NC State Wolfpack @ Pitt Panthers
Gametime: 9:00 pm
Streaming: RSN (Fox Sports South)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Getting to know Pitt…

The Panthers come into this game at 8-12 on the season and 0-7 in the ACC. They have yet to record a quality win, and they’ve lost 7 in a row. They are without their lone senior leader and top scorer Ryan Luther who, a week ago, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot and will miss the remainder of the season.

What is remaining at Pitt isn’t really enough to succeed in the ACC at this point. They are getting better, but this is still starting 5 that trots out 4 freshmen and a sophomore.

Their leading scorer on paper is Jared Wilson-Frame. He’s a 6’5 junior who was averaging 12ppg. However, since Luther was lost for the season, it seems as if Pitt is all-in on their youth movement. Unfortunate for Wilson-Frame, but understandable from a program perspective. He was averaging over 30 minutes per game, but over the past 3 games, he has seen those minutes decline.

The guy they are relying on now seems to be 6’5 freshman guard Parker Stewart who has scored 38 points over the past 2 games, going 14-24 from the field and 10-29 from 3pt range.

To be honest, that’s really it. The only other guy to hit double figures over the past 3 games is 6’1 freshman guard Marcus Carr, who put 12 pts on Duke, but only shot 5-13 in doing so.

As a team, they really don’t do anything all that well. They have 255 assists on 434 made FGs, so I guess that is a plus. But on the other hand, that 434 made FGs is kinda sad. Pitt is dead last in rebounding in the ACC and 2nd to last in offensive rebounding. They turn the ball over a lot (15 times per game), which is worst in the conference and they are 2nd to last in FG% in the conference, coming in at 42.8%.

Keys to the game for NC State…

• Get the ball out of Parker Stewart’s hands. At this point, this is the only true threat that Pitt has. Stewart isn’t really an elite scorer, but given the circumstances, he’s trying to become one. He’s a big guard who can create and has a great stroke. The Pack has struggled with guy in this mold, but really need to turn total focus into disrupting him and getting him to give up the basketball.
• Play physical. NC State cannot afford a lull in this game. They can’t come out soft, thinking they are going to sleepwalk through this game and get a win. Pitt is young and hungry, and while they may not have much experience or talent at this point, they should still be considered dangerous if you let them get some confidence. State needs to punk them early. Go to Yurt and Freeman in the post and punish the underclassmen whose bodies aren’t ACC ready yet. If State comes out and falls in love with the 3, then they’re playing into Pitt’s hands.
• Create chaos. Do the math. This is the youngest team in the ACC. They also have a serious turnover problem (nearly worst TO% in the whole country). NC State is 3rd in the ACC in steals and turns people over at a pretty good rate. They also have Markell Johnson back and Lavar Batts coming on strong. This could get ugly for the Panthers.
• Speaking of turnovers, more Batts, please. Don’t get us wrong. We love Braxton Beverly. He brings so many intangibles to the table and is doing a magnificent job at running the show so early in his career. That said, I think as Markell starts getting back in the groove, State might want to look at getting Batts a few more minutes at the expense of Beverly. NC State isn’t shooting it all that great and they are struggling at stopping teams on the defensive end. Going with your most athletic group for longer stretches could solve both issues. You could really start creating turnovers off of the full-court traps (instead of just speeding teams up) and you could start to create a little more offense off of your defense. Again, we’re not taking anything away from Beverly. This team needs him, desperately. We are just saying that Beverly has the 2nd lowest defensive rating on the team at 107.6 (behind Sam Hunt’s 107.8) and Lavar Batts is 2nd on the team in ‘Steals per 40 min’ at 2.6, only behind Markell Johnson at 3.3. Meanwhile Beverly is logging over 30 minutes per game, while Batts is only seeing about 18. Now you do have to take into consideration Beverly’s ability to shoot 3s (NC State desperately needs guys that can spread the floor), but even then we think the minutes-per-game disparity is a bit too large right now between these two. For instance, in State’s loss to Miami Batts only saw 15 mintues to Beverly’s 32.