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GAMEDAY: 3 Keys to Beating 1 Seeded Villanova

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9 years ago

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Tonight NC State plays the biggest game of their season as they take on #1 seeded Villanova in the round of 32. For many teams this would be the toughest game they’ve played all season, but not the Wolfpack. With the ACC so strong this season State has faced both Duke and Virginia twice, two teams who are arguably better than Villanova this season. So it’s not like State is going to come out and just be overwhelmed by talent, however Nova poses a threat that is a little unique. This is a team that has dominant guards. A team that has shoots the ball very well and is completely unselfish. They are a tough matchup, but actually are kind of similar to State. Here are our keys to the Wolfpack pulling off the upset.

Handle Their Guards
This is really the biggest thing. Nova relies Dylan Ennis, Darrun Hilliard, and Ryan Arcidiacono. Ennis is the guy that creates. He’s a steady PG who is their true defensive stopper. He will certainly guard Lacey and at 6’2 could really bother him. Hilliard is the scorer. He’s averaging 14ppg and can score in a variety of ways. The 6’6 senior is certainly going to be a tough guard for NC State. He can shoot is over top and he can use his size to take to the rim. Stopping Hilliard needs to be priority for Gottfried and company. After that you have Arcidiacono. He’s averaging 10ppg and 4 boards. He too is shooting around 38% and can really heat up of he gets going. Those 3 guys are a handful, but that’s not all their guards. Aside form these main three you have sixth man Josh Hart. Hart is another one of these giant guards. He’s 6’5 and is also averaging 10ppg. He doesn’t shoot a ton of 3s, but he’ll light you up if you don’t watch out. He’s hitting 47% from outside.

So as you see this is a team of big guards that can all shoot, pass and attack the rim. They are good, but State has some pretty good guards themselves. One thing Lacey and Turner will have to do is keep the Nova backcourt out of the lane. Ralston has had trouble keeping guys in front of him and if that happens here you might see a little more of the Martins in this one.

On offense State is going to have to move the basketball. So often State is trying to go one on one and isolate Lacey. Nova is too big for Lacey to do that and their length is going to make it hard for Turner to get clean looks. One guy that could have  huge game is Cat Barber. The uber-quick PG is a mismatch for Nova, who really doesn’t have anyone to match his speed. He’ll need to get into the lane and create havoc if  State wants a chance to win this.

Win the Front Court Battle
This is where State COULD surprise some people. Nova has the experienced bigs in Pinkston and Ochefu, but State’s bigs might be turning the corner right at the right time. Abu is becoming a go-to guy in the post with his athleticism and physicality and you better believe Anya is feeling real confident after his game winner. But an x-factor here is Kyle Washington. The sophomore finally got back in the swing of things last game and gave the Pack a boost they sorely needed. This team really need Kyle’s intensity, hustle and ability to bring their bigs out of paint with this jumpers. He adds a different dimension to the Wolfpack and if he has a big night, Nova may not have an answer.

Play With Fire
The Pack can’t come out lackadaisical like they did against LSU. They’ve played well as world beaters this season, so there is a good chance they’ll come out hyped. They need to be in passing lanes, locking down on the ball, rotating quick on help-side D and closing out on shooters under control. If they can play smart and play with some conviction then the Pack has a real chance to shock the world.

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

Hard to believe that Lacey/Turner went a combined 8 for 29 and 6 for 18 and we still win those 2 games? One of the keys to this game was rebounding. We out rebounded Nova 49 to 32. Abu and Freeman dominated the boards. 22 rebounds between them. We owned the paint on offense and defense.

It was a hell of an effort and one of the best games this team has played all season. Gottfried, just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

OMG. This team has finally come together. Talk about the right time to bring it all together. The defense was tight, offense was balanced inside/out, and we played aggressive for 40 minutes. 

Abu is the man!

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

We shot as poorly as a team can shoot in the LSU game. Now that we got our bad game out of the way maybe we’ll come out shooting lights out today.

We’ll need to if we want to win against the 1 seed.

Go Pack!

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NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

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16 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

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NC State Basketball

NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

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2 days ago

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July 24, 2024

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

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WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

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4 days ago

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July 23, 2024

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NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

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Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

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1 week ago

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July 18, 2024

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The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

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Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

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