Looking to sweep UNC-Chapel Hill for the first time since 2003, the NC State men’s basketball team will take on the Tar Heels in Raleigh Saturday.
The Wolfpack (16-8, 6-5 ACC) topped the Tar Heels (18-7, 7-5 ACC) in Chapel Hill in overtime the last time the two teams faced. Graduate transfer Al Freeman led the way for the Pack against the Heels in that game, going 7 of 7 from behind the arc and totaling 29 points.
For the Wolfpack to come out on top again, it will need to see another strong performance from behind the line as a team. In its win against UNC-CH, State shot an impressive 50 percent from beyond the arc.
State will also need to see the productive, efficient and hot-shooting version of Freeman if it plans to beat the Tar Heels again. The transfer from Baylor, who has been a streaky scorer all season, went for just six points on 2-of-12 shooting against Virginia Tech Wednesday night. He also only hit one of his eight 3-pointers on the night, a far cry from his stellar effort in the Dean Dome earlier this season.
As a team against Virginia Tech, the Pack launched 31 3-pointers, connecting on 10 of them as the Hokies managed to make the Pack settle for outside jumpshots more often than not. Head coach Kevin Keatts would probably like to see a better performance shooting-wise from his team against UNC-CH, and that may be in the cards for the Pack. Against the Tar Heels, opponents are shooting an exceptional 38 percent, even better than the 37 percent that the Heels shoot from long range.
Another key for NC State will be sophomore point guard Markell Johnson. The Cleveland, Ohio native has been a sensational distributor for the Wolfpack, notching 10 assists in five straight games, a feat that had not been accomplished by any player in NC State history. He’s also been solid as a scorer, amassing 20 points in the win over UNC-CH and nine points in the loss to Virginia Tech.
UNC-CH has relied on veterans Joel Berry and Theo Pinson, but the battle to watch will be in the paint with Luke Maye and NC State sophomore Omer Yurtseven. Yurtseven will look to stay out of foul trouble, something that’s given him fits this season. Against the Hokies, he picked up two early fouls and Keatts was forced to pull him for most of the first half, letting Virginia Tech jump out to a double-digit lead in his absence.
If Yurtseven can manage to avoid fouls, he can be as effective as he was against Clemson, when he exploded for 29 points. Redshirt senior Lennard Freeman and senior Abdul-Malik Abu will aim to avoid fouling as well. Freeman, Yurtseven and Abu all had two fouls before the first half concluded against Virginia Tech.
Berry, the Tar Heels’ point guard, will be an area of concern for the NC State defensive corps. The experienced senior is averaging 17.3 points per game, second-best on the team to Maye, who’s putting up 18.3 points per game. The Pack’s ability to stay in front of him defensively on drives to the rim will be crucial.
It should be a competitive game in Raleigh this weekend, provided that State’s bigs steer clear of foul trouble and the team shoots better from behind the arc. Don’t expect the Pack to hit 50 percent of its 3-pointers and Freeman to go perfect from long range again, but a better shooting day could be on the horizon than what the Pack could muster against the Hokies.
NC State seems to be squarely on the bubble for the big dance due to a weak non-conference slate, but has shown the propensity to pull off wins against ranked opponents. A win in this contest for the Pack would go a long ways toward solidifying its NCAA Tournament hopes.
The game is set to tip at 2 p.m. Saturday at PNC Arena.
