NC State Wolfpack vs. Elon Phoenix
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Bahamas (Battle 4 Atlantis)
TV: ESPN
Line: KU by 9
Point Guard Matchup
Dajuan Harris Jr – Junior – 6’1, 175lbs
Harris is a true point guard. He’s quick, he’s got a great handle, and he’s always looking to set his teammates up. Last year he averaged just 5 points per game and scored just 6 against Duke a week ago, so he’s not a guy who is going to light you up (he’s shooting just 14% from 3 this year), however, he did dish out 10 dimes vs Duke. He’s a good defender and a good game manager. He sets the tone for the Jayhawks.
How he matches up with Jarkel Joiner: Harris and Joiner will likely match up, and honestly, it should be a good one. Joiner is a 5th-year senior and comes in at 6’1, 180 lbs. These guys are the same size, both lightweight quick, and both can mix it up and get physical on drives. Harris is more of a distributor, while Joiner is more of a scoring threat. I don’t see a clear advantage for either player here, so this should be a pretty even matchup.
Shooting Guard Matchup
Kevin McCullar JR – Senior 6’6, 210lbs
You might remember McCullar from that nice run Texas Tech made last season. He was one of their top players and now he’s transferred to KU. This guy is a very athletic, slippery guard who has a nice touch and can really put up points quickly when he’s on. He can also get lost in the shuffle at times, He scored just 5 points vs Southern Utah and 6 points vs. North Dakota State. However, he did drop 12 on Duke. He’s not a great 3-point shooter, but he’s big and he’s a very good slasher and finisher at the rim.
How he matches up with Terquavion Smith
Smith is 6’4, 165 lbs, so he’s going to be giving up some size to McCullar, but Smith is certainly the better overall player here. McCullar is a good, long defender so he might make it tough for Smith to get off clean shots. Meanwhile, Smith McCullar moves well without the ball and lately, Smith’s off-the-ball defense has been pretty bad. Will he be able to keep track of him with all the movement? Will Smith be able to get off shots? I think this matchup will make or break the game for NC State. Smith is by far the better offensive player, but McCullar’s size makes him a pretty tough matchup. I do think Smith’s quickness will give McCullar issues. The stopping, starting, herky-jerky nature of Smith’s game is going to get the 6’8 McCullar tangled up at times. Again, I think this matchup is a push. I think there are advantages that McCullar has, and advantages that. Whoever exploits those advantages, wins this battle.
Small Forward Matchup
Grady Dick – Freshman – 6’8, 205lbs Dick is only 4 games into his college career and he’s exactly who Kansas thought he’d be. He’s a 6’8 shooter who is agile enough and long enough to guard opposing 3s, but on offense, he’s an elite spot-up shooter. He’s not going to take you off the dribble much, but with a guard like Harris who can get in the lane and draw attention, he’s the perfect compliment. A guy who can just sit out there, wait, and knock down 3s. At 6’8 he doesn’t need to be all that open either. He can get his shot off over most defenders. He’s averaging almost 17 points per game over his first 4 games and is hitting 50% of his 3s.
How he matches up with Casey Morsell
This will be an interesting matchup. Morsell is a good off-the-ball and on-the-ball defender. If anyone can limit Dick’s looks on kick outs, it’s Casey. However, Morsell is just 6’3, so he’ll be giving up 5 inches to Dick. Morsell has been one of the biggest bright spots for NC State so far this season, so this matchup should be interesting. I do think Dick’s size is going to be an issue, so I’m going to give him the upper hand in this matchup, but I could see Morsell really bothering the freshman with physicality. If he can do that, I think he can take Dick out of his rhythm and thus out of his comfort zone.
Power Forward Matchup
Jalen Wilson – Junior – 6’8, 225lbs Wilson is a physical oversized guard who plays in the front court. That’s basically it. He’s averaging 25 points and 10 boards on the season. He’s just someone who can do everything. He has a nice stroke (33% from 3), a solid post game, he can get to the hoop off the dribble and he can spot up and extend the defense. Wilson does most of his damage because he’s usually matched up against bigger 4s that can’t match his speed. This is the main guy you need to stop on offense for Kansas. If you can make things tough for him, you have a chance. If he gets going, you’re in trouble.
How he matches up with Jack Clark I don’t think in recent. years you’d have had anyone near as ready to matchup with Wilson as Clark is. At 6’8, 205lbs, Clark’s mobility and skillset are almost identical to Wilson’s. Wilson is a little more advanced, more physical and has a little better handle, but Clark isn’t to be beaten by Wilson’s speed an agility like most. If anything, Clark will struggle with Wilson when he goes to the block and tries to muscle him up. Now, that isn’t something he does very much, or has done much this season at least, but a guy with this many tricks in his bag, may see the advantage and try to exploit it. While Kansas does have a small leg up in this matchup, I don’t think it’s huge and I think this is NC State’s biggest chance to win this game. If Clark can matchup well and slow down Wilson, Kansas will need to get points from elsewhere and that’s something they’ve struggled with early this season.
Center Matchup
KJ Adams Jr. – Sophomore – 6’7, 225lbs Adams is a strong big with very good handles. He’s undersized a bit and not super athletic, but he’s got the ability to breakdown bigger centers off the dribble and score off the bounce, while still having the muscle to guard in the post. He’s averaging 6 points and 5 boards per game, so he’s not really dominating at this point, but it will be interesting to see how he deals with a really physical presence like Mahorcic (who is basically the same size) or with someone much stronger in DJ Burns who is 6’9, 275. THe question will be, can Mahorcic and or Burns stay in front of Adams on drives? My guess is it might be a struggle so you might see Keatts throw a zone at them at times. Kansas is shooting 33% from long-range, which is decent, but not as good as NC State’s 37%.
How he matches up with Mahorcic and Clark
Like I just noted, State will have the size advantage here, but will they be able to stay in front of Adams? I’m not sure. I’m guessing when Burns is in, we see some zone or we see Keatts at least try it. I don’t think this matchup is going to make or break the game. Each guy has their own advantage, so I see this as kind of a wash as well.
This year, Ebe played in 30 games, averaging 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game. As a Sophomore, after the injury to Manny Bates in the first game of the season, Dowuona went on to start in 27 of the 31 games he played in, averaging 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
I’m not shocked. I don’t blame Dowuona for wanting to find a place where he would get more playing time.
Nonetheless this is a hit to the Wolfpack’s front court. While he didn’t offer much on the offensive end, he continually altered shots on the defensive end.
Ernest Ross will be a Junior next year, and fans will likely get to see Freshman Isaiah Miranda for the first time after redshirting after arriving to Raleigh midseason. Greg Gantt will be a Redshirt Junior next season as well.
Other questions loom for the Wolfpack front court as well. Will DJ Burns and Jack Clark return for their final year of eligibility? Will Dusan Mahorcic be granted a medical waiver for an additional year of eligibility?
When it was all said and done, the NC State fans represented in 2022-23, ranking 20th amongst Division-1 teams in Men’s Basketball attendance. The Wolfpack ranked 4th in the ACC, behind UNC, Syracuse, and Virginia.
I thought this matchup was a good one for NC State. I watched a lot of Creighton this year and to me, they looked like a team that NC State could roll over. Let me explain why.
I knew a few things. I knew Nembhard was a PG that could get a little out of control if sped up. I knew with a little defense and physicality, Sheierman could be made uncomfortable. I knew Kalkbrenner was a good defender but was going to sink on the pick-and-roll to protect the basket.
Joiner’s pull up just wouldn’t fall
I figured that Joiner, the pull-up king would be taking that DJ Burns screen, getting to the middle, and pulling up as Kalkbrenner sank. I figured Smith would exploit this as well. Well, turns out Joiner was off and couldn’t get his pull-up game going and Smith, well yeah Smith did exploit this pretty well.
Burns didn’t look like Burns
The other thing I’d figure would happen is that I thought DJ Burns would really frustrate Kalkbrenner. If you’ve looked at games where Kalkbrenner had to face a really good, physical back-to-the-basket big man, those bigs usually had pretty good games in the scoring column. I honestly don’t understand what happened to Burns in this one. Sure he got a few stupid early fouls, but before he even picked up a foul he looked out of it. With no double teams coming, Burns is usually calculated, slowly backing you down and hitting you with a flurry of head fakes, pump fakes or spins. If the big doesn’t bite, Burns can fade away, go with a contested hook shot, or pass out.
In this game, Burns looked sped up for some reason. The first time he got the ball he quickly backed in and threw up a hook that rattled out. Not awful, but usually you see him probe a little more. Then the next time he didn’t even look for contact, instead, he threw up a little floater that didn’t fall. While neither were awful shots, both were uncharacteristic of Burns. On top of those things, he looked absolutely gassed within minutes of coming in. My guess is that it was the altitude, but either way, it took a toll on him.
Whatever it was, it had him frustrated and he had two really bad fouls where he just shoved Kalkbrenner (he also had a phantom foul that was ridiculous). That said, it just wasn’t his night and this made NC State a lot more one-dimensional.
Casey Morsell came to play, but this NC State roster just wasn’t built to get a guy like him going, which is a shame. Jarkel Joiner was a huge reason why NC State got to where they got. His scoring ability, his speed and his toughness and leadership skill were huge. But Joiner is a scoring guard, and great basketball teams need POINT guards.
What is a point guard, and why can’t we have one?
A point guard isn’t just a guy who dribbles it down. It’s a guy who understands the games within the games. Guys who dictate pace, call plays (sets) and are essentially coaches on the floor. NC State and Kevin Keatts never had that this season, and while you can get a long way with scoring guards and good big men, you’ll never compete for anything of worth until you prioritize the skill set of a true point guard. I think that has been NC State’s problem for years, and I find it kind of insane that coach after coach falls into this idea of having a scoring guard play as a PG for more offense to get on the court.
This is no shot at Jarkel, either. The guy was one of my favorite players to watch on this team, but it just is what it is. He is a scoring guard who happens to be slotting in at PG. When you see Keatts bring in a guy whose priority is getting his guys open and dictating pace, then you can start to believe that this program may be close to arriving. Until then, sneaking into the tournament and hoping guys get hot hands is as good as it gets.
Look at Kihei Clark (Virginia’s PG). I know it’s not a great time to be talking about Clark, whose errant pass ended up losing the game for Virginia on Thursday, but look at Clark’s build.5’10, 170lbs. Look at his stats. Mid-30s shooting % from 3. Hight 70s from the FT line. The guy is nothing special when it comes to the numbers, but he’s a leader and he distributes the basketball to the right guys at the right time. Tony Bennett has started Clark for 4 years despite the fact that he’s coaching a team that is always in the running to win the ACC and won a national championship less than 5 years ago. He could replace Clark with an elite, tall, athlete at any moment. But he doesn’t. Why? Because he understands what I’m talking about. It’s a puzzle that coaches need to put together, and one piece of that puzzle is a guy like this.
I was wrong about this game. I thought things would play out differently. They didn’t. I’m not blaming anyone in particular, but the makeup of this team vs. the makeup of teams that play deep into March are different. Maybe this is step one to getting there. We’ll have to see how the roster shapes up next season.
VIDEO: NC State falls to Creighton 72-63 in first round of NCAA Tournament | Extended Highlights & Box Score
NC State came out flat, DJ Burns looked gassed, and for the most part, the Pack looked shell-shocked vs. Creighton from the opening tip. However, Terquavion Smith is excluded from all of that. He was amazing and in what was likely his final game at NC State, he kept the Pack afloat, dropping 32 points on 12-25 shooting. In the end, it wasn’t enough as their big man, 7’1 Ryan Kalkbrenner went for 31.
NC State came out flat, DJ Burns looked gassed, and for the most part, the Pack looked shell-shocked vs. Creighton from the opening tip. However, Terquavion Smith is excluded from all of that. He was amazing and in what was likely his final game at NC State, he kept the Pack afloat, dropping 32 points on 12-25 shooting. In the end, it wasn’t enough as their big man, 7’1 Ryan Kalkbrenner went for 31.
