The NC State men’s basketball team will face Wake Forest for the second time this season on Saturday. At the beginning of the season, many may have marked this game on the calendar as an easy win. Now, the game is both a revenge opportunity and a must-win.
The Pack has a little extra motivation to go into Winston-Salem and come out with a win. The first meeting between these two teams ended in the Pack losing by five points at home. Several controversial calls were made in the final moments of the game, but none of them were in NC State’s favor.
Going into this game, the Pack is struggling with a 14-11 (3-9 ACC) record. This record puts them at 12thin the ACC, one spot behind Wake (14-10, 5-7 ACC).
As bleak as it may appear, there is still some hope for the Pack to climb its way back up the ACC standings before the ACC tournament arrives. Each and every possession of each and every game is extremely important. State needs to focus on maintaining leads when it has them as well as finishing games.
Many recent losses have only been lost by single digits. If the Pack can find a way to play consistently for an entire 40 minutes, it may see some changes in the finals scores of games.
Defense has been the main weakness of state for most of the season. Scoring is not much of a problem, especially with sophomore Maverick Rowan’s newly found confidence. Scoring can only do so much if the team is allowing 85 points every game.
“At some point this year, we better make a decision whether or not we’re going to get better defensively,” head coach Mark Gottfried told The Associated Press after a loss to Georgia Tech Jan. 15.
It can be argued the State has shown some improvement, at times; in their defense, however, the inability to keep double-digit leads overshadows this.
An all-around consistent defensive game should give the Pack some success against Wake. During the first meeting, Wake had five players with double-digit scoring. While it’s good that State didn’t let one individual player torch them all game like it has other times this season, seeing so many players in double digits shows that defense was lacking from every position.
Offensively, the Pack can continue to do what it has been. Freshman Dennis Smith Jr. has been playing lights out and has been playing the way he was predicted to before the season began. Redshirt senior Terry Henderson seems to have found his shot again and Rowan has been displaying a confidence that not many knew he had.
Both Wake and NC State are struggling right now and would most likely consider this game to be a must-win. While technically there is always the farfetched chance of winning the ACC tournament to make it to the big dance, it is in each team’s best interest to win six or seven more ACC games before that.
Tipoff against the Demon Deacons is Saturday at noon in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr. shoots a 3-pointer. The NC State men’s basketball team lost to Miami 84-79 at PNC Arena on Feb. 4.
