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NC State travels north to take on Boston College Wednesday night at 9 PM with RSN providing coverage. Both teams are coming into the contest after losing on the road. Boston College couldn’t overcome turnovers to knock off the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor. NC State suffered a lopsided loss to Carolina. Both teams are 1-2 in ACC play and will look to get to even their records with a win. What must NC State do to find their first road ACC win of the season?

NC State must take care of the basketball.

Wolfpack cannot afford to give up possessions as well as easy baskets that result from live ball turnovers. In their two road games at Miami and Carolina, the Pack averaged 20.5 TPG and 28 points off those turnovers. That cannot happen on the road in the ACC. It will take a total team effort to play within the framework of the offense and not go off script. NC State needs to have the discipline to outwork their defenders to get to their spots in the half court. Dennis Smith Jr. must be in control and not force the issue early in the shot clock. Mark Gottfried needs his group to be quick but not in a hurry. NC State Should win if they can play under control by taking care of the basketball.

Transition defense will be critical if NC State will win Wednesday.

Boston College is averaging 81.3 PPG in ACC play. They are getting out in the open court as well as pushing the pace on makes and misses. Ky Bowman has been electric during ACC play averaging 21 PPG. Bowman is aggressive at pushing the basketball up court because of his speed and athletic ability. Paired with Bowman is sophomore Jerome Robinson who is equally lethal on the break as he possesses smooth handles and length to finish in traffic. NC State’s guards have got to be aware of these two and get back on defense to stop the ball. Everyone in Red & White needs to sprint the floor to get back and thwart BC’s fast break attack. NC State can slow down the Eagles if they force them to have to execute in the half-court aginst a set defense.

NC State needs to make Jerome Robinson work on both ends of the court.

Robinson is having an excellent sophomore campaign averaging over 20 points per game. Boston College has found a go-to scorer who has the skill set to score in a variety of ways. Robinson loves to move without the ball utilizing ball screens to lose his defender. Another area that Robinson thrives at is keeping defenders off-balance by changing pace. NC State will need to keep him marked when he is off-ball as well as shade his direction on help-side defense.

Terry Henderson will be up for the challenge as he is familiar with Robinson’s game. Both players have played aginst each other in the Summer as Robinson trains in Raleigh in the off-season. Henderson must do his best to bait Robinson into tough contested jumpers off the bounce. Offensively whoever Robinson is guarding needs to work hard off-ball in order to wear him down. That means being physical with Robinson on screens and not letting him off the hook by shooting quick jumpers. The tone needs to be set early as allowing Robinson easy baskets early will fuel his confidence throughout.

The Wolfpack needs to display heart Wednesday night.

The adage is that a team is only as good as their last performance. That axiom rings especially true with NC State this season. Wednesday night is not as much about game plans, plays, as it is about heart and hustle. Each player should be counting down the seconds until tip-off Wednesday night to erase some of the pain from their last outing. Dennis Smith, Terry Henderson, Torin Dorn, Malik Abu, and Omer Yurtseven will need to set the expectation of playing hard from the start. That means diving on the ground, working hard off-ball, defending like their lives depend on it, and having positive body language. Wednesday night is NC State’s opportunity to play each game like it is their last because that is the only way to win in the ACC.

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RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago

a shot? I mean if its early and we still have time to turn things around why not give Butch a shot? I’m sure he cant do any worse than Mark is right now. I mean he did say he didnt give a S**t. Fans don’t even have the desire to watch NCSU Mens BBall right now. This is sad…

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago
Reply to  RIZ DOLLA

My bad this was a continuation of my original post I corrected it below.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago

I have never blamed the players because they did their job with being recruited to this level they are blessed with talent. Mark’s coaching just is not getting the job done. Point blank and it kills me that everyone sees it other than the AD or whoever he reports to. I mean they cant see it right because if they did… Butch Pierre seems to have coached at elite programs. Why not give him

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago
Reply to  RIZ DOLLA

a shot? I mean if its early and we still have time to turn things around why not give Butch a shot? I’m sure he cant do any worse than Mark is right now. I mean he did say he didnt give a S**t. Fans don’t even have the desire to watch NCSU Mens BBall right now. But we got better! smh…This is sad…

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

Great job at BC. DSJ needs to go back to AAU ball and take Gott with him.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago
Reply to  wolfpack74

DSJ just needs a coach to coach him.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago
Reply to  RIZ DOLLA

I agree, but he will only be here a year and Gott is still the coach!!!!!!

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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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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NC State Basketball

A Historical Breakdown of the Series Between NC State & Marquette

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#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, which will mark the 6th time the two teams have played one another.

The first time the Wolfpack and the Golden Eagles played one another was also in the NCAA Tournament, and it just so happened to be the 1974 Championship game, with NC State winning the game 76-64, giving the Pack their first National Championship.

Wolfpack led the way with 21 points, and Tommy Burleson had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards, with 7 blocks, which is tied for the 8th most in school history in a single game.

NC State also had 12 steals in the game, which is the most by a Pack team in an NCAA Tournament game.

The next time the two teams would meet was on January 21st, in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack won 89-76, and it was a night for the history books for Point Guard Chris Corchiani. In that game, set ACC career records for assists with 861 and steals with 276.

The following year, the Golden Eagles picked up their first win against the Wolfpack, winning 66-42 in Milwaukee.

It would be over 15 years before NC State and Marquette would play one another again, and this time it would once again be a home-and-home series in back-to-back years.

On December 22nd, 2008, the Wolfpack lost a close one at home, falling 65-68. Wolfpack Forward Brandon Costner hit all five 3-Point attempts in that game, which still stands as the best 3-Point Percentage in a single game in school history.

The following year, on December 5th, 2009, the Wolfpack would claim the lead in the series again, defeating the Golden Eagles 77-73 on the road. NC State big man Tracy Smith had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Point Guard Javier Gonzalez had 15 points and 7 assists, and Wing Scott Wood knocked down 4 of his 6 three-point attempts.

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