HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: NC STATE (12-4) AT VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-4) 730PM RSN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: NC STATE (12-4) AT VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-4) 730PM RSN

Rise to the challengeℹ️: https://t.co/kzXtxoH4jy🤝: @BburgFirstMain pic.twitter.com/INsyRiYORo— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 7, 2023

NC State (12-4, 2-3 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (11-4, 1-3 ACC)
January 7, 2023
Cassell Coliseum
7:30 p.m. ET
RSN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

TV Broadcast
RSN
Play-by-Play: Evan Lepler
Analyst: Brian Oliver

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

Current Spread: Hokies -5.5
Over/Under: -144

Will they or won't they....

Stay together.Another opportunity comes knocking on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/NUNsXzRFu8— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 5, 2023

The Hokies are in Cassell again tonight facing a possible fourth straight ACC loss after a really poor shooting performance inside the perimeter against Clemson. The task is coupled with NC State riding high after a thrashing of #16 Duke 84-60 where the Blue Devils missed their first 13 shots from the floor. Tech comes in winning four of the last five contests between these schools but still trails overall 41-19.

The Wolfpack are coached by Brad Keatts. He began his college coaching career at Southwestern Michigan as an assistant coach in 1996. NC State is his second college head coaching job, taking over the job in 2017. He has a 102-72 overall (45-53 in ACC) record guiding the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack come into this contest winners of their last four of their last five games with a 16 point loss to Clemson. They are 12-4 on the season. They have started 2-3 in the ACC, having beaten Duke and Louisville with losses to Pitt, Miami and Clemson.

The Wolfpack are a team that heavily relies on its starting five, in a four guard single forward set. The regular rotation of seven players includes five transfers in Jarkel Joiner (Ole Miss), Casey Morsell (UVA), D.J. Burns (Winthrop), Jack Clark (LaSalle), and Duhsan Mahoric (Utah).

This team is led by guards Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner, who combine for 34 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. If Cattoor is not available this duo is going to wear the Hokies out. Against Duke they had 45 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds.

Defensively, Keatts approaches the game with this statement "Don't let your opponent breathe". The Wolfpack utilize an aggressive 2-3 Zone defense that attempts to protect the perimeter and force turnovers on the outside. Keatts has the Wolfpack using the entire floor to play defense, regularly employing a full court defensive scheme. They will switch to man to man in certain circumstances. Regardless of which style they are employing, NC State so far this season has done a very good job defensively. This was supposed to be a facet of the game where they might struggle, but it just hasn't been the case. They have been greatly improved defensively compared to last season. Keatts has the team buying in to executing the basics.

Offensively, Coach Keatts wants to go fast on both ends of the floor to keep opponents off balance. His teams utilize a 4 out 1 in approach, constantly looking for an open perimeter look. The perimeter shots represent 41% of the Wolfpack's total shots. NC State shoot 52% from inside the arc and also are shooting 35% from outside. Expect to see a ton of passes to a big at the top of the lane, who then reads and reacts to what the defense is doing in terms of finding a pass or developing a shot.

The Wolfpack Backcourt
Terquavion Smith 0 SO G 6-4 160 18.4 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 4.9 Ast
Jarkel Joiner 1 SR G 6-1 180 16.0 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 3.8 Ast
Casey Morsell 14 SR G 6-3 196 13.1 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Jack Clark 5 SR G 6-8 182 9.1 Pts, 7.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast
LJ Thomas 4 FR G 6-2 205 3.4 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 1.0 Ast

The Wolfpack Frontcourt
D.J. Burns 30 SR F 6-9 260 9.7 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.1 Ast
Dusan Mahorcic 11 SR F 6-10 230 8.7 Pts, 6.6 Reb, 1.2 Ast

What to expect from NC State?
Fast paced contest with an in your face defensive approach. NC State makes you earn every foot of the floor and shortens the time to run a set offense. This is especially troublesome for the Hokies as they have struggled recently with set play execution and having less time to do so likely leads to quite a few lost possessions or last second heaves.

NC State struggles with bigger rosters that can employ two forwards underneath that match up against a smaller guard. In losses though NC State has gotten worn down as they rely on a short bench to play this high energy style of play.

The Wolfpack have scored 70 points or more in 14 out of 16 games and are 12-2 in those contests. They are 0-2 when they fail to reach 70 points. Fouls are usually pretty even at 17 against and 16 for. NC State shoots 70% from the line as a team.

Perimeter shooting is a major part of the Wolfpack strategy. It is better to risk a forward having a good day inside than play off the perimeter.

The Hokies
Will they or wont they again? Rice and Cattoor both experienced injury setbacks according to Coach Young so I do not expect either will play. This obviously plays a tremendous role in what Hokies team is on the floor.

The Hokies continue to struggle running set plays with the absence of Cattoor. This game should focus on finding the open man down low as the Hokies should have a significant size advantage underneath regardless of which rotation of players is on the floor. This is the perfect opportunity to get Poteat into double-digit scoring.

That said, it also means a forward defensively will need to match up with a guard and stretch to the perimeter. This would be a good game for Coach Young to take a page from Coach Brooks and employ a 2-3 zone rather than being constantly in man-to-man.

This is not a deep opponent so while the Hokies bench is shortened by injuries they still have enough to stay fresh. If they get the Wolfpack in foul trouble they need to press that advantage which they failed to do late against Clemson with PJ Hall, who scored several late critical baskets in that loss playing with four fouls.

Lowlight of the Clemson game
Maddox second half disappearing act.

In Closing
The Hokies are still at home and again have a near capacity crowd so cant blame the environment. They must find a way to score inside. The recent lack of scoring in the paint is doubly hard to look at considering they have gotten more than 10 offensive rebounds in their last two contests.

Don't let the pace lead to mistakes, better to be slow and methodical than taking unnecessary risks forcing the ball. This is especially true of Pedulla and Mutts. They need to slow down and play their normal style regardless of Cattoor's absence.

Play a stretch zone or consistently in the shooter's face perimeter defense. The three pointers are critical for NC State's success so limiting this is a major part of getting the desired result.

Hokies again are in a close contest but break the streak. 72-69 win on a late play from Pedulla.

This is a two Popcorn Decision. Broken Record time but its really hard to know which Hokies team we will see with the factors of timing, location, and injuries.

Confidence Factor: