Matchups are a huge part of basketball. Whether it's at the youth, high school, college, or pro level, matchups are a big part of the game. Unless of course, you played at Syracuse under the great Jim Boeheim and you played in his 2-3 zone.
Heading into the first of two Commonwealth Clashes on Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, that the dilemma that Virginia Tech coach Mike Young was facing. The veteran coach knew that matching up with Cavaliers star Isaac McKneely wasn't going to be easy, at all.
“We spent an inordinate amount of time on matchups,” Young said. “Who can guard who, who cannot guard who. We don’t have a great matchup (McKneely). We don’t. And his cutting and the sides action that they’ve run forever, and Isaac has been in that stuff.''
If the Hokies were going to leave JPJ with a win, they were going to need to find the best matchup that not stop McKneely, but slow down Virginia's leading scorer. In the end, he had 19 points to lead the Cavaliers, but it took multiple bodies on him to slow him down. Young rotated freshman guard Ben Hammond and sophomore Brandon Rechsteiner were on him, and they were able to do enough to help the Hokies escape with a, 75-74, victory.
“I thought Ben Hammond did a remarkable job throughout,'' said Young. "I thought Rechsteiner, all-in-all, did a good job. Just a smaller, quicker person that can run with him and get on that outside shoulder and not get hit with those pindowns. Ben Hammond did a masterful job.”
Young picked up career win No. 401 on Saturday and during all of those wins, the veteran has sat down with his coaching staff and broken down matchups before each game. He'll never admit it, but you can bet he thought coming to Charlottesville was his best chance to win at JPJ in his tenure in Blacksburg.
Putting a true freshman and a sophomore on Virginia's best player was just two of the few options Young had, but it turned out to be the moves he had to make to allow his team to survive away from Cassell Coliseum. A lot of coaches might not have gone that route, but Young wasn't afraid to do it. It's another example of how well of a coaching job he has done in 2024-25 with his team. Remember those matchups in two weeks when the Cavaliers make their way to Blacksburg for the rematch.