The NC State men’s basketball team returns to action on Tuesday night as it travels down I-40 to face the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center.
The Pack (16-6, 4-5 ACC) will be looking to get the taste of a historically putrid offensive performance against Virginia Tech out of its mouth, while the Heels (17-4, 7-1 ACC) seek a season sweep over the Wolfpack.
“Every game is a huge game for us,” redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn said. “Moving forward you can only take it one game at a time, and you have to let go of the past and move on to the next one.”
NC State has picked up its defense in recent weeks, but the offense has struggled, highlighted by the 47-24 loss to the Hokies. According to the KenPom rankings, the Pack is 43rd in the country in defensive efficiency, about 30 spots higher than it was earlier in ACC play. The offensive efficiency has gone the other way, now sitting 54th after being around 20 for the majority of the season. Of course, the Virginia Tech game was responsible for most of that drop.
In the last three games, Clemson, Virginia and Virginia Tech have all controlled the tempo and slowed the Wolfpack down, not allowing the Pack to reach 70 points. That is not a recipe for success for head coach Kevin Keatts.
The Pack still has three players averaging double figures, led by Dorn with 13.8. Redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce and junior guard Markell Johnson average 12 and 11.4 per game, respectively.
On the other side, the Heels come in playing as well as they have all year. They have won five in a row and just beat Louisville 79-69, which avenged their lone loss in ACC play thus far.
UNC-Chapel Hill sits seventh in the country in the KenPom rankings, 11th on offense and 14th on defense.
The Heels have four players averaging double figures, led by graduate guard Cameron Johnson with 16. Freshman guard Coby White, senior forward Luke Maye and freshman forward Nassir Little average 14.8, 14.1 and 10.2, respectively.
Maye is the leading rebounder with 9.8 per game, nearly good enough to average a double-double.
This is the second matchup of the season, after the Tar Heels won 90-82 in Raleigh in early January. Expect this game to play out similarly, with lots of points and the outcome up in the air until the end.
“They’re one of the hottest teams in the ACC,” Keatts said. “Since their first loss to Louisville, they’ve won five in a row and they’re playing well.”
There is a lot in play at this game. The Pack desperately needs a signature win for its NCAA Tournament resume and is running out of chances. NC State’s resume is starting to look like that of a bubble team, highlighted by a below .500 record in league play, lack of quality wins and weak non-conference strength of schedule.
“When you look at our season, I’m encouraged by every game we’ve played other than the Virginia Tech game,” Keatts said. “We went against the best in the country in UVA, and we had an opportunity to beat Carolina here.”
Keatts has not lost three games in a row since December of 2015, when he was still at UNC-Wilmington. After losses to Virginia and Virginia Tech, that streak will be on the line Tuesday night.
On the flip side, the Heels are competing for the ACC regular season title. They have taken advantage of a weak ACC schedule in the first half of the season and are right in the thick of the race. With matchups against Duke and Virginia still remaining, every game is critical, especially one against a struggling Wolfpack team.
The game will tip off at 8 p.m. from the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill and will be broadcast on Raycom Sports.
