NC State vs SC State: Preview, Info & How to watch

Gametime: 12:00 pm
TV Station: RSN or FSS (in Raleigh)
Streaming: Watch ESPN App
Location: PNC Arena (Raleigh, NC)

Get to know South Carolina State…
The Bulldogs come to Raleigh sporting a pretty sad 1-6 record. Sure, they’ve played some talented teams (UCLA, Yale, BC, Wisconsin), but the closest they’ve come to a win is a 28pt loss.

South Carolina State just doesn’t have that much going for them in this one. They are small, they aren’t very strong in the middle, and they really don’t have any shooters.

If you want that statistically, they are the 345th best team in the nation on the offensive glass, they are the 350th best shooting team in the country (eFG%), and they’re 348th in offensive efficiency. In fact, the only thing the Bulldogs rank decently high in is turning their opponents over. Their forced TO% is 21.7%, which is 71st in the country. Basically negating that, however, is the fact that they turn the ball over 17 times per game.

Their leading scorer is 5’10 PG Donte Wright. He’s going for just over 12 per game, shooting 34% from the floor but hitting 37% of this 3s. Saturday’s meeting marks the 3rd meeting all-time between the two programs.

What to watch for from NC State…

Intensity out of the gate- The Pack looked lethargic in the first 3 or 4 minutes against Penn State, going down 11-0. I think it’s important for this team to get used to starting strong. We’ll be watching to see if Keatts harped on that during the off days.

Markell Johnson getting back on track- We’ve stated it before, but NC State needs Johnson to be playing well if they are going to make waves in the ACC. It’s been a tough go lately for the sophomore. He’s losing minutes to Beverly and when he gets a shot, he looks hesitant. I think Keatts believes on Markell Johnson 100%. I think he sees a great athlete with all the tools to be a star. I think he also sees a kid who has never really been taught how to lead, or how to run a basketball team from the PG spot. My take is that Keatts is breaking Johnson, in order to build him back up the right way. Is today the first step in that rehabilitation?

More Yurt! More Nard!- NC State has a huge advantage in the paint against the Bulldogs and Yurtseven is coming off the best came of his young career. We’d like to see him build on that with another strong performance. We’d also like to see the team look to feed Lennard Freeman a little more. The kid is shooting 71% from the floor!

History vs. South Carolina State

• The Pack leads the all-time series 2-0.
• The two programs met previously in the 1997-98 season and 2007-08 season.
• The Pack has an all-time record of 29-1 against teams from the MEAC.