NC State men’s basketball will take on Hofstra in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack (22-11, 9-9 ACC) is a 2-seed for the tournament after narrowly missing out on the NCAA Tournament. The Pride (27-7, 15-3 CAA), who are a 7-seed, finished as regular season champions of the Colonial Athletic Association, but lost to Northeastern in the Conference Championship.
The Pride is an impressive offensive team averaging 83.6 points per game and an average scoring margin of 11. In comparison, the Wolfpack averages 79.6 points per game and an average scoring margin of 9.3.
Where the Wolfpack does top the Pride, however, is defensively as the Pack’s opponents this season averaged 2.3 less points per game than the Pride’s opponents, a slim margin but in the postseason, games are often decided by these slim margins.
The teams also match up very well in how they score. Both teams average between 45 percent and 50 percent shooting from the field. From beyond the arc, the two teams are even more similar with the Pride averaging just .7 more threes made per game than the Pack.
The key for the Wolfpack will be shutting down Hofstra’s senior guard Justin Wright-Foreman who averages 27 points per game, which is 13.6 more than the Wolfpack’s scoring leader, redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn.
The 6-foot-2 guard will be a good matchup for the Wolfpack’s main ball carrier, junior guard Markell Johnson. Johnson, who is the Wolfpack’s second highest scorer with 11.9 points per game, will need to play well if the Wolfpack wants to take down the Pride.
Johnson has been a crucial player for the Wolfpack all season but has really shown his full ability down the stretch. The guard contributed over 13 points in five of the team’s final six games including 23 in the team’s ACC Tournament clash against Clemson.
Another player who started to hit his stride late in the season is redshirt sophomore center DJ Funderburk. The 6-foot-10 forward was impressive in the first half against Virginia, and looked good to start the second half until he was poked in the eye by Virginia’s Diakite.
If Johnson and Funderburk play like they have in recent weeks and the Wolfpack are able to stifle the free-scoring Wright-Foreman, then the Wolfpack should have no trouble in taking down the Pride.
The winner of the game will go on to face the winner of Georgetown versus Harvard in the second round of the NIT.
The game will tip off at Tuesday at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN 2.
