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NC State and Appalachian State will meet this Thursday night at 7 o’clock in the PNC Arena. If you cannot make it to the game, you can check it out on ESPNU.

What must NC State do to gain another notch in the wins column? Here are our keys to the game…

1. NC State must take away Shabazz…

Shabazz is their go-to player, he leads them in scoring at 15.5 points per game, and is quite crafty as he is left-handed. Coach Gottfried will have a couple of options available to neutralize him. In my opinion, Terry Henderson gives State the best chance at slowing him down; however, he needs help. Henderson must sit on Shabazz’s left hand and force him to go right if he is allowed to get to his left the Pack could be in for a rough night. Another area that NC State must guard against is allowing Shabazz to get into the paint. This means they must sell hard on ball screen hedges and even trap off the screen to slow him down if needed.

2. Look to run early and often…

The Pack has all the athletes a team could want, I think that they have not done a good enough job at capitalizing on the break. Too often they have not looked to push the ball, and this has resulted in running too many half-court sets. Coach Gottfried wants his guys to get out on the break; however, they have not trusted the fast break offense. Adding Omer to the front-court should help NC State in transition, pairing him and Abu will give Smith and company two agile quick-footed big men. After a tough game of scoring the basketball, some easy looks in the open court would be a welcome sight for the Pack.

3. Turnovers…

Taking care of the ball will be of the utmost importance, especially when facing a team that is capable of turning live ball turnovers into easy points on the other end. Not only are turnovers important for State on offense, but they should be forcing more than 12.2 per game from their opponents. With their depth and athletes NC State has, I would like to see them picking up their man up sooner and overplaying passing lanes. An easy basket would be conceded on occasion, but they would force more turnovers and create more easy baskets in transition. If State can force the Mountaineers to cough up the ball, they should be able to secure the win.

4. Keep it simple for Omer…

Omer Yurtseven will make his regular season debut for the Wolfpack, it will be critical that things are kept simple for him so he can get his conditioning and confidence. If State can put him in some comfortable areas early, then he should thrive. Early touches on the block, and some 15 footers off of pick and pops should help him get his feet wet. It will take trial and error to figure out how to best incorporate his unique size and skill set to the rotation. The process will begin this Thursday night.

Heading into the matchup this Thursday, the Pack finds themselves at 7-2. The first 9 games have been a mixed bag, to say the least, but they are now at full strength and have four non-conference games remaining to gain some momentum before ACC play. Can State find a way to get things trending in the right direction?

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RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago

Gott got to put Smith, Henderson, Dorn, Kapita, and Y7 in together for at least 7-8 minutes in the 2nd half.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago
Reply to  RIZ DOLLA

That’s the starting lineup in my mind.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
7 years ago
Reply to  Wolfer96

Yep me too. I have been waiting on it. Personally I think they should start running with that lineup the game before the ACC schedule.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

I don’t expect too much out of Yurt7 in his 1st game. I imagine that he will have a lot of pent up energy and that usually leads to turnovers and fouls. Hopefully he doesn’t pick up 2-3 quick fouls within the first few minutes.

I want to see a sample of his passing and footwork from the post.

mc991
mc991
7 years ago
Reply to  Wolfer96

Would say he exceeded my expectations for first game. Still a few messy turnovers and fouls, but first game jitters. Still might struggle in next few games, but I think by mid acc play he will be what we thought he will be.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago
Reply to  mc991

I’m pretty happy with his performance. Outside of those few turnovers he looked pretty smooth out there. Definitely better at spacing and positioning off the pick and roll than Abu or Anya.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

Excited to see our Turkish big man for the 1st time in a real game! Wonder how many minutes he’ll get? Also will he start after Anya’s big game?

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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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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NC State Basketball

A Historical Breakdown of the Series Between NC State & Marquette

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#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, which will mark the 6th time the two teams have played one another.

The first time the Wolfpack and the Golden Eagles played one another was also in the NCAA Tournament, and it just so happened to be the 1974 Championship game, with NC State winning the game 76-64, giving the Pack their first National Championship.

Wolfpack led the way with 21 points, and Tommy Burleson had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards, with 7 blocks, which is tied for the 8th most in school history in a single game.

NC State also had 12 steals in the game, which is the most by a Pack team in an NCAA Tournament game.

The next time the two teams would meet was on January 21st, in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack won 89-76, and it was a night for the history books for Point Guard Chris Corchiani. In that game, set ACC career records for assists with 861 and steals with 276.

The following year, the Golden Eagles picked up their first win against the Wolfpack, winning 66-42 in Milwaukee.

It would be over 15 years before NC State and Marquette would play one another again, and this time it would once again be a home-and-home series in back-to-back years.

On December 22nd, 2008, the Wolfpack lost a close one at home, falling 65-68. Wolfpack Forward Brandon Costner hit all five 3-Point attempts in that game, which still stands as the best 3-Point Percentage in a single game in school history.

The following year, on December 5th, 2009, the Wolfpack would claim the lead in the series again, defeating the Golden Eagles 77-73 on the road. NC State big man Tracy Smith had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Point Guard Javier Gonzalez had 15 points and 7 assists, and Wing Scott Wood knocked down 4 of his 6 three-point attempts.

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