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NC State Basketball

Scouting the Competition: Cincinnati Bearcats

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On Tuesday night NC State will travel to Cincinnati to face off against the Bearcats. Both teams will come in at 1-0, and having played pretty weak first opponents. So what can Pack fans expect in this young team’s first road game? First, let’s take a look at who they’ll be facing.

Player to Watch
Redshirt Senior Sean Kilpatrick returns to the Bearcats where a season ago he averaged 17ppg in 34.4 minutes. He’s a NBA hopeful, standing  at 6’4 and weighing in at 210lbs. A good sized guard who can attack the basket and can score from deep. Last season he  hit 82 3s, but only shot 30.7%. This year he’s going to be relied on even more as the Bearcats look to replace their next top 2 scorers from a year ago.

Style of Play
It will be interesting to see how Cincy attacks NC State. I’m sure they’re looking at the roster and salivating at the inexperienced backcourt that State puts out there, but in reality that’s where the Pack is the strongest. Mick Cronin, Cincy’s head coach, loves to play uptempo and will probably keep full court pressure on the Pack until they prove they can handle it. With Lewis, Barber and Lee all showing they can handle, I think State is going to be able to handle it fine. The only worry is that the Bearcats have pretty good length at the guard position and might be able to cause a few turnovers in the press.

How State can beat them…
Over the last few years it’s been the teams that have slowed down Cincinnati that have had the most success. This team loves to play helter-skeltor and wants the game to be as sloppy as possible. They’re physical, but they’re also not very disciplined and not very skilled overall. If the Wolfpack can really handle the press and slow down the Bearcats they’ll find it a lot easier on themselves. That being said, I don’t think Tyler Lewis and company would mind playing uptempo either. If they can beat the Bearcat press, then it might be off to the races where State excels.

How State could lose…
This on is pretty simple. If the young backcourt can’t handle the pressure or if the bigs just get out physicalled. I really think the true problem could be the latter. State hasn’t faced a team of real men yet and it’s going to be interesting to see how Washington and Freeman match up down low. It would be nice to have Vandy back for this one, but the Aussie is still out with a high ankle sprain. I think body-wise, Freeman could match some of the Cincy bigs, but the Wolfpack just is so young and inexperienced. If Cincy goes right at the State bigs, these guys could be in trouble.

Other players to watch:
Cincy isn’t just Kilpatrick. He’s the star, but Titus Rubles and Jermaine Sanders (both forwards) have shown the ability to score as well. They have a front line of 6’7, 6’7, 6’8 and they bring Sanders off the bench at 6’5. It will be touch and go for Gottfried on whether he wants to go big to defend their size, or he wants to go small to beat their pressure and get the quickness advantage. That is something to watch out for…

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Remember, game time is at 5pm because the game is in Cincy. Make sure to get off of work a little early and tune into ESPN for this one.

 

 

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NC State Basketball

Previewing NC State’s Opponent: Marquette

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#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette in the Sweet 16 tonight. Here’s a look at the Golden Eagles before tipoff.

Marquette is ranked 8th in the AP Poll.

They lost to UCONN 57-73 in the Big East Tournament Finals.

As a team, they shoot 48.2% from the field, which ranks 23rd nationally. Their Effective Field Goal Percentage is 55.5%, which ranks 15th.

Marquette ranks 15th in Assist/Turnover ratio, 26th in Scoring Margin, and 26th in Assists per game.

Junior Guard Kam Jones leads the Golden Eagles in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game, shooting 50.3% from the field and 41.4% from three.

Senior Guard Tyler Kolek averages 15.3 points and a team high 7.9 assists. He leads the nation in assists per game. Kolek shoots 49.7% from the field and 39.7% from three.

Senior Forward Oso Ighosaro (6’11”) scores 13.6 points per game, and leads the Golden Eagles in rebounding, averaging 6.8 per game. He shoots 58.1% from the field, which ranks 28th nationally.

Junior Forward David Joplin (6’8”) averages 11.0 points per game.

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NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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