The NC State men’s basketball team travels to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Friday as part of a fall semester tournament for its nonconference schedule.
The Paradise Jam has been around since 2001 and started as a six-team tournament that expanded in 2006 to the eight-team field that is used today. The men’s tournament will take place from Friday to Monday, with the Wolfpack (2-0) facing its first opponent, Montana (0-2), Friday before facing either No. 22 Creighton (2-0) or Washington State (2-0) Sunday, depending on the outcome of the games. The championship game will take place Monday.
In winning its first two exhibition and regular season games this year, the Pack showcased a plethora of new weapons. Redshirt senior Terry Henderson, who missed all but seven minutes of last season with an ankle injury and then sat out year before due to NCAA transfer rules, currently leads the team with 17 points per game, including a 23-point performance in the season opener against Georgia Southern.
Perhaps the most exciting player to look out for is freshman Dennis Smith Jr., who was named Preseason ACC Freshman of the Year. He started off the season somewhat sluggishly considering the high expectations, combining for 23 points on 6-of-22 from the field in the first two games, but will be hungry to break out in the tournament.
However, NC State will be without freshmen Omer Yurtseven and Ted Kapita, as Yurtseven is suspended for the first nine games of the season and Kapita couldn’t travel due to issues with his student visa. That being said, look for junior Abdul-Malik Abu to be relied on as the team’s top post player, as he was much of last season, and a guard-heavy lineup that primarily features Henderson, Smith and redshirt sophomore Torin Dorn.
Meanwhile, Montana has struggled to start the season, losing a 75-61 game to USC and dropping a highly contested 73-72 match to Wyoming. NC State should match up well against Montana, which also uses a small-ball lineup with 6-foot-8 junior Fabian Krslovic averaging eight points and 9.5 rebounds per game at the five.
Redshirt sophomore Ahmaad Rorie, a transfer from Oregon, leads the team with 15.5 points per game, including an impressive 21-point performance against USC in which he shot 5 of 8 from 3-point range and led all starters with 10 points against Wyoming. Freshmen Sayaad Pidgett and Jared Samuelson provided a spark off the bench for the Grizzlies, combining for 38 points on 15 of 27 from the field.
The biggest weakness for the Wolfpack is lack of experience, and it showed at times in the first couple of games. However, Montana isn’t much better off, as four of its five leading scorers are all underclassmen. That being said, the Grizzlies have a chance to cause problems for the Pack, but NC State simply has more talent and should be favored in this matchup.
As previously mentioned, NC State will face either Creighton or Washington State depending on the outcome of the two games. Creighton is arguably the best team in the tournament, proving that with a convincing 79-67 win against No. 9 Wisconsin on Tuesday night. The guard trio of senior Maurice Watson Jr., junior Marcus Foster and sophomore Khyri Thomas led the team with 17 points per game apiece, similar to the guard-heavy lineup that NC State and Montana use. Freshman center Justin Patton is next with 11 points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game, and uses his 7-foot frame to balance out the size of the lineup.
Against the Badgers, Thomas led the team with 18 points of 6 of 8 from the field and a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the arc, while Watson notched a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists. Perhaps the Bluejays’ biggest weakness is depth, as they used an eight-man rotation against Wisconsin, but nobody other than the previous four players mentioned scored more than seven points or even attempted more than four shots. However, this will prove to be a much tougher matchup as the Wolfpack faces Creighton, and the winner of this potential game will likely go on to win the tournament.
Like Creighton and NC State, Washington State is also undefeated after two games with close victories over Montana State and Central Washington. Senior forward Josh Hawkinson is the clear focal point of the team on offense and defense, averaging 17 points, 12.5 rebounds, three assists, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, and has taken at least 10 more shots than any other teammate. His 6-foot-10 frame, along with the Cougars’ use of a bigger lineup, could cause matchup problems for the Pack that is down two of its bigs this tournament. While this isn’t nearly as tough an opponent as Creighton, it could still prove to be a formidable contest.
The other four teams participating in the Paradise Jam are Loyola University Chicago, Ole Miss, Saint Joseph’s and Oral Roberts. The Pack’s final game will be determined depending on where each team places in its individual bracket, with the last undefeated team standing being crowned the winner of the Paradise Jam.
