January 19, 2025
#3 Virginia Tech (17-2, 1-2) at #10 Florida State (14-1, 2-0 ACC)
TEAM: FSU|VT
OVR: 93|96
OFF: 93|96
DEF: 92|94
SHT: 95|97
REB: 90|98
COA: 91|95
Virginia Tech is a top 5 team but check their ACC record... They lose a road game to #2 Georgia Tech and then choke badly at a poor Duke team. They've beaten Virginia but that is their only ACC win.
But don't expect a big easy win here... this team is
loaded. Virginia Tech beat us by 30 in the final four last year, and I believe they're better at 4 of 5 positions on the court than they were last year.
Scouting
PG Darren Richard – SR – 89 OVR – 95 speed/93 quickness. 89 defense/80 steals. 91 hands/95 passing. 83 close/83 med/87 from 3/90 off the dribble... a total stud. 9.7 ppg/3.6 apg.
SG Norman Bowen – 87 OVR – 98 speed/89 quickness... yup, 98 speed. 89 defense/82 steals. 91 close/85 med/72 3/88 in traffic. He's not great off the dribble and he's not great from 3, hopefully these things help us. He's 6'6” though and a dangerous slasher and a brilliant athlete and defender. 5.5 ppg only.
SF Reece Plummer – SR – 88 OVR – 6'7” SF – 89 speed/85 quickness. 84 defense/75 steals. 90 close/86 med/73 3/88 in traffic. 7.4 ppg/5.3 rpg. A very strong, quick defender at the 3, a huge worry for me.
PF Cameron Aguko – SR – 87 OVR – 6'9” natural SF. Poor rebounder, 69 orb/76 drb. Average in the post at best for a big, 75 off/77 def. 91 close/78 med/74 3/84 in traffic. We may look to Millar in the post pretty heavily here. Aguko creates huge mismatches though on offense, and he leads them with 17.7 ppg.
C Garry Sherman – SR – 87 OVR – 6'8” PF. 92 orb/82 drb. 90 post off/76 post def. 92 close/89 in traffic. Good athlete, 12.3 ppg/4.4 rpg.
Backup PG Jesse Lavender is every big as good as Richard, and he's only a sophomore. Their worst starter is rated 87 OVR, a terrifying prospect.
We need to try to attack plummer with Mayer and get him in foul trouble, and we need to go inside a lot. They are weak in the post and only average on the boards, Sherman is good but short. We need to dominate on the glass and inside and kick out to Day for the long ball I think.
There's another edge here, but we won't know how big it is until we get on the court. Richard and Plummer, two of their crazy athletic starters, have nagging day to day injuries but will play. We'll see if they're slowed any.
Half
| Time
| FSU
| VT
| Notes
|
1
| 16:45
| 4
| 6
| Plummer with two fouls and he sits, those are the only two fouls for the Hokies. Virginia Tech gets a couple steals early and they just look way way more athletic than we do.
|
1
| 15:11
| 4
| 13
| Uh-oh... the break is on for the hokies. Millar misses twice inside and Black once, and we are not having any success inside at all yet. We have a 3 from Day and a FT from Mayer, nothing at all in the post. I get a timeout and see shades of the final four beatdown here.
|
1
| 13:10
| 6
| 15
| Backups are in... Porter is going to have to get hot from three and save us basically.
|
1
| 12:25
| 10
| 15
| We get a quick 4 and come out disappointed.. Porter with a 3, they turn it over, we draw a foul but only make one at the line, another turnover and I somehow decide to trust PF Devonish inside, yeah, blows a layup. We just missed a chance to cut the lead down to 1 or 2.
|
1
| 11:25
| 15
| 15
| Jolly with two inside and Dearman with a spectacular 3 point play, tie game! Virginia Tech has brought in some subs and have 5 guards on the court. They're not making their jumpers and our size is dominating the boards on both ends and in the middle with a guy like Dearman we have a nice edge driving to the hoop.
|
1
| 6:10
| 15
| 23
| Well, there's 8 straight from Va Tech. I get a timeout and get my starters back in, as soon as Va Tech started hitting their shots they took right back over. Porter and Jolly and Dearman tried to make something happen but couldn't keep it going.
|
1
| 4:35
| 25
| 25
| This game is crazy... Millar with a 3 point play dunking over a guard, and Mayer has 7 of our last 10, 3 drives attacking the rim and one three point play himself. Timeout Va Tech.
|
| HALF
| 33
| 40
| Mayer misses the front end of a one and one, and Va Tech backup guard Galbreath drains a 3 from 25 feet out as the half ends. A very frustrating turn of events, we're down 7.
Mayer is the best player on the court, 16 points, 6-9 from the floor/4-6 from the line. But the second best player is a surprise, Va Tech Center Sherman has 10 points/5 boards on 5-6 shooting and the difference when he's in the game is just astounding.
Both teams are shooting about 50%, 54 for Tech/50 for us. They have an edge on the boards which is totally unacceptable.
Mayer is our only offense. Mayer 16, Dearman 4, others 3... Day has only taken 2 shots, Millar only has two shots which is totally against my gameplan(though Mayer just owning everyone that guarded him when Plummer went out w/ foul trouble changed things). Their SG Bowen has 10 along with Sherman.
|
2
| 19:20
| 35
| 40
| They get the ball first and we get the stop, they get out of position on defense and Plummer ends up on Modica. Modica blows by and draws Plummer's 3rd foul right away. The is huge as it should open up a lot of poorer defenders for Mayer to destroy.
|
2
| 14:25
| 48
| 47
| This game has been incredible. Modica burns his man for a layup and we take the lead for the first time since we led 3-0. Mayer is going crazy, he's up to 23 now, Millar up to 7 which has helped. 6th man boost keeps the starters in a bit longer. Timeout Va Tech.
|
2
| 13:10
| 53
| 50
| Modica with another huge play... tied up at 50 after Aguko drains a huge 3 for them, Modica gets free and drains a huge three himself, back up 3, and another 6th man boost for us.
|
2
| 11:15
| 57
| 52
| God Bless Roberto Mayer, he hits a fadeaway as the shot clock expires after a play breaks down by an almost steal, then draws a foul and hits 1 of 2 at the line the next time down. Mayer has 28 and we're up 5. Backups are in, and we're going to stall as long as we can heh.
|
2
| 7:50
| 61
| 60
| Jolly and Devonish give us two each and we're holding them off while the starers rest, barely. We just committed our 7th foul and they're shooting the rest of the way.
|
2
| 6:45
| 65
| 62
| I call a timeout and get my starters back in, except for Mayer who needs another minute. Jolly has really been big for me here. He has 6 points/7 boards for the backups in 12 minutes, shooting 3-5. Its our ball up 3, I'll get Mayer in at the next break. Each team has 3 timeouts left.
|
2
| 5:50
| 70
| 62
| Whoa! Modica with another 3, then Day with a steal of a bad pass, outlet to Modica for a layup in traffic. Modica has 12 pretty much out of nowhere.
|
2
| 5:15
| 71
| 62
| We get a timeout and Mayer is back in. This run and this lead with 5 minutes left is completely unexpected. No holding up just yet.
|
2
| 3:30
| 79
| 65
| Mayer hits 5 straight including a 3 as the shot clock expires and the game is likely over.
|
Roberto Mayer, when he's on, is the best basketball player in the nation and its not even remotely close.
#10 Florida State 83
#3 Virginia Tech 71
We dominate the second half in a way I could never have expected. 50-31. Modica, Jolly, Millar all help out in huge ways and Mayer is just unstoppable.
Modica: 12 points (4-4, 2-2 from 3, 2-2 on the line)
Day: 4 points
Mayer: 40 points/5 boards/2 blocks, 14-18 FG, 1-2 from 3, 11-15 FT
Millar: 7 points/4 boards
Black: 2 points/5 boards
Jolly: 6 points/7 boards
Dearman: 5 points
Great, great early win for us. This gives us the early lead in the conference.