HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: ACC Qualifying: VIRGINIA TECH VS NOTRE DAME 7PM ACCN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH VS NOTRE DAME 7PM ACCN

We stand alone.📝: https://t.co/IKB7BJxuCE pic.twitter.com/UUKnDUz7jl— HokieSports (@hokiesports) March 7, 2023

Notre Dame (11-20, 3-17 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (18-13, 8-12 ACC)
March 7, 2023
Greensboro Coliseum
7 p.m. ET
ACCN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

TV Broadcast
ACCN
Play-by-Play: Wes Durham
Analyst: Jordan Cornette

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

Current Spread: Hokies -6.5
Over/Under: -145.5

Injuries/Absence:
Notre Dame: J.J. Starling (Guard) Knee - 3/5/23 Questionable Starling is hampered by left knee soreness, and it has yet to be confirmed if he will be active in the first round of the ACC tournament versus Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech: Darius Maddox (Forward) Personal - 2/27/23 Out Maddox is idle with a personal issue, and he is expected to remain sidelined for the rest of the season.

Eliminate the Leprechauns....steal their Pot'O'Gold
The Hokies face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to kick off their ACC title defense. The Hokies are 9-9 against Notre Dame going into their 19th meeting after a 93-87 victory earlier at Notre Dame. This is a down season for the Irish, as they look to send Coach Brey out with a whimper.

Mike Brey, is in his twenty-second and final year at the helm of Notre Dame. In twenty two years, his team has won 20+ games fifteen times. He has led them to the NCAA Tournament twelve times, with two elite eight appearances. Notre Dame has been to the post season in all but two seasons under Brey.

Coach Brey's Fighting Irish are having their worst season in almost a decade. They come in 11-20 with only three conference wins over Georgia Tech, Pitt and Louisville.

The Fighting Irish this season were expected to do much better than they have (sound familiar) with a very experienced squad. Coach Brey has a regular rotation seven players which consists of five Seniors. The results though have been anything but stellar although their luck factor is on par with the Hokies with six conference losses by two baskets or less.

Defensively, the Fighting Irish are a very situationally based defensive team. This means against Tech we may see man to man and probably some high perimeter zone with defensive players switching off over or under screens to prevent open perimeter looks by the Hokies guards. The other aspect that we may see a lot of is to double team Mutts in the post to prevent him easy access and force him to make a good perimeter pass. If this team begins trying to utilize this double team, expect to see Cattoor receive the perimeter pass and then force Notre Dame to decide how to approach him. Ideally the Hokies would use Mutts in the high post and turn him loose to drive to the basket with Basile crashing the opposite side of the lane.

Offensively, Notre Dame runs a four out, one in motion offense. They rely on a Nate Laszewski, who leads them in scoring at 14 points per game. That said they have three guards scoring in double figures so defending the perimeter is a much higher priority. The Irish shoot 26 three-point attempts per game, hitting on almost 10 of them. This means the Irish find almost 30 points a game from behind the perimeter. Last time out it was 13-30, which was the biggest factor keeping them in the game. That said, they still manage 35 more points per game between the line and inside the arc. Only nine of those points come from the line where as a team they are shooting 72% on the season.

Nothing like postseason hoops 🫡🦃🆚 Notre Dame📺 ACCN🕖 7PM pic.twitter.com/soifm8CyZK— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 7, 2023

Fighting Irish Backcourt
Cormac Ryan
5 SR G 6-5 195
New York, NY Milton Academy 60 (2018)
12.1 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 2.5 Ast

Dane Goodwin
23 SR G 6-6 200
Upper Arlington, OH Upper Arlington HS
11.4 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 2.1 Ast

JJ Starling (Questionable)
1 FR G 6-4 200
Baldwinsville, NY Baker (NY); La Lumiere (IN) 21 (2022)
11.2 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 1.1 Ast

Trey Wertz
3 SR G 6-5 195
Charlotte, NC Providence Day HS
8.5 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 3.3 Ast

Marcus Hammond
10 SR G 6-2 160
Queens, NY Cardozo HS
9.3 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.7 Ast

Fighting Irish Frontcourt
Nate Laszewski
14 SR F 6-10 227
Jupiter, FL Northfield Mount Herman (MA) 61 (2018)
14.0 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.3 Ast

Ven-Allen Lubin
2 FR F 6-8 226
Orlando, FL Orlando Christian (FL) 58 (2022)
6.4 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 0.4 Ast

What to expect from Notre Dame?
The Fighting Irish are defined by Nate Laszewski. If the Hokies can slow him like the Ladies slowed Hailey Van Lith, then this game will be over early. Go at him on offense hard early. The rest of the Irish come in with five more players averaging 8.5 or more points per game but the Fighting Irish only go two deep on the bench for significant minutes or contributions. That may be only one deep if Starling is unable to play due to his knee. The offense completely focuses around getting Laszewski the ball in the post with kick out options to Starling, Ryan or Goodwin.

In the first game, Laszewski and Basile seemed to be mirror each other. Both broke 30 points and had similar others stats except for time on the floor. Basile was only out there 26 minutes to do his damage to Laszewski's 36 minutes of play.

Opponents are averaging an astonishing 74.7 points per game which is the primary indicator of how much this team has struggled defensively. The Hokies shot 43% from the perimeter and 57% overall.

The Fighting Irish committed 19 fouls against the Hokies in the first game. The majority of them were shooting fouls in the paint. The Hokies were aggressive and the more athletic team, consistently getting inside their defender. The passing game of Mutts to Basile is likely seared on Brey's brain. Add in Rice penetrating from outside, it draws that much more attention to the paint. That leaves the outside open for Cattoor and Pedulla to have big games.

As a team the Fighting Irish are shooting 36% from the perimeter on 26 attempts per game. Laszewski and Goodwin are the starters the Hokies must focus on the most outside but Hammond off the bench is that bench guy that does nothing but hit threes that will probably have a career day if things go as normal for the Hokies.

𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗔𝗖𝗖 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻GB made an immediate impact in his 1st season in Blacksburg 🫡🏀: https://t.co/CV688TMQVv pic.twitter.com/eFKdldxq3V— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 6, 2023

The Hokies
Mutts had a field day with nearly a triple-double, although his early shot selection was questionable. Regardless, he is the most likely to turn this game by keeping Notre Dame off balance from the high post. The Hokies also have the bonus of having Rodney Rice available to create off the dribble.

The Hokies will have their hands full with Laszewski and Goodwin, who utilize an inside-out combination that the Hokies haven't dealt with much this season. Basile and Mutts will need to double team Laszewski every time he has the ball in the paint. Laszewski honestly had the most one sided game of any Hokies opponent this season.

The Hokies biggest change in recent contests has been to play more consistent defense which was severely lacking the last time these two teams met. As good as the Hokies shot, they allowed the Irish to hit 55% from the floor and 43% from outside.

Neither team created many turnovers last time out so the biggest separating factor was the 18 free throw differential the Hokies enjoyed. Notre Dame can ill afford foul trouble with their shortened bench.

In Closing
The Hokies have to find the open shooter when Notre Dame sags off the perimeter. Using high ball screens also will be important to free up the guards. Notre Dame is slow switching and allows many open looks.

Force Notre Dame to choose between giving up the easy bucket or fouling. Let Mutts loose. He is the X-Factor Notre Dame cant handle.

WIN OR GO HOME

𝙍𝙤𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥(» @CoxComm) pic.twitter.com/6i1gku3fds— HokieSports (@hokiesports) March 7, 2023