ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS – The VSU Men's Basketball team ditched their winter coats and brought their swimming trucks back out after Head Coach
Lonnie Blow, Jr. and his staff took the squad to St. Thomas to compete in the YES! U.S. Virgin Islands Classic. The Trojans enter the single-elimination style tournament with the second best overall record of the eight teams competing. The Trojans will attempt to earn their 10
th win of the regular season against Edward Waters (Fla.) on Saturday, December 31 at 10:15 a.m. Est at The Antilles School.
Virginia State (9-3, 3-0) vs. Edward Waters (2-6, 2-5)
Series History
This will be the first meeting between the Trojans and the Tigers.
Self-Scout
The Virginia State Men's Basketball team is 9-3 (3-0 CIAA) this season which makes them the team to beat in the CIAA as they are the only team without a conference loss to this point. Last time out, the Trojans were able to end the Panthers nine-game win-streak after taking them down 74-68 to extend their win-streak to four games. The Trojans have dropped only one game this season to a team with under .500. Virginia State scores 75.3 points per game while giving up 66.3. The squad still leads the CIAA in assists per contest (15.83). The Trojans also leads the CIAA in assist/turnover ratio maintaining a 0.92. VSU currently shoots 46.6% from the field and leads the conference in three-point percentage shooting 37.9%. They get to the free throw line 15.8 times per game but look to shoot with more consistency maintaining a 65.5% free throw percentage. The squad allows teams to shoot just 39.7% from the field (Leads CIAA) and 28.8% from beyond the arc (Leads CIAA). They have forced 207 turnovers on the season and average 17.4 points per game off turnovers. They are currently plus 6.7 (2
nd in CIAA) in the rebounding category and have accounted for 95 steals this season. They also average 3.83 blocks per game (2
nd in CIAA). The Trojans currently have four players who average double figures and rank within the top-25 in the CIAA in points per game.
Bucket Getter
Terrence Hunter-Whitfield ranks second in the CIAA in points per game averaging 18.0 (2
nd in CIAA) while shooting 74.0% (8
th in CIAA) from the free throw line. He also leads the team (1
st in CIAA, T-3rd in NCAA) with 33 steals averaging 2.75 per contest. Hunter-Whitfield ranks second on the team with 5.3 rebounds per game (13
th in CIAA). Hunter-Whitfield has been deadly efficient from the field shooting 48.0% (5
th in CIAA). He knocks down 33.3% of his shots from downtown and ranks second on the team with 15 three-pointers made (11
th in CIAA). He is third on the team with 26 assists this season (T-12
th in CIAA). Last time out, Hunter-Whitfield went 7-of-18 (38.9%) from the field yet ended with a game-high 22 points while grabbing six rebounds along with three assists and three steals in the win against Claflin.
Switchblade
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald continues to consistently stuff the stat sheet as he ranks second on the team in assists with 34 (T-9
th in CIAA) and second in assist/turnover ratio maintaining a 1.1 (7
th in the CIAA). Fitzgerald has been committed to crashing the boards this season despite spending most of his time beyond the three-point arc as 8.1 rebounds per game leads the team (3
rd in CIAA). He also leads the team with 27 made three-pointers averaging 2.25 per game (3
rd in CIAA) which leads to 12.6 points per game (11th in CIAA). He also ties for 10
th in the CIAA with six blocks. Last time out, Fitzgerald had a career night earning his 5
th double-double of the season with 16 points along with a career-high 17 rebounds (11 defensive) adding two steals and two assists. His performance earned him CIAA Food Lion's Week #7 Defensive Player of the Week.
Signal Caller
The signal-caller for the Trojans in
Zach Newkirk currently leads the conference averaging 4.5 assists per game (T-19
th in NCAA) while maintaining a 1.7 assist/turnover ratio (4
th in CIAA). He is consistent from the free throw line knocking down 84.8% of his shots. Newkirk has been a consistent force from behind the arc hitting 13-of-29 (44.8%) three-pointers this season and ties for 10
th in the CIAA with 1.1 made three-pointers per game. He averages 10.9 points per contest (T-17
th in CIAA) on a 46.9% field goal percentage. Newkirk accounted for 10 points on 4-of-9 (44.4%) shooting from the field with three rebounds. After Newkirk was not able to land a three-point shot in either of his previous two games, he was able to go 1-of-2 (50%) from beyond the arc in the win against Claflin.
Paint Beast
Tremere Brown has been a dominating force in the paint for the Trojans this season averaging 10.6 points per game (T-20
th in CIAA) along with 4.3 rebounds a game and leads the team with 24 offensive rebounds. Brown leads the team with a 60.4% field goal percentage along with six blocks. (T-9
th in CIAA) Brown scored four points on 2-of-4 (50%) shooting from the field with five rebounds, a block and a steal.
Scouting the Tigers
The Edward Waters (Fla.) has had rough start to the season as a 2-6 (2-5 SIAC) record puts them in the fifth spot in the eastern division of the SIAC. The squad averages 75.9 points per game while giving up 79.8. The Tigers shoot 41.5% from the field and allow opponents to shoot just 41.6%. They shoot 37% from downtown hitting eight per game while holding opponents to just a 29.3% three-point percentage. They look to improve upon their free throw percentage shooting 67.3% from the free throw line. They are about even in the rebounding margin maintaining a plus 0.1. They commit 16.8 turnovers per game with 14.1 points off turnovers. Oliver Tavares leads the Tigers with 19.0 points per contest. He leads the team in made three-pointers 21-of-58 (36.2%) while shooting 43-of-108 (39.8%) from the field. He also leads the team with 21 assists and has accounted for eight steals. Tavares started the season with back-to-back 30-point games scoring 32 against Central State (OH) to start the season followed by a 30-point performance against Kentucky State two days later.
