In its annual game at Reynolds Coliseum, the NC State men’s basketball team will seek its second straight win when it faces Western Carolina Wednesday night.
The Pack will be coming into the game against the lowly Catamounts with a record of 7-1 after defeating Vanderbilt in its previous contest in Miami. The Wolfpack’s lone loss was a narrow road defeat at the hands of Wisconsin beforehand in the ACC-Big Ten challenge.
Coming off those two games against Power Five opponents, NC State will face a much lesser team in Western Carolina, which sits at 313 in Kenpom currently and has a 2-7 record overall and a 0-1 mark in Southern Conference play. One of the Catamounts’ wins came against an National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) school in Hiwassee College, while its only win against Division I competition came against Jacksonville, a team that is sub-300 in Kenpom and owns just a 4-5 record.
Needless to say, Western Carolina is a considerable step down from the competition the Wolfpack has faced in its last two contests, but matches the level of play from State’s first five games of the season.
The Catamounts rank toward the bottom of the country in most rate stats, but if there’s one thing this team does a lot of, it’s shooting 3-pointers. The team ranks 15th in the nation in 3-pointers attempted with 243 while making 86 of those shots, good for 35 percent from beyond the arc, ranking 143rd. Fouls may play a factor come Wednesday, as Western Carolina has accrued the 12th-most personal fouls in the country with a whopping 200 on the season.
The Catamounts have done fairly well on the boards, thanks in no small part to forward Carlos Dotson. The 6-foot-7 junior is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game, with 3.3 of those coming on the offensive end. Dotson is also the team’s leading scorer with 14.3 points per game, while shooting an exceptional 60 percent from the field.
Dotson hasn’t attempted a single 3-pointer all year, but Matt Halvorsen more than makes up for that. The 6-foot-1 guard shoots 8.2 3-pointers per game and is averaging 35 percent on those attempts. Kameron Gibson and Onno Steger both average at least five 3-pointer attempts per game for the Catamounts, as well. In contrast, sophomore guard Braxton Beverly leads NC State with 5.4 3-pointers attempted per game.
Expect a fast-paced game Wednesday in front of a packed Reynolds crowd. The Catamounts average the 62nd-most possessions per game in the nation, while the Wolfpack ranks 130th in that regard. The Catamounts will attempt lots of long-range shots, but if the Pack’s early season schedule is any indication, it should have no problem taking care of business against a less talented Western Carolina squad.
After taking on the Catamounts, NC State will enter a 10-day hiatus before facing Penn State Dec. 15.
The game is set to tip off Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum, and can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
