Duke v. Virginia Tech Halftime Report

Welcome to the Gobbler Country halftime recap of 2016’s last men’s basketball game. As unranked VT faces down #5 Duke, the growth of the Hokies squad is obvious. At halftime, with Grayson Allen out- and more than that, low FG% , Duke trails the Hokies by 16, 31-47. Right now, the keys for the Hokies are their defense and their hot 3-point shooting, which is currently at 5-8 for 62.5%. Justin Bibbs leads with 3-5 on the three point attempts, while Justin Robinson is 2-3. Right now they’re lagging in the free throw department, and the referees are handing out fouls against Virginia Tech like belated Duke Christmas presents. Luckily, Duke’s field goal percentage is even lower than the Hokies’ by a good margin. Luke Kennard is the biggest problem for the Hokies, with his 14 points accounting for slightly under half of Duke’s offense. He’s 4^th in the ACC scoring for a reason. Duke is cleaning up a bit on the offensive boards, but Justin Robinson’s hot shooting still leads the way with 5-8 shooting and 12 points. It’s looking good for the Hokies, but there’s still another half to play. Home-court advantage is obviously playing well, as even a winter break Cassell Coliseum is loud. The other big problem is some loose ball handling, as Tech has 5 turnovers. But with low amount of rim protection on either side of the court, this could continue to be a high-scoring affair for the Hokies and Blue Devils.

Tune in for the second half on ESPN2 or ESPN3.