The NC State men’s basketball team has continued to be a predictable force, losing close games that it has no business being in and winning here and there unexpectedly. Let’s take a look at some key statistics over the last few games on the schedule.

2.9 – Sophomore forward Ebenezer Dowuona’s attempted field goals per game

Even though the Wolfpack’s offense is mediocre to above average compared to the abysmal defense, there are still some glaring holes on the offensive side of the formula. One such void is in the offensive play of the Pack’s big men, specifically those who helm the very middle.

Dowuona got thrown into the fire early this season, becoming the full-time starter after redshirt junior forward Manny Bates went down for the season, despite not being projected to play many minutes at the onset of the season. Dowuona has done an admirable job for what you could ask of him, as seen in spirited efforts like against No. 8 Duke in which he put up 10 points and nine boards, but there is some left to be desired.

Some of that comes down to the Pack’s offensive sets and how often players end up playing iso ball and cornering themselves into taking contested jump shots that have an extremely low probability of going in. Part of NC State’s problems could be resolved by trying to play more in the halfcourt and creating open looks down the middle. Dowuona could be effective in pick-and-roll situations as the roll man but there aren’t many instances in which the Pack runs set plays.

That much is made evident when you take a look at the Wolfpack’s shot attempts in the middle. Dowuona averages just 2.9 field-goal attempts per game. Junior guard Casey Morsell has 50 more shot attempts in 127 less minutes on the season.

In the Pack’s most recent outing, the offense looked incredibly effective against Duke in the first five minutes, taking a relatively sizable lead. That could have been because Dowuona eclipsed his season average of field-goal attempts in his first few shot attempts, along with a handful of emphatic dunks. Getting more looks to the Wolfpack’s big men should be more of a priority moving forward.

299 – NC State’s national ranking in assists per game

To further emphasize the extent to which NC State moves the ball around, look no further than the team’s awful assist numbers — the 16.5th percentile in the country. The Pack’s leading passer is redshirt sophomore Dereon Seabron, with an average of 3.3 assists per game, a figure that ranks tied for 216th in the country.

This is a result of some of the lack of the aforementioned set plays that the Pack fails to run on the inside but the Pack’s best players also run plenty of iso ball. Seabron, in particular, drives straight to the rim when he sets at the top of the arc. Many of freshman guard Terquavion Smith’s possessions also end up being mid-range jumpers off the dribble.

But some of these iso possessions are extremely harmful to the team. As stated before, the Pack’s offense is above the national average but it could be even more of a well-oiled machine if players didn’t settle for 3s too early into the shot clock, especially shots with a low percentage of being made such as off-the-dribble 3s.

106 – Wolfpack’s defensive team rating

The talk of the town is obviously the Pack’s lackluster defense and there is a myriad of statistics that prove that. Losing Bates obviously hurt the Pack’s interior defense and that’s where it gets killed the most.

While Dowuona is a player to be excited about, the fact of the matter is that he was thrust into this position unexpectedly, as mentioned before. Because of that, Dowuona is still a raw prospect. The Gabon product has some exciting blocks at times, such as his eight-block performance against Nebraska, but there is still plenty of work to be done on his game.

For starters, Dowuona tends to jump early and allows opposing centers to earn foul shots or get easy looks inside. The Pack allows ridiculous amounts of points to opposing centers and players 6-foot-6 or above have been the leading scorer for every NC State loss without fail.

Sophomore forward Jaylon Gibson and senior forward Jericole Hellems are also guilty of the same tendencies. Hellems is second on the team in turnovers and first in personal fouls per game. Gibson is simply too raw at this point and freshman forward Ernest Ross is now out for an undisclosed period of time with an ankle injury.

The Wolfpack is going to have to take its defense one game at a time and try to focus on the things it can improve. Dowuona will continue to improve over the course of the season and will likely build on his career day against Duke, but he isn’t the only player that needs to improve if the Pack wants a shot to string together some wins.