NC State men’s basketball ends a six-game home stretch with a trip to Madison, Wisconsin for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Tuesday night. The Wolfpack (6-0) has largely been untested with its lone close game coming against Mercer. Let’s take a look at how the team has developed thus far:
Balance
Head coach Kevin Keatts’ 2018 edition of NC State basketball is much more evenly talented than last year. The 2017 team had two players getting over 30 minutes a game; this year there are no players reaching that milestone. Redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce leads the team at 27.2 minutes a game, and every player on the roster gets at least 15 minutes a game.
Keatts shares the minutes; the players share the ball. So far the Wolfpack is averaging over 19 total assists a game, up from 16 last season. Only five players averaged more than one assist a game last year, this year all but one player has surpassed that threshold. NC State ranks 13th in the nation in assists, and as a result of the Wolfpack sharing the ball, every player on the roster averages at least five points per game.
Intensity
Like all Keatts teams, the Wolfpack plays hard. NC State presses all game long, and it seems as if there’s a player in red diving on the floor every other play. It’s hard to quantify just how much hustle impacts the game, but this effort translates indirectly to the scoreboard, as NC State’s offense thrives when the Wolfpack have fastbreaks. The Wolfpack forces almost 19 turnovers per game, good for 17th best in the country, with redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn, Bryce and redshirt sophomore guard Devon Daniels all creating more than 1.5 steals per game.
Putting teams away early
Conventional wisdom says to put lesser teams down early. NC State has done that by and large, outscoring teams in the first quarter by a cumulative score of 279-150. NC State’s M.O. thus far has been to build a lead and just keep building. As the Mercer game showed, that won’t be the case as the Wolfpack take on teams of greater ability. The Pack responded well to the test the Bears posed, but the fact that Mercer played them so tough is concerning.
Overall, NC State has been as advertised: a bit of a rag-tag roster that plays hard and runs every chance it gets. Old faces like Dorn and junior point guard Markell Johnson are still producing, and newcomers like Bryce and Daniels are having an immediate impact. The question is how far can this squad go? Projections have this NC State team pegged in the middle of the ACC, but the same thing happened Keatts’ first year and the Wolfpack surprised everyone with a third-place finish. There’s no Dennis Smith Jr. on this squad, not even an Allerik Freeman, there is no star player to carry this team. Everyone has to bring their A-game each night to put the Pack in a position to win. One thing is for sure, this team will compete.
