In Thursday’s games, no surprises: Virginia Tech was never really threatened by Western Carolina, winning 96-74 and Syracuse won a more competitive game against Saint Joseph’s, 71-63.
We understand that
freshman Neoklis Avdalas, who dazzled people with a brilliant outing against Providence in just his second game, has been playing hurt.
Well, he must be better because he lit up the Catamounts for 30 points. He hit 10-17/4-8, which is pretty impressive. Former Blue Devil Jaden Schutt had 10 points off the bench on 4-8/2-5. Amani Hansberry has also been playing well and had 18 here on 8-12/2-3 from the floor.
Virginia Tech is still without Tobi Lawal, and rebounding, Young says, is going to catch up to them.
Still, with the win the Hokies move to 9-2. Last year at this point, Virginia Tech was 5-6, so things are looking up. They should pick up two more wins before a trip to Virginia and the early ACC schedule looks favorable and Lawal should be back at some point. Keep an eye on the Hokies.
Syracuse is also missing a key player, Donnie Freeman, who is out with what the program is vaguely calling “a lower body injury.”
It didn’t help against Saint Joe’s, but the ‘Cuse had enough to prevail. Not that it was easy.
With 10:36 to play, Syracuse was up 51-50. From there, the Orange outscored the Hawks 20-13.
Syracuse had a lousy night on the perimeter as only Nate Kingz and Tyler Betsey hit threes, both shooting 3-5. Actually, Syracuse wasn’t bad overall, hitting 6-14, which is better than their average. If rebounding is an issue for Virginia Tech then three point shooting is one for the ‘Cuse: of the rotation players, no one other than Luke Fennnell is hitting higher than 35.3% from deep. Kings, for instance, normally hits just 25% and Betsey 33.3%.
Collectively, Syracuse is just clocking in at 29% on three point attempts.
No games until Saturday and most of those are blah, but not all: SMU gets LSU, Louisville welcomes old rival Memphis, Pitt visits Villanova, Hofstra tries to go 2-0 vs the ACC with a trip to Syracuse and most of all, Kansas visits NC State, presumably with rising star Darryn Peterson.
- Greek freshman’s 30 points propel Virginia Tech over Western Carolina
- Everything From Virginia Tech HC Mike Young After Victory Over Western Carolina
- Avdalas scores 30 as Virginia Tech pushes past Western Carolina 96-74
- Three Takeaways from Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball’s 96-74 Victory Over Western Carolina
- Syracuse survives upset scare for 71-63 win over Saint Joseph’s
- Syracuse overcomes slow start, offensive inconsistency, and Saint Joseph’s
- Kyle III’s double-double powers Syracuse past Saint Joseph’s 71-63
- Orange Top Saint Joseph’s at Home, 71-63
- Observations from SU’s win vs. Saint Joseph’s: No ‘kill’ shots, season-low 3s
