Scouting Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is nearly in the same place it was when the Hokies lost 68-63 on Jan. 4 in Blacksburg, Va.

The Hokies are mired at the bottom of the ACC with a 1-4 league mark, going into Wednesday’s game at NC State, who is 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the league. NC State redshirt sophomore Dereon Seabron scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, plus grabbed 10 boards to help deliver the win. Freshman wing Terquavion Smith added 17 pints and four three-pointers, and senior forward Jericole Hellems had 15 points and three three-pointers.

Virginia Tech at NC State will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the ACC Network.

Virginia Tech might not have a signature win, but have victories over Maryland and Notre Dame to go 9-7 overall.

The schedule has been tough with non-conference losses vs. Memphis and Xavier, and at Dayton.

Rankings

Virginia Tech is No. 41 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 127.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Hokies currently ranked No. 21 overall, and NC State is No. 107.

KenPom.com has Virginia Tech at No. 31, and NCSU checks in at No. 106.

RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 158 in the country, and Virginia Tech is No. 112.

Shooting

The Hokies are shooting an impressive 39.2 percent from three-point land, to go with 46.3 percent from the field and 73.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Five different players have at least 10 three-pointers made this season. Junior Hunter Cattoor leads the way, shooting 35 of 81 from beyond the arc for 43.2 percent. Senior point guard Storm Murphy, also a Wofford transfer, is 28 of 70 for 40.0 percent.

Rebounding

Virginia Tech has been rebounding by committee this season. The Hokies have out-rebounded opponents 32.8-31.5 this season.

Senior power forward Justyn Mutts leads the way with 7.3 rebounds per game, and senior center Keve Aluma adds 6.4 boards per game.

Defense

The Hokies are holding opponents to 41.2 percent from the field and an impressive 27.6 percent on three-pointers.

Aluma and sophomore post player David N’Guessan both have 13 blocks, and Mutts has 11 to go with a team-best 21 steals.

Depth

Virginia Tech has been relying on the trio of guards Darius Maddox, a sophomore, and freshman Sean Pedulla, and N’Guessan off the bench.

Maddox, who played at Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy, was ranked No. 125 overall in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2020. He picked VT over Creighton, Georgetown, Minnesota, Oklahoma State and DePaul. He averaging 5.1 points per game and shooting 50 percent on three-pointers.

Senior center Keve Aluma started 34 of 68 games at Wofford under then coach Mike Young.

Aluma followed Young to Virginia Tech, but expectations were low after averaging 6.9 points and 6.8 rebounds at Wofford, where he shot 66.7 percent in 2018-19.

Aluma redshirted in 2019-20 at Virginia Tech and then Aluma became one of the biggest surprises of the ACC last year. He jumped up to 15.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game for the Hokies. He shot 49 percent from the field and 72.2 percent at the free-throw line, and even went 20-of-57 from three-points.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pounder has nearly equaled his numbers this season, though he has struggled with three-pointers (9 of 40). Aluma is averaging 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and he is shooting 50.3 percent from the field.

Aluma had 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting, plus six rebounds in the 68-63 loss vs. NC State. He bounced back with scoring 22 of the team’s 52 points in a two-point loss at Virginia on Jan. 12.

Aluma has cracked 20 points in four different games and has three double-doubles for rebounds. He had a season-high 25 points plus 10 boards in the 76-65 loss at Duke on Dec. 22.

NC State

PG — 5 Thomas Allen (6-1, 175, R-Sr., 4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr., 14.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.3 spg)

SF — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 19.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.5 spg)

PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 14.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.6 spg)

C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 4.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.1 apg, 2.1 bpg)

Virginia Tech

PG — 5 Storm Murphy (6-0, 185, Sr., 8.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.8 apg)

SG — 4 Nahiem Alleyne (6-4, 195, Jr., 10.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.3 apg)

G — 0 Hunter Cattoor (6-3, 200, Jr., 9.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.1 spg)

PF — 25 Justyn Mutts (6-7, 230, Sr., 10.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.3 spg)

C — 22 Keve Aluma (6-9, 235, Sr., 15.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.0 apg)

9: Ranking nationally in three-point shooting at 39.3 percent.

14.8: Points off the bench by the Virginia Tech reserves this season. The Hokies have gone over 30 points three times this season.

70 Percentage from the field that Virginia Tech shot in the second half to rally past Notre Dame, including 63 percent on three-pointers after halftime.

Virginia Tech senior forward Justyn Mutts has found a home in Blacksburg.

The 6-7, 230-pounder form Millville, N.J., played his freshman year at High Point in 2017-18, then sat out a season, and played a season at Delaware in 2019-20. He averaged 12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game for the Blue Hens.

Mutts then made the move to Virginia Tech, where he’ll be a two-year starter. He averaged 9.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last year, and shot 51.2 percent from the field. Mutts has improved in each category this season, and is averaging 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds a contest. He is shooting 54.0 percent form the field and has made 9 of 27 from three-point land.

Mutts has started 87 of the 99 games he has played in between his three schools. Mutts is fresh off of playing his best game this season, scoring 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 79-73 win over Notre Dame last Saturday.

NC State held Mutts to six points, seven rebounds and six turnovers, in going against senior forward Jericole Hellems.

The 6-7 Hellems struggled against the super-sized frontcourt of Duke last Saturday, getting seven points and seven rebounds. Hellems is averaging 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 41.3 percent on three-pointers.

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