Virginia Tech vs Merrimack Nov 21 at 4PM

Men's Basketball today vs Merrimack at 4PM at Cassell. This one is a Regional Sports Network game. Maybe you'll get lucky and it will be on a channel in your service area. Merrimack is 3-2 with wins at home against Emerson and Lehigh and on the road at NJIT. They have lost to Rutgers and Army on the road. They have either won or lost by 10 or more points. Edit ESPN says the game is available as an ACCNx game on their website.

They have enough height to match up with the Hokies. Their starting forward is 6'8. Two G/F players are 6'5 and 6'6. The other two starters are 6'2 and 5'11. For comparison Aluma is 6'9 and Mutts is 6'7; Alleyn is 6'4, Cattoor is 6'3 and Murphy is 6'0. we have a slight height advantage with our starter; but probably a significant skill advantage. Merrimack has no bench to match up with N'Guessan and Ojiako. And Kidd is also a match up problem for them.

Their starters:

Merrimack shoots 36% from the field and 30% from 3. They take about 23 three's per game and make about 7. They also only make 63% of their free throws, getting to the line about 15 times per game. They have been out rebounded by about 18 rebounds per game. Nothing in the stats suggests this will be a competitive game.

Only 1 starter is averaging double digit scoring per game, Minor at 10.2. As a team, they are only averaging 56 ppg. I think they will be doing well to get to 50 and may struggle to reach 40 today. Another game for Coach Young to work on team chemistry and getting experience for the non-starters.

Next game is against Memphis on Nov 24 in the NIT Tipoff in New York. The game is at 9:30 on ESPN2. We may finally see what this team can do in a competitive game.

Let's Go Hokies!