NC State Wolfpack vs #22 Creighton Bluejays
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands |  8:30pm  | CBS Sports Network

NC State is a young team that is slowly starting to iron out their roles and beginning to gel. However, they are going to need to take a large leap forward tonight if they plan on beating the #22 Creighton Bluejays.

Creighton, who had been down the past two seasons, are nearly back to the level they were playing during the Doug McDermott years. That is when they were a tournament team that many analysts predicted going deep into March.

While they might not have a Doug McDermott (now with the Chicago Bulls), this team does have a ton of talent and plays very a very gritty, tough, yet sophisticated brand of basketball. They will most likely run out a 3 guard lineup that could really cause mismatches for some teams. Fortunately, NC State also favors a 3 guard lineup, so that should not be an issue.

FRONTCOURT
What may be an issue is the play of 6’11 redshirt freshman Justin Patton. This will be the first truly skilled big that NC State is coming up against and without Kapita (visa problems) and Yurtseven (9 game NCAA suspension) they are going to have to rely on Anya to guard him. The problem with that is Patton is a versatile big, and moves well. Anya on the other hand, does not move well and does better against stationary bigs. Patton is only averaging 11 ppg at this point, but this matchup really favors his skill set, as he’ll be able to put it on the floor and attack Anya without having to go back to the basket.

Their other big to watch is Cole Huff. Huff is a senior who has shown the ability to break off big nights. He is coming off an offseason knee surgery, but his 10ppg needs to be respected.

BACKCOURT
So far this season the most dominant scorer has been Marcus Foster. He is a junior transfer from Kansas State who averaged over 15ppg as a freshman. His sophomore year was a slight drop to 12 ppg, but this year he’s gotten his swagger back and is averaging 17ppg. This kid is a handful. At 6’3 he’s a big guard, who is very strong to the basket and is an elite finisher. In his career he had been a slightly better than average 3 point shooter, but this season he’s hitting 57% from beyond the arc. NC State could match him athletically with Smith, however, we’re wondering if putting the longer, more defensive minded Torin Dorn on him might frustrate him and force him into some bad shots. Check out his highlight reel and see for yourself:

When you’re not worrying about Foster, you have to worry about their senior leader Maurice Watson Jr. This is a guy who was thinking about leaving college early last year, but opted to come back for his senior season. Watson is quick, fast, strong and a good finisher. At only 5’10 he doesn’t look like he’d be such an efficient slasher, but he very much is. He will likely be guarded by Markell Johnson if he is in, and by Smith Jr when Johnson is out. The rub on Watson is that he’s not a great shooter. Coming into this season he never shot above 33.7% from 3pt range, however this season he’s knocking down 66% from beyond the arc.

Creigthon also has Kyrie Thomas, a 6’3 sophomore (who likely will be guarded by Terry Henderson) who is averaging 13 ppg himself. So, as you can see, the Bluejays have a ton of athletes and a ton of scorers.

OVERALL MATCHUP
Honestly, Creighton matches up pretty well with NC State and vice-versa. Both teams are pretty young, pretty athletic, and yet to suffer a loss this season.

As far as experience goes, Creighton has the Pack by a little bit with two senior leaders in their starting lineup and they also have faced a top 10 team already. That team was #9 Wisconsin and believe it or not, Creighton beat them 79-67.

Looking back at that game what you saw was a very hungry, very confident Creighton team. Their defense was smothering at times, and as a result led to 16 Wisconsin turnovers. Their pressure also really took the Badgers off their game and had them settling for quick and contested shots.

Another thing that goes a long way in telling the tale of the Bluejays early season surge is the fact that they are shooting almost 50% from 3pt range. Their starting 3 guards are shooting an insane 67% from beyond the arc. That is unsustainable for sure, but you’re also watching a team that is sky high on confidence thanks to that Wisconsin upset.

The Bluejays are going to be a handful for the Pack, but if Dennis Smith Jr. can provide steady leadership from the PG slot and control the pace of the game, then this game is winnable for NC State. Both teams have shown that they can thrive in uptempo havoc with their athleticism, so this one is sure to be fast, exciting and energetic.

The game is at 8:30pm eastern on CBS Sports Network.