Buzzketball Central: #16 Virginia Tech Hokies (26-8) at #1 Duke Blue Devils (31-5) at 930PM 29 MAR ESPN

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Mar. 29, 20189/ 930 p.m.
Opponent: Duke University
Site: Capital One Arena (The Wallet) Washington DC
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
Television: TBS
Talent: Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill & Tracy Wolfson
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Sirius:138 XM:207 Internet:974

Zion Vomitosis

Buzzketball gets a second chance at Duke, one with much different lineups now that Zion and Robinson have returned. The Hokies face a monumental task in the spotlight of Washington DC. This game comes down to two major factors. How well do the Hokies score from outside and how do the Hokies handle Duke in the paint.
This will be the fifty seventh meeting between the Hokies and Blue Devils. Duke leads the all-time series 46-11, starting all the way back in 1912. Tech could really use some of that February 26th magic to reappear in the form of someone leading a barrage from all corners.

The Blue Devils are coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who has coached Duke to a 1058-284 record, an almost 79% winning percentage. Prior to Duke, Kryzewski coached Army to a 73-59 record, giving him an overall record of 1131-343. In the 38 years that Coach K has been at the helm, Duke has only managed to not make the NCAA tournament four times, and barring the year he had surgery, and relinquished the helm in 1995, it was only his first three years as head coach that they didn't make it.
One thing to keep in mind when facing Duke is a Coach K mantra, "A winning basketball team makes the opponent react to them, whether they are on offense or defense"

This team is full of stars, with the potential to have the first three players taken in the draft, which would be the first time that has ever happened in the NBA. At first glance, having Zion back for the rematch would be thought to be all the nails in the coffin but most analysts seem to overlook that Robinson was also out and how much better this team operates with him in the game. Both teams get their best player back. Duke will be missing reserve forward Jack White with a hamstring issue, so that's 4 points and 5 rebounds not available tonight. There was question during the week whether the Hokies would be missing Ty Outlaw but that issue for the game has been resolved.

Defensively, the Blue Devils employ a high pressure attacking defense that varies its form and style based on opponents. This season had been almost exclusively 3-2 zone with Williamson and Barrett responsible for the paint and the other three "guards" locking down perimeter shooters. Its hard to refer to players like Reddish or White as guards with their overall size. Duke will also rotate into a 1-3-1 formation depending on the opponent. A couple other tenets of a Coach K defense are that his defenses involve getting all five players to play together: talking on defense, seeing the ball, and moving as the ball moves. He expects all five guys to play for the charge as a standard. He also coaches his team that defense continues until the ball is in Duke hands.

Offensively, Duke usually runs a three out, two in Motion offense, which involves the perimeter players looking for bigs at the free throw line to create space, open up driving lanes, or allowing for kickout shots from the corner and did involve a ton of lob it up and let Zion fly. The Blue Devils excel at moving without the ball so they are in the right spot to take advantage of a defensive miscue. Duke isn't exactly the fastest paced offense so the Hokies should look to speed them up if they can.

Blue Devils Backcourt

Tre Jones, (#3) 6'2, 183 Lbs, Freshman Guard makes things go for the Blue Devils on offense. He is averaging 8.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and an incredible 5.3 APG. He is shooting 25% from outside and 41% from inside this season while shooting 71% so far from the line. Jones will look to dribble penetrate to facilitate Zion, Reddish and Barrett scoring down low.

Sophomore Alex O'Connell, (#15) 6'6, 183 Lbs, Guard, comes in having been kind of an afterthought most of the season for the Blue Devils, but with Zion out he put up 20 in their win over Syracuse, going 5-8 from outside. He is putting up 4.6 PPG, 1.8 RPG, .6 APG and 1 SPG. He is averaging over 38% from outside, shooting 60% inside and is shooting 75% from the line. This is the shooter that could turn the game inside out for the Blue Devils. The Hokies need to be ever aware of his location on the outside.

Blue Devils Frontcourt

Freshman Forward Zion Williamson, #1, 6'7, 285 Lbs, is averaging 22.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 SPG and 1.7 BPG. He shoots 69% from the floor, 33% from outside and 65% from the free throw line. The combination of him and Barrett down low may be too much for the Hokies to handle.

Freshman Forward R.J. Barrett, #5, 6'7, 202 lbs is the leading scorer for Duke. Barrett is putting up 23.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, and 1 SPG. He is shooting 53% inside, 33% outside and 69% from the free throw line. The Hokies will have to be aware of Barrett's ability to find the open shooter, especially if its O'Connell.

Freshman Cam Reddish, #2, 6'8, 218 lbs this season is averaging 14 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.9 SPG. He is shooting 40% from the inside and 33% from outside while also hitting 78% of his free throws.

Junior Marques Bolden (#20) 6'11, 250 Lbs is averaging 5.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.9 BPG and will be counted on inside to cover most of what Zion's role was. Bolden is shooting 62% inside and 68% from the line.

Junior Jack White (#41) 6'7, 222 Lbs, is averaging 4.6 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1 APG, and 1.2 BPG. He will miss this game due to injury.

Javin Delaurier (#12). 6'10, 234 Lbs. is averaging 3.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1 SPG, and 1 BPG over about 14 mpg. He shoots 78% inside and 58% from the free throw line.

What to expect from Duke?

The Blue Devils play predominantly a half court high pressure defense in either man to man or zone geared towards making opponents make mistakes. Their goal is to take the ball away any way possible, limiting the number of shots that an opponent takes to instantly give them an advantage on the other end. Relentless attack on the ballhandlers so that they move from defense to offense. The ability to guard the perimeter is bolstered with the return of Zion.

The Blue Devils are the number five scoring offense in the country, averaging 85.5 PPG and only allowing opponents 66.9 PPG. That's just short of a 20 point average margin of victory so far this season. Expect Duke to use their size to get in the lane and try to overwhelm the Hokies in the paint.
Rebounding wise, the Blue Devils you would expect to be a dominating team on the glass but that really isn't the case.

Duke has six players that average over two fouls per contest Hopefully the Hokies ability to speed up the game and stretch the opponent will lead to a few more opportunities as they force defenders to reach. This could dramatically alter the course of this contest.

The Hokies

Tech needs a high paced tempo the entire game without letting up if they want to win this matchup. They have to be able to get a high number of transition baskets while forcing Duke out of its comfort zone in methodically attacking the ball. Essentially force Duke to deal with their own medicine when they are on offense. They were able to do exactly this last game and it proved invaluable in that victory.

Tech will have a tough time winning the lane on offense facing Zion and Barrett together down low so it has to be able to hit its jumpers, especially critical is hitting its perimeter shots. Tech likely needs to shoot better than 40% from outside to be a factor in this game. Duke has held opponents to 32% shooting from outside so far this year.

This may seem counterintuitive but they still need to Pound the Paint, as both NAW and Blackshear need to play a major role in this game. Getting the ball inside and forcing Duke's bigs to adjust to the Hokies challenging them inside. Hill should also play a major factor in possibly getting the Blue Devils in some foul trouble.
One thing to remember though is that Duke is averaging an unbelievable 7.5 blocks per game as a team so the

Hokies need to make sure that they get quality looks at the basket or force the defender into contact or driving into the lane will just lead to a ton of turnovers. This is one area that NAW and Robinson could get themselves in trouble, especially if they lose control of their drive, which could lead to charges.

The Hokies advantage of playing team basketball should hopefully be on full display. Smooth passing, pinpoint drives, finding open shooters. That said the Blue Devils have struggled against faster pace teams this season so the Hokies need to continue pushing the pace to keep Duke off balance.

If the Hokies take a page from UCF or UCF took a page from the Hokies that likely will be utilized, is essentially daring Tre Jones to shoot from the perimeter. UCF turned a large chunk of their game into 5 on 4 defensively.

In Closing

We need to see a game much like the last two February matchups, where Duke didn't have a chance to catch their breath. This led to fatigue in the waning moments which the Hokies were able to take full advantage of. All the arguments of talent and size go out the window when you are a step behind your opponent all night. The Hokies have speed and athleticism that Duke cannot match. They also have to make sure that they close out the game strong, rather than make the mental mistakes that UCF did late in that contest.

Duke on the other hand has a size advantage at most positions on the floor so expect Duke to back down defenders in the lane to get easy lay-ups or hook shots.

Buzz should look to stretch the floor to try to attack Duke before they even manage to get across half court so they are able to limit Duke's time to set up offensive plays but also hope to create transition baskets or foul line opportunities.

Justin Robinson. Justin Robinson. Justin Robinson. What is he able to contribute, How long can he stay on the court?

Blackshear, Blackshear, Blackshear. Jokes early in the season were made on twitter about Zion fouling out Blackshear in the shootaround. Blackshear has become much more attuned and been able to manage his foul issues but having him on the floor for the majority of the game is obviously critical to the Hokies success.

Hokies continue their domination of Duke and get a second victory over them this season, becoming the first team to ever beat Duke in the tournament after beating them in season. Hokies win 77-73.