The ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ tournament has surely been a roller coaster ride thus far for NC State.
On Wednesday, NC State shocked the basketball world with an upset over #2 Arizona, but turned around last night and fell to a beatable Northern Iowa team.
That brings us to today, where the Wolfpack will face off against Tennessee for 3rd place.
Gametime: 2:30pm
How to Watch: ESPN2
Location: Paradise Island, Bahamas
Get to know Tennessee
This Tennessee team is good. They sit 4-1 on the season with a win over #18 Purdue (in OT) and their only loss coming at the hands of #5 Villanova yesterday. They are led by sophomore forward Grant Williams (6’7, 240lbs) and junior forward Admiral Schofield (6’5, 238lbs).
Williams is their leading scorer and top rebounders (16 and 9). He’s a not tall, but he’s thick and very strong on the blocks. He’s also pretty versatile. While he’s going to do most of his damage in the pain, he likes to keep you honest with a few 3s per game. So far he hasn’t been hitting (22%), but NC State will need to be aware that last year he shot over 37% from outside. Williams is also a beast on the glass. As we noted, he leads the team in rebounds, but he’s second on the team in offensive rebounds. Lennard Freeman (6’8, 265lbs) will be able to matchup with Williams pretty well.
Admiral Schofield is a more unique matchup. Watching his video he’s sort of like Torin Dorn with a better 3 ball. He loves to attack the rim, he’s springy, but Schofield can shoot it. He’s shooting nearly 50% from the floor and over 41% from beyond the arc. NC State has got to slow him down if they want to win.
Other guys to watch are:
Kyle Alexander. He’s a 6’11 junior big man who isn’t really a scoring threat, but does absolutely own the offensive glass. As a team, Tennessee is very good in that category (10th in the nation) and Alexander leads them.
Sophomore guards Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bowden and Jordon Bone are all very quality guards who are quick and can shoot it. They are kind of interchangeable and all play about 20 minutes per game.
What to watch for…
NC State needed their guards to show up in game one. They did and they won. In game two their bigs had the advantage, but they weren’t utilized enough. They lost. Against Tennessee, they have a pretty even matchup. Both teams are about the same size and have good benches.
NC State will win if they can force the tempo and turn the Vols over. This is a team of young guards and NC State can take advantage of that. They also need to win the rebounding battle. Tennessee isn’t huge, but they are springy and work very hard on the glass. If they rack up the second chance points, they win this game. If State can keep them one and done, they will have a big advantage.
