While the Virginia Tech Women's Basketball team will travel to Athens to face the Georgia Bulldogs in the second annual SEC/ACC challenge, the men’s basketball team (3-4) gets to stay in Blacksburg and host the Vanderbilt Commodores (7-1). The game takes place at 9:15 p.m. tonight and will be aired on ACC Network.
After a 2023-24 campaign in which the Hokies went 19-15 and finished right in the middle of the ACC, they have gone in the wrong direction losing their last four games and falling to 235 in the initial NET rankings.
Vanderbilt’s story has been the polar opposite. After a 9-23 season last year, the Commodores parted ways with head coach Jerry Stackhouse and hired Mark Byington, fresh off of a 32-4 campaign at JMU.
Vanderbilt already has almost as many wins as they did all of last season with seven, and they are up to 66 in the NET rankings. Their only loss was an 81-70 defeat at the hands of Drake int the final of the Charleston Classic. That loss was the only quadrant one game the Commodores have competed in.
Virginia Tech, on the other hand, has yet to win a game against anyone but quadrant four competition.
Vanderbilt brings some familiar faces into Cassell Coliseum with the returns of transfers Tyler Nickel and MJ Collins.
After a solid season as the sixth man for the Hokies, Tyler Nickel has taken on a starting role and is averaging 10 points per game on 41% from the floor, and 36% from long range.
MJ Collins is the Commodores leading scorer off the bench, averaging seven points per game. Much like last season, Collins is experiencing some early season shooting struggles shooting 42% from the field and just over 27% from downtown.
It will be interesting to see if Nickel and Collins come out extra aggressive in their homecoming game or if this is just another regular season game for them.
Looking back at the Hokies, they are coming off two somewhat respectable losses against Michigan and South Carolina, in which they were able to put together one decent half of play in both performances. Vanderbilt enters the game as heavy favorites, but if Mike Young’s squad can finally put together 40 minutes of strong play on their home floor, they might stand a chance to pull off the upset. Here are some keys to the game.
Keys to the Game
Interior Scoring
Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt are two teams that have struggled to shoot the ball from three-point range, and are generating most of their points from within the paint.
The Commodores actually shoot threes at a decent volume, but have only knocked down 30.1% of their tries so far this season. Fortunately, they’ve made up for any deep shooting deficiencies by shooting two pointers at a 61% clip, good for 14th in the country.
The Hokies, on the other hand, while relying on two point shots much more than in years past, are still only shooting 47% from within the three point line. Virginia Tech has more volume in the paint because their two top scorers are Tobi Lawal and Mylyjael Poteat, who are averaging about 13 points and 11 points per game respectively. While the Hokies aren’t overly efficient anywhere on the court, they have done a good job getting to the free throw line. Virginia Tech shoots 23 free throws per game, way up from their 18.5 attempts per game a year ago.
Whichever team does a better job pounding the paint is likely to win the game from more efficient looks and putting the other team in foul trouble by drawing whistles.
Ball Security
Not only does Vanderbilt have a large advantage in shooting efficiencies, but they also do a much better job taking care of the basketball. The Commodores are 13th nationally in turnover margin, forcing 15.5 giveaways, while only coughing it up 9.4 times per game. The Hokies, on the other hand, have a negative turnover margin, as their 14.9 turnovers is good for 42nd worst in the country.
For a team that is struggling to shoot, there is nothing more vital than taking care of the ball to at least get as many shot attempts as possible. Vanderbilt is nationally elite at forcing turnovers, so it will be interesting to see how the Hokies can deal with the Commodores' pressure, after struggling with pressure defense against both Penn State and Jacksonville.
Matchup of the Game: Jason Edwards vs Brandon Rechsteiner
The matchup to watch on Wednesday is one between two of the guards. Jason Edwards is a sophomore from North Texas, who transferred to the Commodores after averaging over 19 points per game a year ago. Edwards picked up right where he left off, leading the team in scoring at 18 points per game on efficient 49/38/86 splits. Edwards has also been a big part of Vanderbilt's defensive pressure, getting at least one steal in all but one game.
This will put a lot of pressure on Brandon Rechsteiner to take care of the ball, not to mention guard an 18 points per game scorer. Rechsteiner has been more offensively aggressive in his own right over the last few games, taking double-digit shot attempts twice in a row for the first time this season.
Still Rechsteiner, who Mike Young deemed, “maybe the best shooter we’ve got,” hasn’t quite lived up to the billing yet as he's shooting 35.5% from three-point range. The Hokies will need Rechsteiner to get it going for the Hokies to knock off Vanderbilt.
Prediction: Vanderbilt 70, Virginia Tech 60
Despite another solid effort, the Hokies will drop their fifth straight game against a strong Vanderbilt team. MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel will both get into double figures in their homecoming games, but Jason Edwards will lead the fray with 18+ points. A 15+ point performance from Brandon Rechsteiner as well as a bounce-back game from Mylyjael Poteat won’t be enough for the Hokies who will lose 70-60 on their home floor.
