2007-08 Basketball Game Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Charleston Southern

The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will play their last
out-of-conference game of the season on Monday night when they host Charleston
Southern. The Hokies will be looking got get back on the right track after a
tough loss at Richmond last Thursday. Like Tech, Charleston Southern is a young
team that relies on a number of freshmen.

The Buccaneers are coming off a 115-44 victory over Ohio Christian, an NCCAA
(that is not a typo) school. Before that, CSU lost three games in a row. The
Bucs are 6-8 on the year, but only two of their wins have come against Division
I schools. They knocked off Gardner Webb and North Florida, who hasn’t won a
game all year. Besides those schools, Charleston Southern has defeated Anderson
University, UVA-Wise, Florida Christian and Ohio Christian.

11 different players have started games for the Bucs this year. Four players
average in double figures, although only one of those is projected to get the
start in tonight’s game.

CSU’s top two freshmen are apparently coming off the bench. Jamarco Warren
(5-10, 162, Fr.) is averaging 14.2 points per game, and leads the team with 46
assists. However, Warren also has 42 turnovers, the highest mark on the team.

Freshman forward Omar Carter (6-5, 215, Fr.) is CSU’s top scorer and
rebounder. He averages 14.9 points and 6.2 boards per game. He is a good player
inside and outside. His rebounding average shows his toughness on the glass, but
Carter is also 32-of-74 (43.2%) from the outside on the season.

Starting off-guard Chris Moore missed the last game with an ankle injury, but
it is still a projected starter tonight. He is averaging 14.3 points per game
and is shooting 44.6% from three-point range. He has 44 assists and just 24
turnovers on the season.

Charleston Southern relies on the three-pointer quite a bit, especially from
their top three-scorers.

Virginia Tech struggles against teams that play aggressive, tight defense and a
slow down pace on offense. Charleston Southern is not one of those teams. They
like to score, averaging 78.4 points per game. However they allow 72.3 points
per game, and that includes four games against non-Division I competition.

As you can see, they are giving up a lot of points against Division I
competition, and opponents are shooting nearly 50% from the field. Those four
games against non-Division I schools improve their overall scoring defense by
eight points per game, and their field goal percentage defense by almost 4%.
They’ve been doing some major stat padding against those non-Division I teams.

If the Hokies come to play, this should be a relatively easy home win before
they begin the meat of their ACC schedule against Maryland on Saturday.