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NC State Basketball

Quick Hits: Miami

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Thursday night NC State travels down to Coral Gables to take on their second straight opponent in the state of Florida. The Miami Hurricanes have been a surprise team in the ACC thanks in large part to two transfers in PG Angel Rodriguez and SG Sheldon McClellan. Rodriguez is a steady presence at point and is familiar with the Pack as his cousin Javi Gonzales played for the Wolfpack a few years ago. Sheldon McClellan is a transfer from Texas and leads the Hurricanes in scoring averaging 15.4 points per game. These two players are the keys to Miami’s attack, much like Ralston Turner and Trevor Lacey are for the Pack.

Our guards must be up to the task of keeping Rodriguez out of the paint as he is adept in slithering his way around defenders with his quick first step. He also has a nice scoring touch as he went for 25 against UVA and 24 versus the Blue Devils. It will be interesting to see how Lacey will handle the assignment against Rodriguez if Cat is unable to play. Turner will be matched up with McClellan who uses many of the same moves to score as does Turner. Both players are also the same height and weight roughly the same as each other. Most important for Ralston is to defend without fouling! It is imperative that he is on the floor for the Pack as we need his offensive fire power to stay effective offensively. All too often Ralston seems to pick up the idiotic foul 35 feet from the basket. He cannot do this if we are going to win.

Not only will our guards have their hands full but so will our big men. Miami has a monster underneath named Tonye Jekiri. Standing 7 feet tall the big man is averaging 7.9 points per game and 10 rebounds per for good measure. Not only is Jekiri long but he is extremely active. He uses outstanding lateral movement and his length to claim countless rebounds, against BC he pulled down 15. Anya, Washington, and Abu must put a body on Jekiri to knock him off balance, trying to out jump him will not work.

Offensively we must be disciplined and stay within the offense. Versus FSU we ran our sets efficiently and ran our lead up to 17 points; however, following that we became sloppy which allowed FSU back into the game. In order to come away with another great win on the road we must stick to the offense for 40 minutes. Miami plays a similar style to us in the way they love to push the ball up the court. We must be smart and not fuel the fire with careless turnovers. Points off turnovers will be an all important statistic and will be a major factor in which team walks away with a win.

Will NC State be able to win two consecutive games on the road? Tune in Thursday at 8PM on the ACCN/Raycom to find out.

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

This is a very winnable game for the Wolfpack but also one that we can lose quite easily. Miami is very well coached and as they showed in the duke game they have the ability to play at a very high level. Freeman really surprised me in the FSU game. He was always a good rebounder but in the FSU game he went up against some tall defenders and used the pump fake effectively for the first time all season. I love that Freeman is showing improvement as the season progresses. Keys to game: – keep short leash on Kyle… Read more »

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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