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

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.