Following its nail-biting win over Harvard the NC State men’s basketball team will host the five-seeded Lipscomb Bisons in the NIT quarter finals.
The Bisons (27-7) finished first in the Atlantic Sun Conference during the regular season, tied with Liberty, who the Bisons lost to in the conference championship.
This seems to be a theme for the Wolfpack’s (24-11) opponents in the NIT as its two previous opponents, Harvard and Hofstra, missed out on the NCAA tournament under the same circumstances. All three teams won their conference regular season and proceeded to lose to the second place team in their conference in the final of the tournament.
Lipscomb, however, appears to be a tougher test for the Wolfpack than the previous two, having cut its teeth in the tournament against No. 4 seed Davidson and No. 1 seed UNC-Greensboro, who the Bison beat by 15.
For the Bisons, the NIT is not their first experience facing tough opposition this season, having played two ACC opponents during nonconference play, including a four-point loss to Louisville and a defeat to Clemson who are a similar team in terms of ability to the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack had an easier road to the quarter final than its opponents, but the intensity of its games is something that cannot be ignored. Having beat Hofstra and Harvard by only a combined seven points, the Wolfpack has shown it knows how to play tough in the crunch time of this tournament.
One player who has been excellent in the crunch time for the Wolfpack is redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce, who recorded a team-high 16 points against Harvard, and an impressive 18 against Hofstra, which was only topped by fellow tournament standouts redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn and junior guard Markell Johnson.
Much like the Wolfpack, the Bisons have a lethal scoring trio of their own, spearheaded by senior guard Garrison Mathews. The 6-foot-5 guard averages just under 20 points per game as well as five rebounds and two assists. Mathews scores just under half of his points from 3s with 306 of his total 657 points coming from beyond the arch. Coupled with the fact that the guard is shooting 40 percent from beyond the arch this season, his 3-point-prowess could cause the Wolfpack some issues.
Given Mathews’ height, he will likely be matching up with one of the Wolfpack’s own 6-foot-5 guards Bryce or Dorn. Another important matchup for the game will be who on the Wolfpack lines up against the Bisons’ second-leading scorer: 6-foot-7 forward Rob Marberry. With head coach Kevin Keatts’ reluctance to play both of his big men at once, whichever one is on the court will be responsible for guarding the 6-foot-8 Eli Pepper, and the responsibility will likely fall to whichever of Dorn and Bryce does not take Matthews.
If the Wolfpack can shut down Matthews and limit the impact of Marberry down low, then the team should be able to punch its ticket to Madison Square Garden to face the winner of Indiana and Wichita State on April 2.
The game is set to tipoff at 9 p.m. on Wednesday in Reynolds Coliseum.
