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NC State vs. #3 Virginia: Info, Preview, Keys to the Game & How to Watch

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NC State Wolfpack vs. #19 Clemson Tigers
Gametime: 6:00 pm
TV: ESPNU
Location: Charlottesville, Va

 

Getting to know Virginia…
While some of the names may have changed, this Virginia team is a lot like the ones you’ve seen over the past few years. They are great defensively, they shoot it pretty well and they play a really slow, grind-it-out style of basketball that they’ve nearly perfected.

They are led on offense by sophomore guard Kyle Guy. He’s a 6’2 guard who can really stroke it. He’s coming off his second best game of the season where he scored 22 points on Syracuse just a few days ago (his best game ‘was a 29 pt outburst vs. VCU – video below).

Guy can score off the dribble, but he’s not really all that quick. Where he will kill you is beyond the arc on the catch and shoot. Whoever gets this assignment cannot leave him. They can not sink down into help-side defense and allow him to get off any type of clean look. He’s shooting 44% from downtown and can get white-hot if you let him.

Their next best scorer is 6’5 senior guard Devon Hall. He’s averaging 12 ppg and shooting 46% from the floor and 44% from long range. He’s usually a pretty tough mismatch, but with Torin Dorn being 6’5 and Al Freeman at 6’3, NC State has a good matchup here.

Virginia’s other big scorer is Ty Jerome, who is another sophomore guard and another guy who is 6’5. He’s tall, but most of his shots are coming from beyond the arc (where he shoots 44% as well.)

Defensively, as you know, Virginia is going to play a pack line defense. This is essentially a defense They will pressure the ball handler as much as possible, but the other 4 guys will remain sunken in the lane. Virginia wants you to pass it around the perimeter and shoot a 3 off of a side-to-side swing pass. They really don’t allow driving lanes and really make it tough for bigs to have any space to work in the post.

So do you get the gist of it? Virginia plays with a bunch of big guards, packs it down, out-physicals teams on defense and shoots a lot of jumpers on offense. The good news for NC State is that they can match-up. Al Freeman and Torin Dorn are both big guards who can defend, and Virginia hasn’t faced many teams that can negate that advantage.

Also, note that Virginia may be ranked 4th, but they don’t have the quality wins that the Wolfpack has. They’ve beaten UNC when they were #12 and really that’s it. They’ve beaten BC, VT, and Syracuse, but they lost to West Virginia (when they were 18th).

Keys to the game for NC State:

  • Beat the pack line. UVA wants NC State to just move it around the perimeter and throw up shots. That’s not going to cut it. State needs to have crisp ball movement and play inside-out basketball. This means drive-and-kicks off the pick and roll, and dump-downs and kick-outs from the post.
  • Speed them up Virginia doesn’t turn it over much, but then again, they also play at the slowest adjusted tempo in the NCAA (literally). The Pack needs to get them out of their comfort zone by putting big time pressure on their guards. This is where the return of Markell Johnson could be big. We’re not sure if he’ll play, or if he does if he’ll be in good enough shape, but him and Batts pestering these slower, more cumbersome guards could cause trouble.
  • Win the battle of the boards. Virginia does a great job rebounding, mostly because the pack line defense keeps them all clustered around the hoop. NC Stae needs to find a way to beat them on the offensive glass and get some second-chance points.
  • Keep playing team basketball. Over the past two games, NC State has been sharing the ball at a whole new level. This is why they are winning. They are getting easy buckets and everyone is on the same page. We’ll come right out and say it. Al Freeman needs to keep sharing the ball and creating for his teammates. Both in the Duke game and in the Clemson game he came out and really made a difference by moving the ball around, but late in both games, he got back into his one-on-one ways. and allowed the opponent to make a run. That can’t happen vs UVA. A sharing Al Freeman is a dominant Al Freeman.
  • Let Yurt Eat. State has to get Yurtseven touches. He’s been absolutely dominant for a majority of this season. The guy is shooting 62% from the field and an insane 73% from long range. He was the main reason State beat Clemson and should become State’s top option going forward.

 

NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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