When: Monday March 2, 7:00 PM
Where: Lenovo Center
TV: ESPN
Opponent: Duke Blue Devils
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): Duke 79-70 / Duke 78-71
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 19-10, 10-6
- Rankings: KP #31, BT #29
- WAB (Torvik): +1.0 ranked 41
- NET: 29 (Q1: 4-6, Q2: 7-3, Q3: 4-0, Q4: 4-1) – 5th highest NET in the ACC
Wolfpack Season So Far:
The Promise (from Coach Wade’s introductory speech)
- “We’re going to be in the top part of the ACC next year, and we’re going to the NCAA tournament”
- Checkpoint: Currently ranked 6th in the ACC, currently, the most recent bracketology has NC State in the NCAA Tournament as an 8 seed
What’s On the Line?
This is a Q1 game, but equally importantly this is the final regular season
opportunity for a ‘look at who they beat’ win.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Musa Sagnia twisted his ankle in the Notre Dame game. Status TBD
Opponent Overview:
What is there left to say about the – well deserved – #1 team in the country? Come Selection Sunday, they will be a big topic. The talking heads will talk about them being a favorite to win it all and the opposing coaches will all be hoping to be in a different bracket.
- Coach Jon Scheyer is in his fourth season; he currently has an 80+% winning record and has yet to win less than 27 games in a season.
- This season he is starting 3 5-star and 2 4-star players, all were top 25 when coming out of high school.
- KenPom ranks them #6 in Offensive Adj Efficiency and #1 in Defensive Adj Efficiency
- Their only two losses (Texas Tech, UNC) were each by one basket, both made within the last five seconds of the game.
- They are well coached, super talented, and huge.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 27-2, 15-1
- Rankings: KP #1, BT #2
- NET: 1 (Q1: 12-2, Q2: 6-0, Q3: 1-0, Q4: 8-0) – highest NET in the ACC
Their Season So Far:
Player Notes
Cam Boozer #6 in the country in scoring, 11th in rebounds
What to watch for:
- NCST – Defense! – Five of this team’s six worst defensive performances have happened since the start of February. This is the best offensive team the Wolfpack will play this season. To avoid setting any ugly records, the Pack has to play their very best defense of the season.
- NCST – Attitude / Energy – Duke leads the country in kill shots. The Wolfpack is going to have to maintain their composure and not get discourgaged when it happens.
- Darrion Williams – Scoring – Since scoring 25 at SMU (2/3), DW’s scoring has trended upward 4-8-11-13-14-17. Time for a big, signature game to remind the NBA he’s still got it.
- Blocked Shots – Despite Duke’s size, they are ranked lowest in the ACC in blocked shots (2.31 pg) in conference play.
- NCST – record watch – McNeil has 89 made 3PT shots after 29 games, tracking for 95 in the regular season. DJ Horne’s record is 105 (88 reg. season, 17 post season)
Prediction:
Massive traffic tie-ups of suspicious origin on I-40 prevent their team from getting from Durham to Raleigh. Duke fans volunteer from the Lenovo crowd to suit-up for the Blue Devils. The volunteers shoot 3PT-ers surprisingly well and dominate the boards, but the Wolfpack prevails 80-69.
