NC State visits the Virginia Tech Hokies

On By Littum

When: Wednesday 15 January – 19.00

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 117. *
  • NET Rank: 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 to UNC. The Wolfpack are 0-3 so far in road games this season.

Virginia Tech is currently a Q3 opponent.

Wolfpack Player Notes:

  • Brandon Huntley-Hatfield fell hard on his shoulder in the Notre Dame game. He returned for 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 practices, but he got sick.

Overview of the opponent:

Virginia Tech was voted 14thth in the preseason ACC polls

Coach Mike Young is entering year six at Virginia Tech. Last season’s team finished 19-15 and reached 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 suffered an unexpected loss when incoming transfer Hysier Miller was dropped from the team due to his alleged involvement in gambling at Temple, his former school. He was a three-year starter and expected to be a key part of the Hokie team this season.

Key receivers for the Hokies include starting guard Brandon Rechsteiner and center Mylyjael Poteat as well as guard Jaydon Young.

Key transfers being added are starting guards Jaden Schull (Duke) and Tobi Lawal (VCU).

3-star freshman guard Tyler Johnson of Oak Ridge rounds out the starting lineup.

Snapshot of the opponent:

  • Record: 7-9, 2-3
  • Rankings: KP #162, BT #133, WAB -4.3 ranked 180. *
  • NET Rank: NET 176, 16th in ACC Conf NET Rankings
  • NET performance: Q1 (0-4), Q2 (1-4), Q3 (0-1), Q4 (6-0)

Team statistics comparison

Team PPG FG % 3PT% 3PT-M p Rope pg Ast pg TO p ST pg BL p
Team PPG FG % 3PT% 3PT-M p Rope pg Ast pg TO p ST pg BL p
NC state 71.8 45.2% 31.6% 5.9 33 13.1 9.8 6.9 4.1
Va Tech 70.4 44.9% 35.1% 6.6 28.8 14 12.6 4.2 0.6

Their ACC rankings of note: (Source: theacc.com)

  1. Misdemeanor – 16
  2. Defense – 12
  3. Team Rebounding – 16
  4. Opponent rebounding – 1

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), beat Miami (+1), and are coming off a road win against Cal (+3) last Saturday.

Likely starters

Player Class Pos Height Weight PPG 3PT% 3PTAPg ROPE ASST STL BLK
Player Class Pos Height Weight PPG 3PT% 3PTAPg ROPE ASST STL BLK
Tobi Lawal JR F 6’8″ 200 12 40.0% 1.6 5.9 0.6 0.7 0.7
Mylyjael Poteat GR F 6’9″ 260 11 0.0% 0.1 4 1.0 0.2 0.1
Jaden Schutt R-SO G 6’5″ 205 7.7 34.0% 5.9 3 1.8 0.8 0.1
Brandon Rechsteiner SO G 6’1″ 190 7.3 28.6% 3.9 1.2 3.4 0.7 0
Tyler Johnson FR G 6’5″ 215 5.7 25.0% 1 4.9 1.1 0.4 0.1

Player notes

  • Mylyjael Poteat had 25 points against Miami
  • Tyler Johnson pulled down 12 rebounds against Cal

Keys to the game

  1. 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.
  2. Don’t foul out, Ben – Someone(s) is going to have to defend big man Poteat without fouling out. He will be a handful. (see previous point for extra errors if we need them)
  3. Limit 3PT Shooting – Duke transfer Schutt is their 3rd leading scorer and their volume 3PT shooter. He takes 2 more per battle than any other. He has hit 5 in a few games. JT has to slow him down.
  4. Rebounding – VT leads the ACC in fewest rebounds allowed. Need to continue the rebounding intensity from the UNC game

* Welcome to WAB

The WAB (wins vs. bubble) shows how many more or fewer wins a team has against its schedule compared to what a hypothetical bubble team would expect to have against the same schedule.