Duke Basketball: Perimeter defense will be the key against Virginia Tech
The Duke Basketball team will need its best perimeter defense against Virginia Tech on Friday night as the Hokies love to shoot the 3-point ball.
The Virginia Tech Hokies are back at full strength and whether Buzz Williams‘ squad is whole or not, it will get up its share of 3-pointers.
However, with its leader in Justin Robinson on the floor, the Hokies offense becomes that more dynamic.
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When Duke and Virginia Tech met in Blacksburg in late February, the Hokies didn’t have Robinson, but the Blue Devils didn’t have Zion Williamson either.
Despite the injuries, Virginia Tech was able to defend its home floor and take down Duke 77-72.
Without Williamson, Kerry Blackshear Jr. led the way for the Hokies with 23 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting.
Ahmed Hill followed in Blackshear’s footsteps with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Ty Outlaw also had 11 points in the win over Duke and despite charges of marijuana possession surfacing earlier this week, Outlaw will play on Friday night after passing a drug test.
Nickeli Alexander-Walker is a stat sheet stuffer and he did that against the Blue Devils with 13 points, five rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
However, the Hokies are a brand new team since that game with the addition of Justin Robinson.
On the season, Robinson was having an All-ACC type season before his foot injury, and is averaging 13.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 47.2% from the field and 41.1% from 3-point range.
In his return to the lineup last weekend in the NCAA Tournament, Robinson came off the bench in both games against St. Louis and Liberty.
In the Round of 64 against St. Louis, Robinson logged 28 minutes and scored nine points, while scoring 13 points, two rebounds, four assists, and two steals off the bench on Sunday night against Liberty in 29 minutes.
The Hokies have a very balanced scoring attack, with almost a new team leader every night.
Against St. Louis it was Alexander-Walker and Blackshear, but against Liberty it was Blackshear, Hill, and Robinson, along with Outlaw’s double-double.
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Virginia Tech has three players that are all over 40% shooters from 3-point range in Robinson, Outlaw, and Isaiah Wilkins.
Ty Outlaw leads the way at a scorching 45.6%, while Wilkins is at 42.3% and Robinson is right behind him at 41.1%.
But while these three players set the pace for the Hokies beyond the arc, the rest of its key players are also dangerous from 3-point range, with the lowest percentage coming from Kerry Blackshear Jr. at 34.4%.
Virginia Tech is a very good team who likes to let it fly from 3-point range, and it is going to be up to the Blue Devils, who like to switch everything on defense, to go over the top of ball screens and not letting shooters get open shots.
Duke and Virginia Tech will tipoff at approximately 9:39pm ET from the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. and the game can be seen on CBS.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Virginia Tech Hokies.