When: Wednesday March 11 – 12:00 PM
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte NC
TV: ESPN2
Opponent: Pittsburgh Panthers
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 78-70 / NC State 77-69
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 19-12, 10-8
- Rankings: KP #37, BT #38
- NET: 35 (Q1: 5-7, Q2: 6-4, Q3: 4-0, Q4: 4-1) – 6th highest NET in the ACC
Wolfpack Season So Far:
In the dictionary, the phrase ‘late season collapse’ has a picture of this team beside it.
What’s On the Line?
Lunardi’s latest bracketology still has NC State in the tournament, a 10-seed in the ‘Last Four Byes’. Post season tournaments are opportunities for bid stealers, so to be
safe, the Wolfpack probably needs at least one win. The selection committee takes into consideration late season performance, and the Pack’s is terrible.
Opponent Overview:
Coach Capel has probably spent his last season at Pitt, and everyone knows it. Eight seasons is plenty. Rumor has it that their new AD has already put out feelers for his replacement. However, winning the ACC tournament can buy you another season, as we well know.
However, they are playing better of late. According to KenPom, their best win of the season was 2/28, beating Cal by 16 in Berkeley. They ended the season with a solid road win at Syracuse, 71-69 in overtime that secured their spot in the ACC tournament.
In round 1 of the ACC Tournament they beat Stanford 64-63, Damarco Minor was outstanding, primarily defending Stanford’s 1st team All-ACC guard Ebuka Okorie and holding him to 14 points, plus he hit the last second winning shot.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 13-19, 5-13
- Rankings: KP #96, BT #104
- NET: 109 (Q1: 2-9, Q2: 2-6, Q3: 3-3, Q4: 5-1) – 16th highest NET in the ACC
Notes from the previous game:
- Pitt dominated rebounds 52-31
- Both Corhen and Siulepa had double-doubles
- Primarily due to the rebounding, Pitt had the shot advantage; +13 FG-A, -1 FG-M, +9 3PT-A, +4 3PT-M
- Quadir Copeland was unstoppable, 20 points, 9 assists (fouled out)
- Paul McNeil was 5-9 from 3PT
- Darrion Williams had another off shooting night, 2-8 / 0-3, and scored only 7 points.
What to watch for:
- NCST – trends to watch
- Williams – Needs to find his shooting touch. 1/8 and 1/5 shooting in the last game against Stanford. He only made 2 FG in the first game against Pitt.
- Rebound! – The biggest statistical difference in the first game
- Bigs – Somebody has got to help Lubin, he had to play 34 minutes against Stanford. Sagnia & Ebube combined for almost 6 minutes and produced a combined 1 point, 1 foul, 1 turnover. Zero rebounds, shots taken, blocked shots, steals. A gigantic hole in this team.
- NCST – record watch – McNeil has 93 made 3PT shots after 31 games and is shooting an impressive 41.9%. The leaderboard for Wolfpack made 3PT shots in a season: DJ Horne 105; Rodney Monroe / Scott Wood 104; Terquavion Smith 96; Scott Wood 95; Ralston Turner 94; Paul is tied with Tom Gugliotta at 93.
Prediction:
The Wolfpack from days of yore returns! The long ball is falling, and the Pack stays reasonably close rebounding. The Pack finally gets win number 20, 80-69.
