The NC State men’s basketball team will look for its fifth straight win to open the season when it takes on Saint Peter’s Tuesday night at PNC Arena.
The Wolfpack currently sits at 4-0 on the season, which isn’t much of a surprise when looking at its opponents – all have been inferior by a wide margin. In fact, Saint Peter’s, which has a 1-2 record, owns the best current Kenpom rating of all the teams the Pack has faced thus far at 223.
NC State won by 19 points its last time out against Maine, but that margin pales in comparison to its first three contests which it won by an average of 48.3 points.
In Saint Peter’s, the Pack gets a team that finished 6-12 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and has a new head coach in Shaheen Holloway, who took over for John Dunne, who had been at the helm for the Peacocks for 12 seasons.
Despite losing its head coach, the Peacocks did return four of their top five leading scorers from last season, including Davauhnte Turner. The 6-foot guard is averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the field.
His teammate, senior forward Samuel Idowu, has been even more efficient, averaging 18.3 points per game on 65.6 percent shooting from the field. He’s a threat from 3-point range too, as he’s gone 5 of 8 from beyond the arc this season. Free throws haven’t been a problem for Idowu either, as he’s knocked down 8 of 9 from the charity stripe. He’s a player with a unique skill set and ability to contribute in many different ways.
Seeing as how NC State sorely lacks depth down low, Idowu could present a problem should graduate center Wyatt Walker get in foul trouble early, but it’ll be a tough matchup regardless of who is guarding Idowu down low.
In his last game, Idowu went 11-for-15 shooting in 33 minutes as the Peacocks were edged by Bryant. The team’s lone win came in its opener against Lafayette, followed by a narrow loss to Delaware and then the loss to Bryant.
Look for NC State to push the tempo, press and for head coach Kevin Keatts to keep testing out his different lineups. The Wolfpack hasn’t faced a team with an imposing force down low like Idowu, and it’ll be interesting to see how Keatts and the Pack handle the matchup.
The Wolfpack will play one more tune-up game after this game when it faces Mercer Saturday before heading up north next week for its first road game and real test of the season, as it will face Wisconsin in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
The game against Saint Peter’s is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at PNC Arena and can be seen on RSN.
