When: Saturday February 28 – 12:00 PM
Where: Purcell Pavillion, South Bend IN
TV: The CW
Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT):
NC State 79-74 / NC State 79-73Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 19-9, 10-5
- Rankings: KP #27, BT #25
- NET: 28 (Q1: 4-6, Q2: 7-2, Q3: 4-0, Q4: 4-1) – 5th highest NET in the ACC
Wolfpack Season So Far:
NC State is in the tough half of the schedule and has lost 3 of the last 4 games. They are still searching for that 20th win. This will be a test of coaches and players to see if they can recover from being thoroughly dominated by Virgina and get a win before facing
Duke Monday night.
“We need to win. We’ve lost three out of four. This is a game where we need to find a way to dig it out.” Will Wade
What’s On the Line?
The Irish are ranked NET 93. Since this is an away game, it is a Q2 opportunity.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Other than having their souls crushed by UVA, no physical injuries
Opponent Overview:
Notre Dame was picked to finish 10th by the ACC media preseason vote. Marcus Burton was voted to the first team ALL-ACC preseason team and Marcus got a couple of votes for preseason POY. The Irish went 7-3 with Burton, but unfortunately 10 minutes into that 10th game he broke his left ankle. He had surgery and rather than attempting a return, he will seek a medical redshirt in hopes of returning next season. If approved, he could have two seasons of eligibility.
Since that game they are 5-13.
Worst home loss since 1898
The Irish are coming off a 44-point home loss to Duke in which they were missing both Burton and second leading scorer Jalen Haralson, out for his third consecutive game. They were down by 32 at the half. To make matters worse (if possible), Coach Shrewsberry twisted his ankle in the first half and wore a boot in the second. Fun Fact: Their only worse home loss was in their first official game in program history, a 64-8 loss to First Regiment of Chicago.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 12-16, 3-12
- Rankings: KP #89, BT #102
- NET: 93 (Q1: 2-10, Q2: 1-4, Q3: 2-1, Q4: 7-1) – 15th highest NET in the ACC
Their Season So Far:
Player Notes
- INJURY: Jalen Haralson (highest ranked recruit in ND history) hasn’t played since injuring his anke against SMU 2/10. He is the Irish’s leading scorer (15.5 / 3.7 / 2.6). Status TBD.
- Carson Towt is 3rd in the ACC in rebounding in conference play
- Cole Certa is 7th in 3PT% and 4th in 3PT made per game in conference play
What to watch for:
- NCST – Needs to get back to their identity for the post season run – High efficiency offense, high energy defense.
- Darrion Williams – Needs to Finish Strong – He has averaged 10 points per game and 3.2 rebounds in the last 5 games. His season average is 14.2 ppg / 4.9 rpg.
- Quadir Copeland – Needs Assists – After three games with 10+ assists (all wins), he’s averaged 5 for the last four games. Of those four, his best game (7 assists) was the only win. He drives the offense.
- NCST – Points in the Paint – ND does not block a lot of shots. This should allow Lubin, Williams, and Copeland to get to the rim which was almost impossible against UVA. This both gets some higher percentage shots inside, and opens up outside shooting as well.
- NCST – record watch – McNeil has 86 made 3PT shots after 28 games, tracking for 95 in the regular season. DJ Horne’s record is 105 (88 reg. season, 17 post season)
- NCST – Guard Cole Certa – In their last 8 games he has scored 30+ twice, including a career high 37 against GT in which he was 7-11 (63.6%) from 3PT.
- ND – strength – turnovers – 3rd in fewest turnovers per game in ACC play
- ND – strength – rebounding – 5th in ACC in team rebounds, 6th in offensive rebounds
- ND – weakness – 16th in ACC in points per game in ACC play, 13th in FG%
- ND – weakness – 15th in ACC in blocked shots in ACC play, 15th in assists, 18th in steals
- ND – weakness – 18th in ACC in turnover margin in ACC play, 16th in opponent turnovers
Prediction:
NC State puts the “whipped wolves” behind them and become the “road dogs” again. DW dominates, Q sizzles, P2 gets hot, and Matt is able to do some damage. The Pack regains their mojo and controls this one start to finish, 80-69 Wolfpack.
