03-14-2023, 08:47 AM | #1 |
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NIT First Round: Virginia Tech
Wednesday, March 15th, 2023
9:00 PM Fifth Third Arena ESPN2 The Bearcats (20-12 [11-7 AAC], NET #70, KenPom #54) will be making their first postseason tournament appearance since 2019 when they host Virginia Tech (19-14 [8-12 ACC], NET #76, KenPom #81) this Wednesday evening at Fifth Third. After starting the season 11-1 and rising to #21 in the AP poll, the Hokies lost their first seven games of ACC play and would go on to finish 11th out of 15 teams in the conference. Despite an impressive 4-6 record in Q1 games, Virginia Tech has only won two true road games all season - both against the two worst teams in the ACC: Notre Dame (93-87) and Louisville (71-54). The Hokies are led by 5th-year grad transfer and 6'9 forward, Grant Basile, who averages 16.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg while shooting 39.3% from 3. Their second-leading scorer is 6'1 sophomore guard Sean Pedulla who averages 15.2 ppg, 3.8 apg, and 3.7 rpg while shooting 35.3% from 3. Virginia Tech ranks 36th nationally in AdjO per KenPom and 136th in AdjD. The winner of this game will take on the winner of #1 seed Rutgers and Hofstra who play tonight at 7 pm. |
03-14-2023, 11:16 AM | #2 |
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Landers Nolley spent his first two seasons at Virginia Tech under two coaches (Buzz Williams and current coach Mike Young). He redshirted in 18-19 on the Hokies' Sweet 16 team.
Nolley led a very young 16-16 team in scoring the following season (15.5 ppg) before transferring to Memphis. |
03-14-2023, 01:00 PM | #3 |
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This is a game we should win if we show up to play. Virginia Tech is #129 on Torvik over the last 10 games. They are good in several areas. They take care of the ball (top 15 nationally), and they also shoot it well and don't put opponents on the free throw line. But they have a bad defense overall, don't force turnovers, don't rebound well, and don't get to the line. In many ways they mirror us, but with slightly better shooting and much worse defense and rebounding.
A lot of their good shooting percentage is due to shot selection. They take 50% more shots at the rim than from midrange. We take only 8% more shots at the rim than midrange. Based on the stats, they appear to use a point forward system. 6'7 forward Justyn Mutts leads the team in assists and is second in usage rate. He gets to the rim over 5 times per game and coverts 69%. Mutts plays alongside 6'1, 6'3, and 6'4 guards, so they aren't a very big team. We should be able to control the boards and DDJ's size shouldn't pose much of an issue. |
03-14-2023, 04:22 PM | #4 |
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The over look like its easy money
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03-14-2023, 08:07 PM | #5 |
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Hofstra just took down Rutgers, so I think we would play Hofstra at home in the second round if we win tomorrow.
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03-14-2023, 08:12 PM | #6 |
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But apparently (according to Chad on his youtube show) building renovation timelines would prevent us from playing at Fifth Third in the second round. So who knows where it would be played. We'll have to beat VT to find out.
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03-14-2023, 08:21 PM | #7 |
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Would it be at Hofstra? I would be all for that honestly. Lower conference schools almost never get to host major conference teams. It would be cool for their fans.
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03-14-2023, 10:05 PM | #8 |
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03-15-2023, 12:29 PM | #9 |
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Wes said its an honor to play in NIT. Its a slap in face to fan base to speak them words. Is it honor to make C's in school?
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03-15-2023, 12:31 PM | #10 |
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