When: Tuesday January 20 – 7:00 PM
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson SC
TV: ACC Network
Opponent: Clemson Tigers
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): Clemson 75-71 / Clemson 74-68
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 12-6, 3-2
- Rankings: KP #30, BT #28
- NET: 34 (Q1: 0-5, Q2: 5-0, Q3: 3-1, Q4: 4-0) – 8th highest NET in the ACC
Wolfpack Season So Far:
This will be Coach Wade’s first game against his alma mater as an ACC coach. The last time he faced Clemson was last season when McNeese State upset a very good Clemson team (27-7, 18-2) by 2 points in the NCAA tournament.
A very dejected Coach Wade after the Georgia Tech loss, when asked about the Clemson game:
“We’ll see if we can respond. I can’t guarantee you that’s going to happen. I can’t guarantee you with this group that that’s how we’re going to respond. I don’t know, I wish I could, but I’m not sure. Hopefully we do, we have it other times this year, but hopefully, we can get off the mat and play well Tuesday night. “
What’s On the Line?
After the disaster against Georgia Tech, NC State badly needs a “get right” win.
Clemson is NET 25. This is a Q1 game. The Wolfpack has no Q1 wins in their NET resume.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Scottie Ebube – ankle – on the mend, will return
- Jerry Deng – groin – expected to apply for a redshirt and transfer
Opponent Overview:
The media voted Clemson to finish 7th in the ACC this season
Coach Brownell will never pick up another check in Clemson SC. This is his 16th season and he is the winningest coach in school history and holds a list of school coaching records as long as somebody’s arm. And he seems to be getting better. Two seasons ago (’23-’24) he made it to the Elite Eight. Last season the Tigers were 18-2 in the ACC and won the most games (27) in school history. (eliminated in the NCAAT first round by McNeese)
Coach Brownell lost about 90% of last year’s scoring and brought in 10 players. (just like everybody else – no sympathy) The gem of the transfer class is big man Nick Davidson from Nevada, 2nd team All-MW. Right behind him is another big man, Carter “The Mormon Missle” Welling who was the WAC DPOY. Clemson also signed their highest ranked high school recruit ever, 4-star (#63) CG Zac Foster.
ALL NAME: “Butta” Johnson. He can be found on X at @smoovlikbutta1 (jot him down as the 3PT assassin most likely to kill the Wolfpack. 2nd most attempts on the season for the Tigers, shooting 34.5%. Cause he’s ‘smoov’.)
FUN FACT: RJ Godfrey was recruited to Clemson as a freshman and played two seasons, starting only 1 game. He transferred to UGA his junior year and started all 33 games. He transferred BACK to Clemson for his senior year and is now leading the team in scoring. Well done, Coach!
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 16-3, 6-0
- Rankings: AP #22, KP #26, BT #23
- NET: 25 (Q1: 2-2, Q2: 6-1, Q3: 2-0, Q4: 6-0) – 4th highest NET in the ACC
Player Notes
- RJ Godfrey leads the ACC in FG% in conference play
- Jestin Porter is second in the ACC in steals in conference play
What to watch for:
- NCS – FG% – Comparing stats in NC State’s 5 ACC games, the outlier in the two losses is FG%. Against UVA the Wolfpack shot 36%, against GT 37.1%, the two lowest of the entire season. Against GT, the Pack shot a reasonable 36.4% from 3PT, but only 37.9% for everything else.
- CU – strength – Defense – 1st in ACC play in scoring defense (KP ranked 14th in Def Eff)
- CU – strength – FG% – 5th in ACC (KP ranked 66th in Off Eff)
- CU – strength – defense – 3rd in ACC in opponent FG%
- CU – strength – defending 3PT – 3rd in ACC, holding teams to 29%
- NCS – record watch –McNeil has 55 made 3PT shots, tracking for 94.5 in the regular season. DJ Horne’s record is 105.
Prediction:
Clemson is undefeated at home, and they are also undefeated in the ACC. NC State is coming off their worst game of the season. What could go wrong? Final score, 80-69 Wolfpack.
