NC State Basketball
NC State kicks off ‘Battle for Atlantis’ vs. Presbyterian: Preview, Info and TV Options
NC State takes on Presbyterian tonight in the ‘Battle for Atlantis’ kickoff. The game is being played in Raleigh, with the second game (vs. Arizona) being played in the Bahamas on 11/22.
Gametime: 7pm
How to Watch: Streaming online @ WatchESPN
Location: PNC Arena
Get to know Presbyterian:
The Blue Hose (really?) come into this game sporting a 1-1 record on the season. They lost their opener to Tennessee by a score of 88-53 and won their second game 107-87 to Johnson TN (a team that ESPN doesn’t even have a team page for.)
They are going to rely heavily on Devon Ball, a 5’10 senior guard who leads the team in both points (21) and assists (2). He put up 20 vs UT and 22 vs Johnson. He’s small but he’s efficient, judging by his 57% shooting from the field. To be honest, that pretty insane for a 5’10 kid who has only put up five 3s this season.
In the middle, they have a pretty talented 6’9 junior in Francois Lewis. He is averaging 15 points and 7 boards.They also will give a good chunk of minutes to 6’8 senior Ruban Arroyo who averages 9 points and 5 boards. Note that they lost the battle of the boards to Tennessee by a pretty large margin of 39-28
What should really scare them, however, is the 19 turnovers they committed vs UT. They are about to face the ‘Power 5’s’ #1 ranked team in TO%, so this could get ugly.
What to watch for:
- How well is NC State going to shoot it? They are coming off a game where they only knocked down three 3’s and shot 17% from beyond the arc. We are looking for improvement there.
- How much can NC State turn them over. The Pack really gets going when they run that 1-2-1-1 full court trap.
- Has Torin Dorn arrived? The guy went beast-mode last game, pouring in 26. He looked like his confidence was at an all new level. Does he carry that over? If so, that’s great news heading into the Arizona game.
- Does Abu suit up? We’re hearing he’s close, but my guess is that Keatts plays it safe and lets him sit out another one.
- Do we finally get to see the real Braxton Beverly? This team needs shooting and Beverly can fill it up. In his first game back, you could tell he was pressing a bit. We are looking for him to settle in a little tonight.