Buzzketball Central: Ole Miss Rebels (6-2) at Virginia Tech Hokies (7-1) Noon DEC 11 ESPNU

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: December 11, 2016 / Noon
Opponent: University of Mississippi
Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser and Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ESPNU
Talent: Tom Werme & Jason Capel
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech

Nice to be on National Television, that said, if you are out watching this game, good luck fighting to keep it on for the second half once the NFL kicks off at 1.

FIVE THINGS | OLE MISS EDITION @VT_MBBall & @VT_WBBall doubleheader Tacky Sweater T-Shirts PACK CASSELL! pic.twitter.com/Zj6H4w37zk— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) December 9, 2016

Donuts on a Stick

Buzzketball plays its second of six straight home games and this is probably the strongest OOC opponent left on the Hokies schedule until they reach the post season. Let's hope that they have recovered from the rough outing against Maryland Eastern Shore as well as final exams. They must come in with a clear mindset of how important this game is since it has become clear this is not a team that can look ahead and play its best basketball. They are favorites in this game but not by a large margin. Mental Fortitude. No let downs, no hiccups.

This is an early game on a Sunday after many students have gone home but its being reported as a sell out so expect to see at least a heavy fan base in all but the student section. Ole Miss comes in to Cassell with a 6-2 record. They have solid wins over St Joes and Memphis and tough losses to #12 Creighton and Middle Tennessee State. This will be the fourth meeting between Tech and Ole Miss. The Hokies are 1-2 all time, going back to 1979, a loss in the Sugar Bowl Tournament, with our latest meeting in 2008, a 81-72 loss in the NIT.

The Rebels are coached by Andy Kennedy, who took over the program in 2006. Kennedy has had rousing success at Ole Miss outside of the SEC, but has consistently ended up middle of the pack once he reaches the conference schedule. Eight out of ten seasons, he has led Ole Miss to at least a 20 win season with five NIT berths and two NCAA tournament selections. 2012 was arguably his best season, where Ole Miss delivered a 27-9 overall record, won the SEC tournament, and made it to the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Defensively, the Rebels play almost exclusively man to man, allowing their aggressiveness and versatility to develop defense to offense, always looking for the chance to get the ball moving the other way.

Offensively, the Rebels play exactly the same way Tech does. They want to run and run some more. They prefer to take the open look from outside rather than work the ball inside. Driving the lane comes late in the shot clock. They have a couple more bigs than Tech does, but their guards do most of the scoring. They have a roster of players that are able to hit shots from the perimeter, so expect to see an abundance of outside shooting. The Rebels hit 9 threes a game so far, so closing out on the perimeter could decide the game. Their top scorer is a transfer. Their number three scorer is a transfer. Just an abundance of similarities between these two teams.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

9 https://t.co/qCaTG1KJlT pic.twitter.com/Y68uWCBZuc— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) December 8, 2016

Make sure you focus on the underlying picture behind the Tournament Logo

The Hokies have to play their game and play it much better than they did against UMES. Buzz hopefully will have reminded these guys how important coming out strong is, as this is strongest remaining OOC opponent left for the Hokies to face and could become a critical tipping point when being looked at for the Tournament and even possibly a jumping off point to the Top 25. Their opponent is experienced, well rounded and aggressive, so if the Hokies come out flat, it could be over quickly.

The Hokies need to focus their efforts critically on the defensive end in this game. Why is this so important? Because so far this season, Ole Miss has not been able to prevent anyone from scoring. They are 316th in the nation, allowing 81 PPG, so if the Hokies can limit the Ole Miss offense, which is 40th in the nation, averaging 82.8 PPG, then there is a good chance the Hokies can build a commanding lead in this game.

Another area the Hokies need to be aware of, is that Ole Miss is averaging six blocked shots per contest, so getting easy layups shouldn't be expected against this opponent. Making the next pass to a wide open shooter could pay big dividends in this game.

The Hokies need to be aware of a strong guard rotation that has found no difficulty making it to the free throw line this season, averaging over 30 attempts per game, hitting at a 73% clip as a team. That's 21 points at the charity stripe.

On the flip side of this, Ole Miss has five players averaging 2.4 fouls per game or higher, especially their bigs. Pressing the issue by getting into the bodies of bigs after they leave their feet could be a significant plus for the Hokies.

So far this season, the propensity Buzz teams have shown getting to the line just hasn't been there. Last season they were regularly in the top 10 in free throws attempted, but so far this season they are only managing about 20 trips to the line. Part of this is an improvement in shooting percentage, but secondly, they have not been as aggressive taking the ball into the interior as they did last season. They are hitting about 15 free throws per game so far so a six point discrepancy to their opponent.

Tech should have no problem finding open perimeter shooting, considering the Rebels come into this game worse than UMES at defending the outside, ranked 348th in 3PA%. Opponents shoot better than 43% from outside on this team. The key will be hitting those open shots.

This is a guard heavy offense typically so lots of ball movement is critical to its success. The Hokies need to find ways to disrupt the passing lanes and create turnovers. Ole Miss doesn't allow a terrible amount of turnovers so far but for how many they have and the strength of their opponents, it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

Rebels Backcourt

Junior Deandre Burnett, #1, 6'2, 194 lbs is having a breakout season after transferring to Ole Miss from Miami. So far this season he is averaging 21.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, while shooting 43% from outside. He attempts almost 7 three pointers per game. He also has managed to shoot 94% from the line, hitting on 63 of 67 shots, or almost 8 per game. He has a balanced ability to shoot from outside or work the ball in but if Tech can avoid fouling him, his shooting percentage overall is a lowly 37%. Bend but don't break defense is the key to slowing this guard down.

Junior Cullen Neal, #2, 6'5, 195 lbs is a graduate transfer from New Mexico. Neal is third on the team in scoring, putting up 13 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 2.6 APG. Neal is their top perimeter shooter, currently hitting at 47% on just about six attempts per game.

Sophomore guard, Terence Davis, #3, 6'4, 201 lbs in his first full season as a starter comes in averaging 11.3 PPG, 4 RPG, and 1.4 APG. His role on this team is very similar to Chris Clarke in that big bodied wing, who plays to the edge or down low, rather than the top of the key. He is also their high energy defender, so if Allen or Robinson are finding their way down low, they will likely eventually be covered by Davis.

Senior Rasheed Brooks, #14, 6'5, 201 lbs is averaging 9.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.5 APG. Brooks as much as anything is the point guard of the group, although that is a loose term in that at any point, you could see Neal or Burnett running things up top.

As a small minutes, energy guy, expect to see a bit of Freshman Breein Tyree, #4, 6'2, 190 lbs. Coach Kennedy seems to use this freshman when his team needs a spark to get things going again.

Rebels Frontcourt

Senior Forward Sebastian Saiz ,#11, 6'9, 240 lbs is simply the man for the Rebels. Saiz may not lead the team in scoring but he is putting up 14.1 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 1.1 BPG while shooting 54% from the field. Leday and Sy will have their hands full with this double-double machine. Saiz though has one big weakness, foul troubles, averaging 3.4 per contest, so the more Tech can keep him off the floor the better.

After Saiz, production from the bigs drops off significantly, mainly because of the four guard set but also none of the other bigs are quite as talented as Saiz. Marcanvis Hymon, #5, 6'7, 215 lbs. junior Forward has managed 4.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, while shooting 71% from the field in about 21 MPG. Hymon is a candidate for Hack-a-Shaq if there ever was one, shooting 35% from the line.

Joining Hymon in about 20 MPG, Justas Furmanavicius, #50, 6'6, 200 lbs is putting up 4 PPG and 6.3 RPG. After these three, the remaining bigs have minimal impact so far this season for the Rebels.

Names the Announcers will Butcher

Justas Furmanivicius, Marcanvis Hymon, or Karlis Silins top the list for me.

Perfect basketball name that we wont likely hear, Lane Below, since he has only had minutes in one game so far.

What to expect from Ole Miss?

The Rebels play predominantly a half court aggressive man to man, although they have a weakness of closing out on the perimeter. I am not sure if it's a failure to switch off opponents or just a slow last step, opponents have just had their way this season with the Rebels from outside.

This team has fairly balanced scoring, even with Burnett being 28th in the nation in scoring so far. Five Rebels average 9.8 PPG or higher, so they spread the floor well, making it extremely difficult on opponents to focus their efforts on any one player.

Rebounding wise, the Rebels are not dominant even with Saiz and the other bigs averaging over 20 rebounds per night, but they do rebound extremely well on the offensive glass, averaging almost 15 per game. Allowing that many second chances could well turn the game in their favor.

I would expect to see much the same lineup that they have used all year as there is no real size advantage beyond Saiz when Leday is in and this team is designed more for speed and agility than anything else. Changing their lineup significantly would likely hurt them more than help.

The Hokies

The Hokies need to focus on defense. Impact the scoring from the secondary shooters while gaining solid stops. Force Ole Miss to slow down on the offensive end, where they are more likely to make mistakes. Slowing it down though does not mean playing offense the same way. Finding the balance is a big part of winning this game. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hokies play quite a bit of zone defense in this game to challenge the Ole Miss guards to create

Buzz must make sure this team is awake and ready for basketball. It likely will be another packed house, unless the student section is short as it's a sellout game, so energy from the crowd shouldn't be a problem. They can't have the half or full game of basketball against Ole Miss that they have done in several games recently.

Clean crisp passes, limiting turnovers, and hitting open shots are the keys to success for this team. Ahmed Hill or Justin Bibbs need to get going early in this game to stretch the opponent to the wings, which will allow for Robinson to shoot or have a clear passing lane inside to Leday.

Highlight of the UMES Game
Highlight of the game goes to Ryan Andino of UMES. He almost single handedly kept UMES in the game with his NBA range three pointers. He tied the record for an opponent by hitting seven three's against the Hokies on Wednesday evening. There wasn't much in terms of highlights for the Hokies. The best I have for you there compared to last season, is that they managed a win.

In Closing

Both of these teams are so similar, so whichever delivers a "normal" performance likely wins this game. Each team has been successful doing much the same things all year so it could simply come down to which one does it better for a longer stretch of the game.

Hamilton to have season-ending surgery: MRI Thursday revealed tendon tear in left thumb https://t.co/lfOXKIf4ST— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) December 9, 2016

Buzz will be forced to rely even more on this guard heavy rotation with the announcement of Johnny Hamilton being out for the rest of the season due to a ruptured thumb ligament. While technically not a huge blow on either end for his lack of playing time, not having him in practice and as a short term option could be a big impact long term this season.

Winning the perimeter battle should ensure the Hokies a victory tonight. Ole Miss has allowed opponents to hit over 10 three pointers per game so far. That goes a long way to counter anything Ole Miss might be able to do inside. If inside hits at 50%, than outside only needs to manage 33% to keep pace. Keep that in mind when you see Sy make that extra pass.

Hokies win a close one. Unfortunately I think this may look a lot like the Michigan game, in that the Hokies come out slow and cold in the first half and have to scrape their way back into the game to win in the second half. Neither team comes near their season average though, 70-67, Hokies win.

pic.twitter.com/L2w4xK9EQP— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 10, 2016