Texas Basketball: What to expect from Virginia Tech

Insanely efficient outside shooting

If there is one key to victory against the Hokies that the Longhorns faithful already have to be tired of hearing ahead of this Round of 64 matchup on March 18, it’s the fact that they must limit Virginia Tech’s effectiveness shooting from downtown.

Yet, this key to victory will be incredibly important if the Longhorns do want to move onto the Round of 32 for the first time in more than a half-decade.

Virginia Tech’s outside shooting efforts are led by the standout 6-foot-3 and 200-pound junior guard Hunter Cattoor. As one of the best three-point shooters in the ACC this season, Cattoor nearly shot 42 percent from beyond the arc on just shy of six attempts per game. That is an impressive clip.

But Cattoor is not the only effective three-point shooter the Longhorns must limit in the core part of Virginia Tech’s rotation. Sophomore shooting guard Darius Maddox and freshman guard Sean Padulla also both shoot well above 40 percent from downtown on at least two attempts per game.

As a team, the Hokies rank in the top three in the country in three-point shooting percentage, at 39.3. And the Hokies have shown no signs of slowing down of late in terms of their hot shooting from downtown. Virginia Tech shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc in three of their last four games, and four of the last six.

It is also worth noting that Virginia Tech does take a high volume of three-point shots (41.5 percent of their field-goal attempts). But Virginia Tech does still work the ball inside fairly often considering how good of a three-point shooting team they are.