HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (14-10) AT #7 UNC (19-6) 2PM ACCN
SATURDAY SHOWDOWN IN THE TAR HEEL STATE🆚 UNC🕑 2PM📺 ACCN#STONEBYSTONE X #HOKIES PIC.TWITTER.COM/6Z6VWOTG93— VIRGINIA TECH MEN'S BASKETBALL (@HOKIESMBB) FEBRUARY 17, 2024
Kind of a snarky shot here putting Nickel as the featured player for the game against his former team. I like it.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Sunday, Feb 17 | 2 p.m. ET
Dean Smith Center
Series: North Carolina leads 72-17
TV Broadcast
ACC Network
Play-by-Play: Wes Durham
Analyst: Dan Bonner
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: UNC -10.5
Over/Under: -154.5
Mountain Climbing....
The Hokies look to go on the road for a rare Quad 1 win by beating the Tar Heels. The Hokies are 17-72 against UNC. The Hokies come off their most steady performance in a win over the Seminoles where they broke a three-game skid. They survived a game with FORTY SEVEN fouls and the teams combining to shoot SIXTY ONE free throws.
The Tar Heels are coached by Hubert Davis, an alum that played for the Tar Heels from 1998-2002. He began his college coaching career at UNC as an assistant coach in 2012 after a 12-year career in the NBA. UNC is his only college head coaching job. He took over the UNC position in 2021 and has a 68-29 overall record and guided the Tar Heels to the National Title game in his inaugural season.
The Tar Heels come into this contest having lost three of their last five games. The Tar Heels have lost to Clemson at home and Georgia Tech and Syracuse on the road.
The Tar Heels have several new faces with five transfers and two high caliber freshmen. The big additions are Cormac Ryan from Notre Dame and Harrison Ingram from Stanford.
Coach Davis defensively uses an aggressive man-to-man defense, especially on the perimeter. They are holding opponents to 30% shooting from outside. In recent losses though they struggled against faster guards getting into the lane which disrupted their defensive sets. Mintz and Starling from Syracuse combined for 48 points with 11 free throws and 14 baskets in the paint.
Offensively, Coach Davis uses a heavy dose of ball screens and dribble hand offs to create dribble penetration opportunities while keying in on finding Bacot open underneath. Offense which tries to create mismatches of personnel utilizing speed to separate either to create dribble penetration openings or open looks on cuts to the basket. The biggest difference here is that the bigs are not limited to operating inside and play a big role in perimeter movement and shooting. The primary intent of this offense though is to get paint points. They shoot nearly 50% inside and it accounts for half their offense initially. It is actually closer to 70% of their offense when you take into account the 18 ppg from the free throw line.
The Tar Heels Backcourt
RJ Davis
4 SR G 6-0 160
21.4 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 3.5 Ast
Cormac Ryan
3 SR G 6-5 195
10.6 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Elliot Cadeau
2 FR G 6-1 180
7.8 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 4.0 Ast
Seth Trimble
7 SO G 6-3 192
5.4 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast
The Tar Heels Frontcourt
Armando Bacot
5 SR F 6-10 240
14.2 Pts, 10.2 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Harrison Ingram
55 SO F 6-8 230
12.6 Pts, 8.8 Reb, 2.2 Ast
Jalen Washington
13 SO F 6-10 225
4.3 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Jae'lyn Withers
24 SR F 6-8 230
4.0 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 0.6 Ast
What to expect from UNC?
1) RJ Davis
2) RJ Davis
3) RJ Davis are how UNC prefers to score.
Davis does everything. He is shooting 41% from outside making 3.3 baskets per game. He gets to the line for four free throws per game and also gets to the rim 4 to 5 times per contest.
As a team the Tar Heels focus on getting the ball inside to score or go to the line. They average nearly 40 points a game in the paint. Bacot and Ingram are a devastating duo in the paint. They are able to keep teams off balance with high low plays and grab almost six offensive rebounds per game.
The Tar Heels struggle with fouls against guards like Pedulla and Cattoor. Reaching fouls have been an issue after getting beat off the dribble. That said they rarely foul shooters, with opponents averaging only ten free throws per game. Four of the five starters are averaging at least 2.3 fouls per game.
The Hokies
The Hokies need to find fast transition buckets in this game. The Tar Heels are pretty stout defensively in a half court set, holding opponents to 44% shooting overall. In recent losses, the Tar Heels allowed nearly 20 points in transition.
The Hokies go up against the one of the tallest line-ups they have seen so far. That is especially concerning because UNC has out-rebounded every ACC opponent this season. Rebounding and defensive lane positioning has been the Hokies Achilles heel so far so this area will likely determine who wins this game
Hunt went off again 🫡🔥📈 20p (season high)🏹 50% (33-66) from 3 in league play (leads ACC) pic.twitter.com/kB3ywrrQFG— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 14, 2024
The Hokies will need huge games from Cattoor and Nickel to keep UNC honest in terms of guarding the paint. Keeping UNC defenders spaced out allows opponents to get inside. That said, the most likely path to success is modeling their effort using the strategies Clemson used where their bigs Hall and Scheiffelin had inside success which freed Girard up for a 5 for 10 perimeter game.
Gonna keep it 💯, he's a 🪣 pic.twitter.com/87LQ1O55Q7— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 16, 2024
In Closing
The Hokies are at a crossroads and this game goes a long way in determining if the Hokies even have a remote opportunity to get back on the tournament bubble. This is one of only two or three remaining Quad 1 opportunities.
UNC will be looking to make this a slow methodical game where the Hokies are forced to take contested shots while offensively getting the ball inside to score sure baskets. The Hokies must increase the tempo and take advantage of transition opportunities.
As much as I would like to see the Hokies get this win over a ranked opponent, going on the road in Tobacco Road is typically not a recipe for success.
If you are going to the game against the Wahoos... BRING FOOD
Help out a great cause ahead of our Big Monday game vs. UVA!🤝 @SmithfieldBrand MORE: https://t.co/mLMmjrQyjt pic.twitter.com/Uzc0tScMnC— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 15, 2024
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