HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Miami (11-4) At Virginia Tech (10-5) 7PM ACCN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Miami (11-4) At Virginia Tech (10-5) 7PM ACCN

Cassell will be 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘 tonight ⚡️🏰Don't miss @HokiesMBB take on Miami at 7 p.m. ET for its Shoes 4 Hope Night! pic.twitter.com/fTJ3hnfTG0— HokieSports (@hokiesports) January 13, 2024

Miami (11-4)
At Virginia Tech (10-5)
January 13th, 2024
Cassell Coliseum
7 p.m. ET
ACCN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ACCN
Play-by-Play: Kevin Brown
Analyst: Debbie Antonelli

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

Current Spread: Hokies -2.5
Over/Under: -154.5

Saturday Showdown in the Cassell 🏰‼️🆚 Miami🕖 7PM📺 ACCN🤝 @CarilionClinic#StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/u3qc8FiEWd— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 13, 2024

Can they carry the offensive momentum?
The Hokies welcome Miami to a sold-out Cassell. The Hokies come off a surprising upset of #21 Clemson. They shot 54% from the floor, putting on an offensive clinic.

The Miami Hurricanes squad comes in 11-4 and losers of two straight. They come in having just lost to 6-9 Louisville at home. They let the Cardinals score the final nine points in an 80-71 loss. This will be the 48th meeting between the Hokies and Miami. The Hokies are 20-27 overall against the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes best win was over a ranked Clemson. The Hurricanes were ranked as high as 8th this season before a loss to Kentucky. Their other two losses are to Colorado by 27 and Wake by four.

The Hurricanes are coached by Jim Larranaga, who is in his eleventh season as head coach at Miami. Larranaga is 266–153 overall guiding the Hurricanes. Prior to Miami, Larranaga had a 14-year run at George Mason where he took the Patriots to the Final Four in 2006. He has led the 'Canes to five NCAA Tournament appearances including a Final Four run last season and an ACC title in 2013.

Miami got one transfer in second leading scorer Matthew Cleveland from FSU. They had three freshman enroll but only freshman commit Kyshawn George has played meaningful minutes. Michael Nwoko has played sparingly in almost every game and Paul Djobet has gotten on the floor for clean-up minutes.

The starting five are Norchad Omier, Matthew Cleveland, Wooga Poplar, Nijel Pack, and Bensley Joseph. All five starters are on the court at least 28 minutes per game. The only other player to start a game this season for Miami is Kyshawn George when Pack and Poplar each missed two games. He averages about twenty minutes per game. Miami only goes two more deep on the bench in Christian Watson and AJ Casey.

Defensively, Coach Larranaga primarily employs man-to-man, with the scramble 3-2 zone as a secondary defense. A combination of the two is a series of zones that he calls the Camouflage, which is used strategically as a surprise defense that forces the offense to react to the defense. Once the opponent gets used to a man-to-man and the scramble, the Camouflage defense puts them on their heels immediately. The Camouflage is used most in a full court setting. Each pass, trap, deflection and player responsibility is analyzed. When they play man-to-man defense, the focus is retaining inside position to facilitate defensive rebounding and limiting second chance opportunities.

Offensively, Coach Larranaga typically has his teams playing a form of Zone offense with a specific focus on the use of ball screens to give shooters separation. He emphasizes ball movement, man movement, screening, dribble penetration, and offensive rebounding. The team on the floor for the majority of the game will be relatively small compared to other ACC teams, with the tallest player on the floor at 6'7. That said they are much faster than most teams.

Hurricanes Backcourt
Matthew Cleveland
0 JR G 6-7 200
16.1 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 1.9 Ast

Wooga Poplar
5 JR G 6-5 195
16.3 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 2.2 Ast

Nijel Pack
24 JR G 6-0 180
13.2 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 4.1 Ast

Bensley Joseph
4 JR G 6-1 195
8.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 3.9 Ast

Kyshawn George
7 FR G 6-8 205
7.1 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.0 Ast

Christian Watson
3 SO G 6-7 211
3.8 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 1.1 Ast

Hurricanes Frontcourt
Norchad Omier
15 JR F 6-7 230
17.5 Pts, 9.6 Reb, 1.2 Ast

AJ Casey
23 SO F 6-9 221
2.8 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast

Michael Nwoko
1 FR C 6-10 245
1.9 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 0.2 Ast

What to expect from Miami?
The Hurricanes will run primarily a four guard and one smaller forward set. They want to create turnovers and get into transition, but they just don't seem to be able to do it consistently. They struggle at closing out on the perimeter. In their losses, teams are shooting 40% from the perimeter and 52% overall.

Four starters average in double figures but in the last two ACC games they have struggled to deliver the same kind of performance. Against Louisville, only Cleveland and Poplar delivered. Against Wake, it went to OT, but similar to the Hokies against Wake, they were dominated in the paint and couldn't finish in the final minutes.

The Hurricanes might have the second most productive transfer in the ACC in Matthew Cleveland. He has shot 46% from three and 59% overall this season. He shoots far less outside so the percentage there is misleading. He attempts only 2.7 outside shots per game, his real impact is creating off the dribble with blow by speed.

Omier, while lacking size has the athletic ability to score inside against the true bigs in the ACC. He is averaging nearly a double-double at 16.3 ppg and 9.8 rpg. He gets excellent positioning and is physical enough to maintain. He has an excellent first step dribble inside which allows him to get to the rim.

Freshman Kyshawn George has seemed to flourish in ACC play, averaging 10.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 2.5 apg. He takes a ton of outside shots. He has attempted at least 8 threes in four of their last five games so expect to see Larranaga put him in as a change of pace guy teamed up with Peck and Poplar trying to free up perimeter shots by having three shooters on the floor. These three take roughly 75% of all shots from the perimeter.

The Hokies
The sporadic shooting outside continued in a positive way, seeing the Hokies shoot 54% from outside. It made it a blowout win. Shooting that way isn't sustainable but it shows that if they can be consistent, they should stay in most games.

Not sure why Clemson went away from scoring inside, but it helped the Hokies. In this game there isn't as much threat that Miami will dominate inside. The biggest challenge from the Hurricanes will be keeping up with their speed. Kidd has an opportunity to get back on track with a significant size advantage.

Pedulla and Nickel both had career high games, accounting for 56 of the Hokies 87 points. They combined to hit 11 three pointers. The most impressive part of the game though may have been that the Hokies got assists on 17 of 31 baskets in the game. It was a much better ratio than their games against Wake and FSU.

Built on the right stuff 💯 @PedullaSean pic.twitter.com/PlIqC1EHvD— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 12, 2024

The turnovers were not a major concern against Clemson. Both teams had 11 each. They managed to limit this impact, but Miami has more active hands than the Tigers. They are aggressive on perimeter passing which may put the Hokies in a similar situation of giving up transition baskets. Pedulla needs to not force the ball to try to make things happen.

Do not expect much change in Coach Young's personnel selection. He doesn't need to change the lineup to be competitive with the Hurricanes configuration on the court.

The only lingering question is whether Hunter Cattoor is cleared to play. He will be evaluated today, and a decision made. If he is out, expect Tyler Nickel or Mehki Long to start. The starting five would be Kidd, Collins, Pedulla, Beran and either Nickel or Long.

In Closing
The biggest aspect that will turn this game is how the Hokies stay in front on defense. Disrupting Miami on the perimeter will be key to winning this game. Missing Hunter Cattoor who is the Hokies best perimeter defender would add to this challenge. Miami scores inside but it struggles against teams with stout defenders in the paint as they lack size.

Cassell is sold out for all remaining home games so the crowd will deliver what it can. I am curious what Cassell Guard was doing dressed up in hockey jerseys at the Clemson game and if that's going to be a regular thing. Used to them being decked out in Hokie swag so seeing Bruins, Capitals, Penguins and Rangers gear was kind of strange.