IT'S GAMEDAY, #HOKIENATION! pic.twitter.com/ecfFbiCC9h— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 9, 2016
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Hokies fans, its ok to savor the 2-0 start after years of frustration in the ACC. This team has done some amazing things in overcoming overtime against NC State and taking down the number four team in the country in UVA. The Hokies will need all that magic and more today at Cameron Arena if they want to continue their winning streak in the ACC. Duke comes in at having beaten Tech 20 out of 21 times in their friendly confines. That said, Tech does have recent success against the Blue Devils, having won two of the last four regular season meetings.
Duke is led in scoring by the guy that only after injury was pushed into the starting lineup, Grayson Allen, (#3) 6'4, 195 Lbs, Sophomore Guard, averaging 20.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 3.5 APG. Allen is a much more controlled version of Seth Allen, with an uncanny knack for finding his way to the rim but with far less turnovers in doing do. He can hurt you inside and out though, shooting better than 40% from outside. He also is averaging eight trips to the line per game, where he shoots 86% right now, so fouling him wont save the Hokies many points.
Behind Allen are four other Blue Devils averaging in double figures. Brandon Ingram, (#14) 6'9, 190 Lbs Freshman Forward is averaging 16.4 PPG, 6 RPG, and 1.6 APG. Arguably the top freshmen in the ACC at this point with the guard duo from Florida State, Ingram consistently delivers underneath in getting key put backs as he averages 6 second chance points per game.
Matt Jones, (#13) 6'5, 210 Lbs Junior Guard is averaging 14 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG. He also shoots better than 40% from outside. Tech will need to constantly have hands in face around the perimeter today as all but their starting Center shoot better than 40% from outside the arc.
Luke Kennard, (#5) 6'5, 180 Lbs, Freshman Guard, comes in putting up 12.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG and is the only one of Dukes top five scorers that doesn't average over 40% from outside. He does however have a deadly short range jumper and is shooting 93% from the line.
The last of Duke's double digit scorers, and arguably their most important, wont be available to the Blue Devils. Amile Jefferson, who had been averaging a double double on the season went down with a fracture in his right foot back in mid December and there is no timetable on his return.
The last two men that Tech will need to concern themselves with is Marshall Plumlee, (#40) 7'0, 255 Lbs Senior Center, putting up 6.7 PPG and 7.1 RPG and Derryck Thornton, (#12) 6'2, 175 Lbs, Freshman Guard averaging 9.3 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 2.7 APG. After that Duke very rarely plays much more of their roster except in mop up duty.
If you did the math there, you would realize that nearly half the Blue Devils scoring production come from freshmen. Sounds familiar. Also is a reason for a little bit of hope.
This game is going to come down to three things, Tech's ability to defend the perimeter, how well Tech collapses their defense in the lane and can this young team shake off this tough environment to find their shooting stroke. Do these things and we are right there at the end. Miss on these and the Blue Devils run us out of the gym.
It's an away game in one of the toughest environments in college basketball, they delivered in a tougher situation on Monday, and its against a top 15 team. All the recipe for these guys being amped up, and Buzz has shown he can keep them focused. I believe we have the talent, size and speed required to stay step for step with Duke today. Allen needs to repeat his defensive performance against Grayson Allen and our bigs need to be smart with their fouls but not hesitate in the lane. I just cant see our team pulling back to back upsets of this nature quite yet. Tech falls late 77-73.
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