NC State vs. Davidson | NIT Gameday Preview and How to Watch

NC State Wolfpack (#3) vs. Davidson (#2)
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Denton, TX
TV: ESPN
Line: Davidson -1.5

Preview of Davidson:

Davidson finished the year 13-8 overall and 7-4 in a relatively tough A-10 conference. This was good enough to land them in 3rd place behind a very good St. Bonaventure team and another NCAA-bound team in VCU.

Though Davidson lacks any trademark wins (which is probably what kept them out of the NCAA Tournament) they have played teams like Texas and St Bonaventure close during the season, with their biggest win of the season coming at home versus VCU.

For the most part, Davidson has taken care of the teams they should have beat during the season and then struggled to pull off wins against stronger competition.  This, in no way, means Davidson will be an easy game for the Wolfpack.

Scouting Davidson

Davidson uses a rotation of 9 guys, with the starting 5 doing a majority of their offensive damage.

Leading the way for Davidson is Kellan Grady, a 6’5 senior guard who can attack the basket with his strength and size and can also step back and knock down a three (almost 40% from beyond the arc).  Grady is also one of Davidson’s leading rebounders, pulling down 4.7 boards a game.  Next, you have Hyunjung Lee at the foward position.  Lee is 6’7 and he’s no dominant force in the post, his strength is his length and ability to shoot, averaging 13 points a game and shooting over 40% from beyond the arc. The guy can fill it up in a hurry. Lee, however, isn’t great at creating his own shot from outside. He’s much better as a catch and shoot guy, so whoever is guarding him can’t sink off too much on the helpside.

Davidson isn’t going to throw out the longest or most athletic team, but they do really like to spread the court out and force you to defend. They like to use their guards to break you down, get in the paint, and kick it out. They rely on having 4 or 5 guys on the court that can shoot.  This is why they lead their conference in threes, averaging over 10 a game.

They are effective and efficient on offense (17th overall in Offensive efficiency), they don’t turn the ball over much, and will punish you for over helping and leaving shooters open.  This is why Grady is tough to guard. He can get to the basket and finish over most defenders, so you need your rim protector to help. However, show too much on the helpside and he has no problem kicking it out to the shooters

Fortunately, as good as they are on offense, they struggle to get stops against stronger opponents.  Like I stated earlier, Davidson is not the most athletic of teams and does not have any kind of true rim protector.  This allows quicker guards to attack their man, get to the basket and either score over their bigs or kick it out if they help down.

What the Pack Needs to Win:

NC State will need to play smart basketball, and Keatts switching all ball screens defensive style should help here as they don’t have too many advantages on most switches.  However, this may be a tough one though for Bates, who will have to pay a lot more perimeter D at times.

Guys like Funderburk and Seabron will be playing bigger minutes with their size and agility to guard both big and smaller opponents. Funderburk may also be able to have a big game in the post, scoring around and over the Davidson post defenders.

It will also be imperative for Hayes to come out hungry and willing to attack the basket for some easy buckets or opening up some open looks on the perimeter.  The same goes for Shakeel Moore and Hellems. NC State will be able to get in the paint vs the slower, bigger guards of Davidson. What they do with it then will decide the game.

Overall, I believe the Pack matchup pretty nicely against Davidson and if they can contain Grady, and limit looks for Lee, they should survive and advance.