Another opportunity to get that first road win
When: Wednesday January 15 – 7:00 PM
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg VA
TV: ESPNU
Opponent: Virginia Tech Hokies
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 67-66 / Va Tech 66-65
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 9-7, 2-3
- Rankings: KP #92, BT #95, WAB -2.5 ranked 117th *
- NET Ranking: NET 105, 11th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-3), Q2 (1-3), Q3 (1-1), Q4 (7-0)
Wolfpack Season So Far:
NC State is coming off a painful 2-point loss against UNC. The Wolfpack is 0-3 so far in road games this season.
Virginia Tech is currently a Q3 opponent.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had a hard fall on his shoulder in the Notre Dame game. He did return to that game, but sat out the UNC game
- Mike James had arthroscopic knee surgery on 10/30. In the WF postgame presser (1/4) Coach Keatts said they recently started including him in drills, but he got sick.
Opponent Overview:
Virginia Tech was voted 14th in the preseason ACC polls
Coach Mike Young is starting year six at Virginia Tech. Last season’s team finished 19-15 and made the second round of the NIT. The Hokies lost their top 4 scorers (Catoor – France, Kidd – Miami, Pedulla – Ole Miss, Nickel – Vanderbilt) from that team.
The Hokies were hit by an unexpected loss when incoming transfer Hysier Miller was dropped from the team due to his alleged involvement in gambling at Temple, his previous school. He was a three-year starter and expected to be a key part of the Hokie team this season.
Key returnees for the Hokies include starters guard Brandon Rechsteiner, and center Mylyjael Poteat, as well as guard Jaydon Young.
Key transfers added are starting guards Jaden Schull (Duke) and Tobi Lawal (VCU).
3-star freshman guard Tyler Johnson from Oak Ridge rounds out the starting lineup.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 7-9, 2-3
- Rankings: KP #162, BT #133, WAB -4.3 ranked 180th *
- NET Ranking: NET 176, 16th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-4), Q2 (1-4), Q3 (0-1), Q4 (6-0)
Their ACC Rankings of Note: (Source: theacc.com)
- Offense – 16th
- Defense – 12th
- Team Rebounding – 16th
- Opponent Rebounding – 1st
Their Season So Far:
VT is 7-9 / 2-3 on the season.
Like NC State, they lost their 4 P4 OOC games, Penn St (-22), Michigan (-12), South Carolina (-10), and Vanderbilt (-16).
In the ACC they lost to Pitt (-5), Duke (-23), and Stanford (-11), and beat Miami (+1), and are coming off a road win against Cal (+3) last Saturday.
Player Notes
- Mylyjael Poteat had 25 points against Miami
- Tyler Johnson pulled 12 rebounds against Cal
Keys To The Game
- Battle of the Bigs – The Hokies’ leading scorers (and only double digit scorers), are their big men. Lawal, is a 6’8” forward and Poteat is a 6’9” 260 lb center. If we can’t start Huntley-Hatfield with Middlebrooks, we will be at a size disadvantage at forward. A great opportunity to give Diouf some minutes.
- Don’t foul out, Ben – Someone (s) will need to defend big man Poteat without fouling out. He will be a handful. (see previous bullet for extra fouls, in case we need them)
- Limit 3PT shooting – Duke transfer Schutt is their 3rd leading scorer and their volume 3PT shooter. He takes 2 more per game than anyone else. He’s hit 5 in a couple of games. JT needs to slow him down.
- Rebounding – VT leads the ACC in fewest rebounds allowed. Need to continue the rebounding intensity from the UNC game
* Welcome to the WAB
The WAB (wins against bubble) shows how many more, or fewer, wins a team has against its schedule versus what a hypothetical bubble team would expect to have against the same schedule.