The Hokies finally play JoePa up in Happy Valley!

Errrrrrrr, ahhhhhhhhh, well, kinda, sorta, a little bit. But it is PSU, and it is on ESPN2’s made for TV hyped up ACC vs. BIG-10 Challenge……

Several key things jump right out at you when you contemplate a Marlin Perkins Wild Kingdom taming routine concerning these hoopster Nittany Lions.

  • PSU’s Offense=Mr. Claxton (#5 in the pic). He’s a late 2nd Rounder in my book, or maybe even a F/A who will stick. Complete game, inside and out, PSU’s leading scorer and board worker. Getting him in early foul trouble should be a top priority.
  • Secondly, PSU is the superior Defensive team, allowing 6% fewer opposing shots to hit the net than our Hokies. But we are 9% better at tickeling the twine on offense, so this one is all about strength on strength.
  • Our Hokies are 15% better from downtown. So we may win this one from deep or not at all.

Penn State is 69th in FG% Defense, and our Hokies are 229th in the same. All things being equal, that tells me I should take the superior defense at home. But our Hokies have an even larger edge in Offensive FG% (195 spots). So a reasonable shooting start for SG and crew is not only critical, it is a necessity on the road. PSU does not have a lot of size either, as only 1 baller in their rotation checks in north of 6`5“. So we do have a chance, but we do need a good start, or at least be able to hang around near even on the scoreboard for the first 20 minutes of play.

I was gonna side with the homecourt team. However I do like Allen to be able to do some internal damage on these vertically challenged Nittany Lions, and PSU has been beaten by at least 10 points in their last three games, all by what I’d call near VT quality D-1 hoops programs.  But be real sure on this, our upperclassmen scorers (Wash’ & A.D.) both must be on tonight to win on the road. I say they will be right tonight. Virginia Tech 68 Penn State 66