Virginia Tech (8-1, 1-0 ACC) began league play in strong style, beating North Carolina 80-72 in Cassell Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. Now the Hokies will try to end the non-conference portion of their schedule in strong style before conference play heats up.
Wednesday night’s matchup with Dayton (5-4) is the first of three consecutive non-conference games. The Hokies play Oklahoma State in Brooklyn this Sunday, and later they’ll host Grambling State on Saturday, December 17. After those three games are complete, conference play will begin in full with a trip to Boston College on December 21.
The Flyers haven’t gotten off to a great start this season, but their schedule hasn’t been easy, and their losses have been respectable…
60-52 road loss to 8-0 UNLV
43-42 neutral court loss to 7-2 Wisconsin
76-64 neutral court loss to 8-2 NC State
79-75 OT neutral court loss to 5-4 BYU
BYU could also be a better team than their record indicates. The Cougars have losses to teams such as San Diego State (7-2), USC (6-3) and Butler (7-3). But with a road game on tap against defending ACC Champion Virginia Tech, it’s clear that Dayton head coach Anthony Grant hasn’t been shy about challenging his team in the non-conference portion of their schedule.
The Flyers beat the Hokies 62-57 in Dayton last season and controlled the game for the entire 40 minutes. The final score is deceptive. Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young recently referred to that game as “the worst five-point beating I’ve ever had.” The Hokies turned the ball over 13 times against Dayton’s press. At one point, they turned it over on three consecutive possessions before crossing midcourt. They will obviously have to handle the pressure better on Wednesday night.
Dayton has a First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 player, plus two more who made Second Team. Two of those three were also selected to the Preseason All-Defensive team. This is a team with some proven players and a winning tradition.
DaRon Holmes II was Dayton’s Preseason First Team selection. At 6-10, 231, he is an excellent post player who will provide the Hokies with a much greater challenge than Bacot-less UNC offered up on Sunday. After averaging 12.8 points and 6.1 rebounds as a freshman last season, he is up to 15.9 points and 7.2 boards in 2022-23. A former top-50 recruit coming out of high school, Holmes doesn’t take outside jumpers; instead, he does all of his work in the paint. He had seven points and eight rebounds against Virginia Tech last season.
He’s joined in the frontcourt by Brussels, Belgium native Toumani Camara (6-8, 220, Jr.). He’s averaging 11 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Unlike Holmes, you can’t leave Camara open outside the three-point line. The Georgia transfer has made 27 career outside jumpers and is 31.4% from deep in his career. Camara pulled down double-digit rebounds in four games this season, and he had 19 points and seven boards against NC State. However, he struggled against the Hokies last season, making 3-of-12 from the field and committing six turnovers.
Malachi Smith (6-0, 180, So.) is the top player in the backcourt for the Flyers. He averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 assists per game as a freshman last season, and he was expected to be one of the A-10’s top players this year. However, he’s been hampered by ankle injuries and has only appeared in four games this season as a result. After returning from right ankle injury suffered in October, Smith turned his left ankle against BYU and hasn’t played since. Anthony Grant recently said that Smith will be out “for the foreseeable future,” which likely means he won’t be in action in Blacksburg.
Another player who won’t play against the Hokies is fellow guard Kobe Elvis (6-2, 170, r-So.). He was also injured against BYU, and he averages 10.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. With Smith and Elvis both out, the Flyers bring a much more limited backcourt to Cassell Coliseum.
It’s been an unfortunate season for Dayton. The Flyers would probably be a couple of games better with a healthy backcourt. For the second consecutive game, Virginia Tech will face a team with critical injury problems, and the Hokies need to take advantage.
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I must have missed something. Did Uncheat have some injury problems?
Yes. Their entire first 12 was injured or sick. They had to quickly integrate some players from the school’s rec leagues.
Yes. Bacot didn’t play. He averages 16 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Bacot was out.
After the last couple of L’s Dayton has hung on us, we owe them a thrashing; injuries be damned. I hope CMY shows the kids the tape of Obi Toppin humiliating us.
43-42 loss to Wisconsin? That must have been exciting to watch.
Watched some of that. Pretty good defense actually. Like watching paint dry
I love my Hokies but any of us would be ecstatic to have had Wisconsin’s run of MBB success over the last 20+ years
Sounds like an old Big East brawl.