Wolfpack men’s basketball faces Notre Dame at PNC

The NC State Wolfpack men’s basketball team (10-4, 1-2 ACC) will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-4, 1-2 ACC) in a conference game on Wednesday, Jan. 8. This will be a crucial game for both teams, as both of them have the exact same record. Whoever wins this game will not only gain momentum with a W, but will also gain a foothold in the ACC’s unforgiving standings. 

Notre Dame is currently on a two-game winning streak, only losing one of its last five, and is relatively on par with the Wolfpack in terms of offensive and defensive production. The player that sticks out the most is its star, senior forward John Mooney, who is averaging a double-double with 15.9 points and 13.5 rebounds. Mooney averages 3.4 offensive rebounds, and combining that with his point production, he can easily be considered an offensive monster.

Notre Dame owes its high points per game, 76.1, to its high amount of field goal attempts. They certainly put up shots, and create opportunities for themselves, the only thing is, they don’t make a lot of those shots. Only one starter, senior forward Juwan Durham, has a field goal percentage above .500, with 58.2% of shots made; the other four starters all shoot below 50%. If the Notre Dame players manage to be more accurate or catch fire on a run, its already high amount of shot attempts will be an even bigger issue for NC State.

Notre Dame also puts up some good numbers on the defensive side of the ball. Averaging 4.4 blocks per game and 6.2 steals per game, the Irish’s hustle stats show they can get down with the best of them. The Wolfpack does put up higher averages, however, with 4.8 blocks and 8.1 steals. In fact, the Wolfpack puts up higher numbers in every category except one: rebounds. Notre Dame grabs 40.6 boards per game, but most of those boards come from Mooney. If NC State wants to make this game easier on itself, then the Wolfpack must neutralize Mooney on both sides of the ball.

NC State’s own redshirt freshman forward Manny Bates will most likely be guarding Mooney. Bates’ 3.2 blocks per game and well-established defense in the low post will prove to be very difficult for Mooney to play against. When it comes to perimeter defense, redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels, redshirt senior guard C.J. Bryce and senior guard Markell Johnson are all averaging close to two steals per game, and as we’ve come to see from these three players, their offense matches their defense. Bryce is the team leader in points and rebounds, and Johnson and Daniels hold the second and fourth places in point production, respectively. 

If NC State gets into its groove with good ball movement, no pointless turnovers and high-IQ shots, Notre Dame is going to have a tough time containing them, yet the exact same could be said the other way around. It’s going to come down to which team gets momentum first. This is going to be a high-octane game between two teams fighting for their place in the toughest conference in basketball with no room for error.

Tip-off begins at 7 p.m. at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. The game can be viewed on ESPN 2 or listened to on Wolfpack Radio. Follow @TechSports on Twitter for live updates.