The silver lining is that the Hurricanes are only hitting 34% of their perimeter shots.

Hurricanes Backcourt

Chris Lykes, (#0), 5'7, 160 lbs Sophomore Guard has become the central point of this team and is averaging 16.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.5 APG. Lykes has been called upon to play almost double the minutes he played last season. He is shooting 43% overall, 32% from outside and 79% from the line.

Zach Johnson (#5) 6'2, 195 Lbs Senior Guard is a graduate transfer from Florida Gulf Coast. He is averaging 13.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1 SPG. He is shooting 32% from behind the arc and 43% overall. Also shoots 65% from the line.

Anthony Lawrence Jr., (#3) 6'7, 185 Senior Guard comes in averaging 12.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.4 SPG. He is shooting 35% from outside, 46% overall and at the free throw line, shooting 71%.

Dejan Vasilkevic, (#1) 6'3, 198 Lbs Junior Guard is averaging 11.6 PPG 4.5 RPG and 1.4 APG. So far this season he is shooting 43% inside, 42% from behind the arc and 91% from the line. He is their only reliable perimeter shooter this season.

Anthony Mack, (#13), 6'6, 218 Lbs Freshman Guard is essentially the only reserve guard, seeing about 16 minutes per game while the four starters all play over 31 minutes per contest. He is averaging 3.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 1 APG. He shoots 30% from the field and 31% from outside. He also only hits 50% of his free throw attempts.

Hurricanes Frontcourt

Ebuka Izundu, (#15) 6'10, 205 Lbs Senior Forward has been forced into a much larger role than his first three seasons called for with the suspension of Hernandez and the injury to Gak. He has essentially doubled his production compared to last year, averaging 11.5 PPG, 9.1 RPG and 1.3 APG. He is shooting 64% overall, 33% from the perimeter, and 71% from the line.

Sam Waardenburg, (#21), 6'9, 205 Lbs Sophomore Forward is averaging 5.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.2 APG. Waardenburg is shooting 48% inside and 28% inside. He is only a 70% free throw shooter.

What to expect from Miami?

The Hurricanes have greatly improved their foul discipline over last season so its unlikely they will be in foul trouble early. They are only being whistled 15 times a game so far this season.
Miami scoring is quite evenly spread across its starting five, then it essentially hits a cliff, as the roster doesn't go much more than seven deep. All five starters average double digit scoring though so there really isn't a primary focus point.

The Hokies need to disrupt the offensive rebounding in this contest either by having position to rebound or cleanly blocking the second attempt. They can ill afford to give the Hurricanes second chances. The Hurricanes average 19 points per contest on second chance opportunities so far this season.

The Hurricanes guards are very adept at creating steals, with three of five starters averaging over a steal per contest. Turnovers could give the Hurricanes a way to keep this game close.

The Hokies

Justin Robinson is Virginia Tech's all-time leader in assists, the ACC's assist leader and a true floor general. Basically, he's a dime machine. #getBETTER🦃 (@HokiesMBB, @5Alive_ ) pic.twitter.com/HOIXYc59n7— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) January 29, 2019

This game might be a high scoring affair depending on how the Hurricanes shoot the ball, with the fast paced offense that both these squads run. The Hokies just need to remember what got them to where they are now. Shooting the ball proficiently. The Hokies need to find that rhythm of turning energetic defense into a quick scoring offense today. They should be able to keep the Hurricanes a step behind if they force early turnovers, get out in transition and take confident shots.

Robinson and Nickiel Alexander Walker need to drive the basketball today to keep the Miami defense on its heels. This will open up perimeter shooting for Outlaw, Hill and others, which is critical considering the Hurricanes only allow opponents to shoot 33% from outside.

Blackshear needs to have a big night and body up Izundu to create fouls. Considering the Hurricanes depth issues, getting Izundu in trouble early could create a major void in the Canes defense. The same is true on the other end. Limiting Miami on the offensive glass is a huge plus because of how poorly they have shot the ball this season.

In Closing

If the Hokies can get Blackshear and Hill going while maintaining everyone else contributing than this game should end the Hokies way. This is a team that is very susceptible to the inside out game, so forcing Miami to react to both the perimeter and the lane is critical.

The Miami bigs have a tendency to get in foul trouble so providing NAW and Robinson the space to drive inside along with Blackshear being able to draw contact down low could force Larranaga out of his game plan. The less of 6'10 and 6'11 that see the floor against the Hokies the better off we are in this contest.

This is not an absolute must win considering the Hokies current record but every win going forward only improves the Hokies seeding come the tournament.

Hokies win 81-63 on the road because they come out like a team and everyone does their part.

My #OneWord for 2019 is 'DEAD' I want to be DEAD: to ego, to comparison, to judging others, to selfishness, to complaining, to approval of man, to anxiousness, to frustration of anything out of my control.What's your #OneWord for 2019? pic.twitter.com/IHDVyKSjYV— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) January 17, 2019