Gameday: Wolfpack Takes On Charleston Southern

NC State Wolfpack vs Charleston Southern Buccaneers
7pm | Reynolds Coliseum | ESPN3 |

NC State comes off what seemed like a long exam week to take on a pretty gritty 5-2 Charleston Southern team.

The Buccaneers already have a quality win with their season opener buzzer-beating win over Ole Miss. They also nearly knocked off FSU (lost by 10) in Tallahassee. So as you can see, this is no team to scoff at. The good news for the Pack is that they have already played a few very competitive games thus far. Their close loss against Purdue and their recent win over Wake Forest should have this team really starting to kick into gear right now.

Players to Watch for Charleston Southern
This team is led by senior guard Saah Nimley. The diminuative guard is putting up a surprising 16 points per game. After starting the season in a slump he’s been on fire as of late, scoring over 20 in 3 of his last 4 games. At 5’8 , 160lbs, he’s super small, but also very quick, changes directions and speeds well, while also being a great shooter. Although it seems like a guy that could be bottled up easily by State’s size, this will be a task for Cat Barber. Barber will have to really focus on his on the ball defense, keeping Nimley out of the lane where he can create havoc, while also closing out on him and not allowing him to get open looks from the perimeter.

Keys to the game for NC State
Keys today will to be bottling up Nimley, but also keeping the Bucs off the glass. This team is pulling down 44 boards per game and they are gritty on the glass. State is going to have to stay out of foul trouble (Beejay!) and really fight for 50/50 balls. Charleston Southern is a senior led team that wants to make a real run in the Big South. They are going to come into the PNC with confidence that they can walk out with a win thanks to their  upset of Ole Miss. State is going to have to really focus on running their offense, staying patient and using their size and length to really bother the Bucs.