NC State vs. Florida State: Game Preview

NC State Wolfpack vs Florida State Seminoles
9pm | Raleigh, NC | ACCN

Is this young Wolfpack team starting to turn the corner? After two very impressive, very hard-fought wins, they just might be.

With a comeback win over Maryland, without TJ Warren, and then an overtime thriller against Georgia Tech in which Tyler Lewis stepped up, it’s starting to look like this team is really starting to come together. Tonight, however, they’re going to have another tough test against FSU.

This Florida State team is already having a pretty good season. They’ve beaten some very good teams, including #10 VCU, #22 UMass and a surprising good Clemson team. Like usual, this team gets it done with physicality. They are a defense-first type team that will rely on the game being sloppy and slow. On offense they look to guard Ian Miller (13ppg) and Aaron Thomas (12ppg) to get things going. Neither one is a prolific scorer, but they play hard and they play strong. The pace of this game will be much like that of the UVA game. It’s likely going to be loosely called and State is going to have to play through bumping and pushing.

Here are the keys for State:

Play Strong
Losses to Pitt , Duke and UVA have really proved that this team does not like playing against teams that commit to physicality on defense. They invite contact and make the Pack either get push back or back down. So far, State has backed down. Tonight they will need to come out expecting contact and ready to give it right back

Stay Focused
With the snow basically crippling the southeast right now, people aren’t going to want to risk it and come out to a 9pm game. I’m guessing they will let all the students down to the front, but even then it’s not going to be very crowded. State needs to come out focused and not be brought down by the lack of momentum from the crowd.

Lean on Lee
Defensively, State needs Lee to be in lockdown mode again. He’s really been huge this season on defense. When there is a guard they need to stop, Lee steps up. Tonight he’ll be on either Miller or Thomas. If he can stop either one of them, State’s chances look good.

Lewis and Barber …Ride the Hot Hand
This is going to be a game of ball control. Who can maximize their possessions and who can better protect the basketball? That’s going to be huge in this one. FSU is going to put on the pressure and State needs to handle it. Will the game tip more towards Barber, who can cause havoc by getting by his man when pressure is applied? Or will it be Lewis’ ball control and pace management that will work better? That’s up to Gottfried, but as he’s done recently, he needs to ride the hot hand at PG, it’s one of the major reasons State has been able to adjust in-game.

Unleash the Bigs
Whether it’s Vandy, Anya, Washington or Freeman, it seems like the Wolfpack bigs are coming up big at every turn. These guys are young and constantly showing growth, but against FSU they’re going to need to be ready to get physical real fast. The Noles don’t have any real skilled bigs, other than Okaro White, that they need to worry about, but they have bigs that are very active and love to get at it on the glass. White is averaging 12 and 7, so he’s kind of their do it all guy, but Warren can match up with him and hopefully shut him down.