NC State vs. Pitt | Gameday Preview and How to Watch

NC State Wolfpack vs Pitt Panthers
Time: 4:00pm
Location: Raleigh, NC
TV: ACCN 
Line: NC State -6.5

Preview of The Pitt Panthers

Pitt comes into this losers of 7 of their last 8, most recently taking a hard-fought 7 point loss to #16 FSU, Pitt also was a point short vs. the Pack and lost by 6 to Georgia Tech.

As you can see, Pitt hasn’t been downright awful, but they just can’t seem to get a win. On Sunday they’ll also be facing the loss of two of their top three scorers in Xavier Johnson and Au’diese Toney, both of whom have entered the transfer portal and left the team.

This leaves Pitt shorthanded and lacking reliable scoring. While they will still have their leader, and ACC POY favorite, Justin Champagnie, they will be forced to rely on a patchwork backcourt made up of guys like Itheil Horton (9 ppg), Femi Odukale (5 ppg) and Nick Sebande (3 ppg).

The program is in turmoil, a sect of players seem to have given up on head coach Jeff Capel, and they come into Raleigh facing off a red hot NC State team that has won their last 3 games (including an upset over #15 UVA.)

Keys For NC State

In their first meeting, just over a week ago, the Pack squeaked out a 1 point win. They had 4 guys in double figures and held Justin Champagnie to 3-11 shooting.

On paper, it seems like the Pack has a big advantage with Pitt being undermanned, but despite COVID restrictions being altered to allow fans, NC State is not allowing public ticketing in this one. That means another home game without real home-court advantage. That’s been the case for the whole season, so it likely won’t change anything, but there was a thought that there could be limited public ticketing for this game. That isn’t the case.

Although the two teams just met, NC State is a different team right now. Keatts has started to hand the reigns over to the freshmen, and with their win over #15 UVA this past week, those freshmen’s confidence is riding high.

State will be able to put full focus on on stopping Justin Champagnie, and if they are able to do what they did last week, the Pack should be in a position to walk away with their fourth straight win.

Look for them to continue to play inside out, attacking Champagnie with Funderburk and Bates and trying to get him into early foul trouble. That said, Pitt may sit back in a zone for most of this one to protect him and that means Jericole Hellems will play a major role in facilitating and attacking from the high post.

If NC State can avoid a let down in intensity and avoid overlooking a depleted Pitt team, they should be able to dictate the pace and come out victorious.