NC State Basketball

NC State vs. Jacksonville: Preview, Info & How to watch

Published

6 years ago

December 22, 2017

NC State Wolfpack vs. Jacksonville Dolphins
Gametime: 7:00 pm
Streaming: Watch ESPN App (ACC Network Extra)
Location: PNC Arena (Raleigh, NC)

Get to know Jacksonville…
The Dolphins come to Raleigh with a 4-9 record (w/ zero road wins). The best team they’ve faced so far this season was Georgetown in early November A game they lost by 16 points.

Jacksonville’s 4 wins have come against Webber Int, Gardner-Webb, Fairfield, and Florida National. So really, they haven’t beaten anybody of worth.

Their lead scorer is 6’6 forward Jace Hogan who averages 17.6ppg. He is a tweener swingman who does nearly all his damage inside the arc. After that, they rely on JD Notae, a 6’2 freshman who can shoot it from deep and averages 14.3ppg. They also get 11.8 ppg from senior guard Devin Harris, who actually is really good at attacking the rim and getting to the line. In fact, he’s ranked 26th in the nation in FT rate.

Honestly, this Jacksonville team doesn’t do much well. They are 329th in offensive efficiency and 325th in defensive efficiency. They are 302nd in eFG%. They are 291st in defending inside the arc, 279th in guarding 3s. Really, the only places that the Dolphins excel is with their 8.6 block % (126th in the nation) and their 7.6 steal % (84th in the nation).
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What to watch for from NC State

NC State getting honest with themselves
It was the first time all season that Keatts came out and admitted that his teams best chance to win is going to come from playing through their frontcourt. As much as he wanted to come in and put in his system from day 1, it’s becoming clear that his personnel is going to make him tweak that plan. Lennard Freeman and Omer Yurtseven are playing crazy efficient basketball right now and the guards are struggling to find their shots. Add the Markell Johnson suspension to the mix and it’s pretty clear that playing through their bigs is going to be paramount for NC State going forward. Look for huge games from Freeman, Yurtseven, and Abu.

More Dorn
Torin Dorn is NC State’s 2nd leading scorer at 13.8ppg. He’s also the teams leading rebounder at 7,5 per game. He’s actually been ramping up production over the past month and has double-doubles in 3 of o his past 4 games. This will be another matchup for Dorn to exploit.

Al Freeman Breakout
It’s coming, folks. It’s really just a question of when. Al Freeman is NC State’s most talented player and if he can get on a roll, this team can be dangerous. You don’t shoot 38% from 3 as a sophomore, 39% from 3 as a junior and then just lay an egg at 25% from 3 as a senior. Freeman can shoot it, but has been slumping for most of the season. He’ll get it rolling soon and we believe it will be either this game or the ACC opener vs Clemson where you see it happen.

NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

Published

21 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Matthew Bradham

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

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This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.

James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.

News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.

He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.

James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.

NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill is on a Visit to NC State

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Matthew Bradham

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.

Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.

NC State Basketball

What did an ACC Title & Final Four Mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.?

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Matthew Bradham

What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.

It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!

2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.

DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.