HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-2) AT WAKE FOREST (9-4) 12PM RSN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-2) AT WAKE FOREST (9-4) 12PM RSN

Gameday in W-S 😤💪📺 RSN🕛 12PM pic.twitter.com/Rl4jNVldnZ— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 31, 2022

Virginia Tech (11-2, 1-1 ACC)
at Wake Forest (9-4, 1-1 ACC)
December 31, 2022
LJVM Coliseum
Noon ET
RSN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

TV Broadcast
RSN
Play-by-Play: Tom Werme
Analyst: Mike Gminski

Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop

Current Spread: Hokies -1.5
Over/Under: -130

Finding Focus....
The Hokies look to pick up the pieces after their brutal loss to the Boston College Rugby Team before Christmas. This will be another road game in the ACC but against a much larger, more physical team in Wake Forest. This will be the 71st meeting between these teams with the advantage to the Hokies 38 to 32. The Hokies have defeated the Demon Deacons four times in a row going into this contest.

The Demon Deacons are coached by Steve Forbes. He began his college coaching career at Southwestern CC as an assistant coach in 1989. Wake Forest is his fifth college head coaching job, taking over the job in 2020. He has a 40-30 overall record guiding the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest come into this contest fresh off an upset win over #14 Duke. They are 9-4 on the season with other quality wins over Wisconsin and Georgia. Their four losses were Rutgers, LSU, Loyola Marymount, and Clemson.

The Demon Deacons are a team still in transition, getting close to Coach Forbes overall vision of big, physical and fast. They feature five transfers in their regular rotation. This will be the first time the Hokies are truly the smaller team at almost every position, although much of Wake Forest size comes off the bench. Wake will normally be a two guard, two forwards and a center set. There is nothing truly notable about this team in terms of defensive or offensive focus outside of transition scoring. They do everything moderately well. With Coach Forbes focus on a very fast paced game, expect to see ten players on for 10 or more minutes in this game.

This team is led by Tyree Appleby, in his sixth year of college basketball, after prior stops at Cleveland State for two years and Florida for three seasons. Appleby has come in without missing a beat, averaging 18 points, five assists and three rebounds per game. This will be where the Hokies miss Hunter Cattoor (depending on his role/availability), who was injured against Boston College.

Coach Forbes defensively uses as an aggressive mix of man-to-man and zone defense which will stretch to the mid court line in hopes of generating turnovers high up the court. Expect to see quite a few trapping actions outside the perimeter. Wake also allows very few points in the paint, allowing only 24 points per game. The Demon Deacons focus on disrupting passing lanes and turning that into fast points. Wake forces 14 turnovers per game and average 20 points a game off those turnovers.

Offensively, Wake Forest focuses on transition scoring, averaging almost 28 points per game in quick hitting baskets before their opponents are set in a half-court defense. Appleby and Hildreth benefit the most from these odd man rushes since they are usually higher up the court on the defensive side. In the half court the Demon Deacons use a motion offense focused on the inside out game between Appleby and Carr. Scoring though is fairly balanced, with five players averaging 9.3 points per game or higher.

The Demon Deacons Backcourt
Tyree Appleby (#1, SR, G, 6-1, 170) 18.0 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 5.3 Ast
Cameron Hildreth (#2, SO, G, 6-4, 195) 12.3 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 2.9 Ast
Daivien Williamson (#4, SR, G, 6-2, 170) 9.3 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Jao Ituka (#10, SO, G, 6-1, 196) 3.0 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast

The Demon Deacons Frontcourt
Andrew Carr (#11, JR, F, 6-9, 210) 10.1 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Damari Monsanto (#30, JR, F, 6-6, 225) 10.6 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Matthew Marsh (#33, SO, F, 7-1, 250) 7.1 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Bobi Klintman (#34, FR, F, 6-10, 225) 4.5 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Davion Bradford (#20, JR, F, 7-0, 265) 3.1 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Zach Keller (#25, FR, F, 6-10, 228) 2.5 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast

What to expect from Wake Forest?
Fast paced contest. Wake's goal is to score before you are set on every possession. Expect to see at least twenty possessions of ten seconds or less. Due to the fast pace, Coach Forbes is constantly rotating out his Forwards to keep fresh legs on the court. Not quite as often as hockey shifts but fairly similar. The four staples of the starting offense are Appleby, Carr, Hildreth and Williamson.

The Demon Deacons are 7-2 when they score 70 points or more. They tire opponents out with the pace and finish teams off at the free throw line, shooting 76% as a team. They have had several close wins over teams with late heroics such as a buzzer beating win over Appalachian State and a three pointer with a half second left to beat Utah Valley. Two losses also came down to baskets in the last fifteen seconds of games, losing to Loyola and LSU by two on late baskets. Rutgers and Clemson are the only teams to beat Wake by 10 or more.

Wake Forest holds its own in the rebounding department. They have been a +/- 5 rebounds in ten of thirteen games.

Perimeter shooting is a respectable 36% on 23.5 attempts per game, representing 24 points per game so this is something to watch.

Fouls, while plentiful, will be pretty spread out across the nine or ten players rotating on the floor. The Demon Deacons draw an average of 18 fouls per game but get whistled for 16. Carr is the only one that struggles with fouls for the Deacons at 2.5 per game. Early foul trouble for Carr takes a key component of their offensive game plan off the court.

The Hokies

Sean Pedulla will have the added role of action without Cattoor in his normal role (although he may play.) Rodney Rice is still rumored to be a game time decision so expect to see much more of MJ Collins in this contest.

Virginia Tech's Hunter Cattoor (forearm) will be available for today's game against Wake Forest, per Mike Young. Averages 9.6 PPG and 4.1 RPG.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 31, 2022

Not sure where the line between available and full participant is drawn here so we will have to wait and see. Either way its a much better outcome than I expected after seeing him on the bench cradling his arm against BC

The Hokies must protect the ball and try to play with a deliberate pace which will limit a significant portion of the Demon Deacons offensive game plan. Getting caught up in the run and gun is a recipe for disaster.

This is a game the Hokies need a huge performance from Justyn Mutts. He needs to body in to Carr underneath to force Carr to either foul or back off. Either way, the Hokies as a whole must score inside three feet unlike the Boston College game, where they missed 18 shots in the paint.

The bench must contribute. The Hokies got ONE point from the bench against Boston College on a free throw by Poteat. Collins, Kidd, and Camden failed to score in 33 minutes on the floor. Poteat added one point in nine minutes. That's over 20% of the games minutes to only get ONE point.

Lowlight of the Boston College game
Hunter Cattoor hitting the floor like a bag of cement.

UPDATE: Early evaluations are encouraging.🙏🙏🙏 @CattoorHunter pic.twitter.com/o91diynxB9— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 28, 2022

In Closing
The Hokies are on the road again so expect early struggles. Its another Holiday season game so likely a sparse crowd with minimal environment energy. The Hokies have to show they WANT to win. Boston College seemed like they were just going through the motions.

Protect the ball and slow the pace. Do not play into Wakes hands by trying to run the floor with them.

Unfortunately I don't think the Hokies will overcome the Holiday sluggishness, the up in the air status of Cattoor or avoid trying to run. Hokies fall 72-67.

This is a Two Popcorn Decision. Just tough to know which Hokies team we will see with the factors of timing, location, and injuries.

Confidence Factor: