BUZZKETBALL CENTRAL: #22 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (19-5, 8-4) AT PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (12-13, 2-10) 430PM RSN/ACCNE

Game day!We're going for our fourth ACC road win🏀 vs. Pitt📍 Pittsburgh, Pa.🕚 4:30 p.m. ET📈 https://t.co/x0LoDRFkHL📻 https://t.co/Y5WNSie1Vm📺 https://t.co/ayo8vCU9aP💻 https://t.co/Qt9l1JGCdp#getBETTER | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/DuYno4AhUQ— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 16, 2019

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb 16 430 PM
Opponent: Pittsburgh Panthers
Site: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser and Mike Burnop
TV: RSN/ACCNE
Talent: Bob Rathbun & Brian Oliver
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Sirius: 134 XM: 193 Internet: 955
Look for this game on your local channels. DC Market is usually Fox playing these games this year.

Win those you Should Even when you are challenged

Buzzketball takes last place Pitt on the road. This should a rather overmatched conference opponent but it all depends on which version of the Hokies comes out on the court. Will we see the team that moved the ball, played tenacious defense and seemed to be in control of the majority of the game against Georgia Tech or will we see the offensively challenged, a step slow on defense, down and out team that showed up against Clemson? That goes a long way to decide who leaves the arena today with a victory. While no conference opponent can be overlooked, this should not be a game that the Hokies allow to remain close. The Hokies absolutely have to win this game to keep itself in the current rankings posture as the Panthers are not good enough to strengthen the Hokies schedule much if the Hokies take a loss.

This will be the Fifteenth meeting between the Hokies and Panthers. The series is currently tied 7-7. The Hokies have won the last three matchups. The Panthers at 12-13 and 2-10 in conference have had little to celebrate since conference play began. Their two conference wins are surprisingly over Louisville and Florida State, both at home, so it shows the Panthers can get focused enough to take down better teams.

The Panthers are coached by former Duke Assistant Head Coach Jeff Capel, who is in his first season trying to put the Panthers program back together after a couple of terrible seasons for Pitt due to bad coaching decisions and poor recruiting. The Panthers came out in the out of conference and surprised many with how competitive they were in such a short time under Capel. Capel has a 187-121 record as a head coach with two previous stops at VCU and Oklahoma. He then spent seven seasons sitting next to Coach K at Duke which likely prepared him to quickly incorporate key freshman into his team with how often Duke turns over players.

Defensively, the Panthers rely on the 2-3 zone, mainly to try to mask deficiencies in their defensive capabilities. Pitt is currently holding opponents to 32% shooting from behind the arc but struggles more inside where opponents are hitting almost 45% of their shots. They do rebound fairly well which limits second chance opportunities. They are well disciplined, and do not foul often or allow much in the way of transition baskets.

Offensively, Pitt has made significant strides over the last two seasons. They rarely turn the ball over, currently 34th in the nation. Coach Capel favors a progressive looking motion offense, utilizing multiple wings rather than bigs, running essentially a five guard set. One area of focus for the Panthers is utilizing pick and rolls for penetration into the lane. It is a major part of their offense.

Panthers Backcourt

Xavier Johnson (#1) 6'3, 190 Lbs Freshman Guard from Northern Virginia comes in averaging 16.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 4.5 APG and 1.2 SPG. He is shooting 39% from outside, 46% from inside, and 81% at the free throw line. In any other league, Johnson would be the leading candidate for Freshman of the Year. He is known for his quick first step and ability to drive inside.

Trey McGowens, (#2) 6'3, 185 Lbs Freshman guard out of Hargrave Military Academy is averaging 12.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.8 APG and 2.1 SPG. He is shooting 29% from behind the arc and 47% inside. McGowens has been nothing short of phenomenal so far for the Panthers. He has stepped right in and become known as much for his great individual defense, causing havoc with opposing teams primary ball handler than his scoring.

Jared Wilson-Frame, (#4) 6'5, 220 lbs Senior Guard is averaging 12 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.5 APG. He is an amazing outside shooter for the Panthers which is not a good thing for opponents. He is averaging 40% on seven attempts per game. He is also shooting 45% inside. He is a terrific free throw shooter hitting from the line at an 81% clip.

Au'Diese Toney, (#5) 6'6, 210 Lbs, is the third Freshman contributing important minutes to the Panthers so far this season. He is averaging 8.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and .5 APG. Toney is shooting 25% from outside, 42% inside, and 71% from the line.

Malik Ellison, (#3) 6'6, 215 Lbs, Junior Guard is averaging 6.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 1.4 APG. Ellison is shooting 14% from outside, 49% inside, and 51% from the line.

Panthers Frontcourt

Terrell Brown, (#21) 6'10, 230 Lbs Sophomore Forward is averaging 5.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG. He comes in shooting 50% from the inside the perimeter and 65% of his free throws. If he can stay out of foul trouble, expect the Panthers to utilize his size quite often against the Hokies. He may see more floor time than normal because of Blackshear being on the court.

Kene Chukwuka, (#15), 6'9, 225 Lbs Junior Forward is averaging 3.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG.

What to expect from Pitt?

The Panthers rely on a rotation of seven to nine players, with the starting five predominantly freshman with a renewed focus this year of getting to the basket, as they only hit about 7 three pointers per game. This is a much different offense than most the Hokies have seen this season. One area they must be careful of is to avoid reach in fouls as the Panthers guards drive into the paint. The Panthers force opponents into 20+ fouls per contest so far this season albeit against mostly inferior defensive skillsets. This also contributes to the almost 24 free throw attempts per contest the Panthers are currently averaging.

Pitt has six players that average more than 2 fouls per game and against much less athletic, aggressive offensive players than the Hokies bring to the floor. If that happens today, they will be forced to rely more on their bench players which would be a huge boost for the Hokies. Scoring goes down, talent goes down, and pressure goes up.

The Panthers 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 after initial dribble drive penetration by a guard. This will usually be with Johnson 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. This is a team with very similar energy and speed so this likely comes down to execution. Tech needs to be prepared to do so at a very high level. Even with Pitt coming in on an eight game skid many of those contests were very competitive. With Robinson still out, this makes it a lot closer.

The Hokies defensively need to prevent interior passing and also disrupt dribble penetration from the Pitt guards. They need to be aware of quite a few back door follow up drives by Pitt shooters. This is one of the games where Horne and his knack for shutting down the baseline could be very important as the Panthers use the baseline drive quite often.

Ahmed Hill and Ty Outlaw need to have a good day at the office tonight. Shooting from the arc needs to probably be around 45% for the Hokies to stretch a decent lead to a blowout. This could be one of the few ACC games where the bench gets involved.

Defensively this game is fairly balanced but unless Pitt plays a big significantly more than normal, Blackshear needs to have a monster game underneath on both ends of the court.

In Closing

Pitt 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. Having Horne available even for short bursts is a huge plus in this game. This is one of the only ACC teams the Hokies face with such a focus on scoring inside the perimeter. The Hokies have to prevent Wilson-Frame from having a huge game from the perimeter.

The offense has to be operating at a fluid clip. The Hokies should have mismatches at almost every position in terms of talent on the offensive end so using that to their advantage and getting the Pitt guards in foul trouble could play a key role in a Hokies win.

Hokies overcome some early sloppy play and win 73-65.