NC State Basketball
NC State is DANCING! Pack gets the 11 seed, will face Creighton on Friday.
NC State fans didn’t need to wait long.
CBS Sports Selection Show unveiled the South bracket first, and NC State was the #11 seed.
NC State is DANCING! 🕺#MarchMadness @PackMensBball pic.twitter.com/AE4jfvMIfm
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2023
The Pack will face off against the 21-12 #24-ranked Creighton Bluejays.
Creighton had a 6 game losing streak early in the season, but went on a 9 game winning streak later in the season. They were ousted from their conference tournament by Xavier, who beat them by 20+.
Creighton has marquee wins over Xavier, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Providence, and UConn. Their worst loss is to Nebraska.
This isn’t the same Creighton team you might remember from the Doug McDermott days, but they are balanced. Their big man, Ryan Kalkbrenner leads their team with 16ppg and will shoot it a little bit from the outside, however, he’s only hitting at a 29% clip. He isn’t going to be taking contested 3s, meaning this is not a guy who should dominate DJ Burns. He is agile and he is 7’1, but he’s a guy State can handle.
Their guards can shoot, but are going to be out-athleted by the Wolfpack guards.
This is a good matchup for NC State and we’ll have a LOT more on it later.
Looking at our last 5 losses, they were all to teams with stifling zone defenses or Duke who has been playing elite defense down the stretch as well. I’m not sure how Creighton’s D compares to Clemson, UVA, and Syracuse, but I’m not seeing anything that indicates they are so good. While going up against those defenses has resulted in losses, it has also made us stronger. I’m not sure how much zone Creighton plays, it looks like they mostly play man, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them attempt it. It will be interesting to see if their… Read more »
Finally! Been a long, long wait. We’re back.
You guys are on target. My first thought was, “So tell me something about Creighton that I can’t just read elsewhere.” I am beyond happy we are in. This is a better draw than I anticipated. Now, it’s up to the boys to deliver.
I worry about playing at mile high elevation. Burns may suffer most with breathing. A slight difference may impact long rage shooting. Of course both teams have to deal with it.
I’d get my team to Denver ASAP and acclimate
Keatts should take them up to Leadville for a couple of days and do some stretching, light cardio along with a few practices. The elevation up there is 10400ft. Then as a team building activity, they should go climb Mt. Elbert, which is 14433ft.
I forgot. Denver is practically your back yard. You gonna try to watch the game in person?
Not sure. Ticket prices are expensive for nosebleed seats. Game time decision.
I llike that matchup at first glance. Will need to dig into their stats and see how they matchup. THey are a good rebounding team, good but not great 3 pt shooting, and average 11 turnovers a game