NC State vs Penn State: Game Info, Keys to the game & How to watch

Gametime: 7:15pm
TV Station: ESPNU
Streaming: Watch ESPN App
Location: PNC Arena (Raleigh, NC)

NC State takes on a 6-1 Penn State team that has a lot of similarities to the Wolfpack. Where will NC State be able to take advantage and what do they have to do to walk away with the victory? We take a closer look.

Keys to the game

• Abuse them inside: Penns State was crushed in the paint by Texas A&M and NC State should take note. After two bad losses in the Bahamas where the Pack failed to run it through their bigs, it’s likely they will focus on getting touches inside. Lennard Freeman, Malik Abu and Omer Yurtseven will have mismatches all day in the middle. If NC State plays inside-out basketball, they win this game. In their two ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ losses, the guards were ice cold, yet shot over 90 shots in those losses. They only hit on under 30% of those. Meanwhile, the bigs didn’t even get to 30 shots in those losses but were shooting over 60%. It’s clear this team wants to play fast, but when they get into the half court, they have to rely on the advantage they’re going to have inside.
• Stop Tony Carr: Carr is a highly efficient, wrangly 6’5 guard who can score it from anywhere. He isn’t a volume shooter, but he is smart about when to force the issue and when to let the game come to him. He’s avg. 20ppg and he’s shooting a crazy 65% from deep. But he isn’t a spot-up shooter. This guy can get to the rim and finish in traffic. Al Freeman will likely get the assignment, and it won’t be the first of it’s kind. Carr is similar to Allonzo Trier of Arizona. Both are bigger guards who can score it. Freeman did well early against Trier and that was certainly a tougher assignment, however Carr possesses the ability to post up when he gets a mismatch.
• Will the real Markell Johnson please stand up: Keatts has been relying on Braxton Beverly as his PG as of late, but it’s only because Johnson has gone into a serious funk. Sure, he had some cramping issues, but you can’t use that excuse for poor decision making. Over the past two games, Johnson has turned it over 7 times, while only dishing out 4 assists. He’s also shot a miserable 4-13. But just turning the reigns over to Beverly isn’t the answer. Johnson is the battery that makes this motor run. His ability to play fast and under control is what makes NC State so dangerous. He needs to stop trying to make so much happen and just trust the offense. He’s at his best when he’s getting into the teeth of the defense, making them shift, and then kicking it out…under control. Too many times he found himself in the trees and decided to leave his feet to make a pass, which led to a few of his turnovers.
• Green doesn’t always mean go: Keatts is known for giving his guys confidence by always giving them the green light to shoot it. Al Freeman is the guy that the Wolfpack would like to lead them in scoring. He’s the most complete scorer they have and he’s done it at this level. But he’s also shot NC State out of some games this season. He is 7-30 (23%) in their two losses. It doesn’t matter who you are. You can’t be putting up 15 shots per game when you’re only knocking down 23% of them. That’s just not going to be good enough to win games. NC State still needs Freeman to attempt to get going every single game, but if he’s not hitting his shot, they need to look at other options.
• Battle of the thieves: Penn State comes in at #2 in the Power 5 in steals. NC State ranks #8. These are two elite teams at taking the ball away from their opponent. That means you are looking at two very active defenses, which also means you’re going to see a very fast pace of play. Who handles that best? We’ve seen NC State play very well when sped up, but that was with Markell Johnson taking care of the basketball and helping them get transition buckets. Keeping turnovers down will be big in NC State walking out of the PNC 6-2.