Off to its best start since the 1973-1974 championship season and seeking its eighth straight win, the No. 15 NC State men’s basketball team will take on No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill in front of a sold-out PNC Arena Tuesday night.
Unlike the previous 12 iterations of this matchup, the Wolfpack (13-1, 1-0 ACC) will come into the game ranked in the polls. The last time the two teams met while NC State was ranked in the Associated Press poll was 2013, when the Pack took down the Tar Heels in Raleigh while ranked 18th in the country. Despite the long home drought, the Pack did defeat UNC last season in an overtime thriller in Chapel Hill.
This season, head coach Kevin Keatts’ squad played a relatively light nonconference schedule peppered with several tough opponents such as Auburn, Wisconsin and Penn State, but the team has played well early in the season and beat Miami to open ACC play last week.
UNC will come into the game with a record of 11-3 and ranked at No. 12, owing mostly to an impressive win against then top-ranked Gonzaga. The team has dropped games to Texas, Michigan and Kentucky but has taken care of business otherwise in the nonconference portion of its schedule and defeated Pittsburgh in its first ACC game.
“They do a great job scoring in transition,” Keatts said. “One of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, they get a lot of their possessions back and they’re shooting the ball well from 3.”
The Tar Heels are shooting a solid 36 percent from 3-point range as a team, but the Pack has been better this season, averaging 40 percent from beyond the arc, the eighth-best clip in the nation.
Though the two teams are seemingly evenly matched, the Tar Heels should have the advantage in the frontcourt. Although forward Sterling Manley is out, Luke Maye, Nassir Little and Garrison Brooks are all more than capable of filling the void. Maye, an AP Preseason All-American, is averaging nearly a double-double with 14.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, though those numbers are down a tick from last year for him.
Last season in PNC Arena, Maye stuffed the stat sheet against the Wolfpack, going for a game-high 33 points and grabbing 17 rebounds as the Tar Heels came away with the win.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” Keatts said. “He’s a guy who came in more as a walk-on and has established himself as a really good ACC player, and we respect his game and hopefully our guys are up for the challenge.”
Brooks, a 6-foot-9 forward is averaging 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while Little, a 6-foot-6 forward, is grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game. Offensive rebounding has long been UNC’s calling card, and the team’s size and depth advantage over the Pack down low will be a key factor in the game.
NC State will need its own big man, graduate student Wyatt Walker, to stay out of foul trouble, something he’s had trouble doing all season, picking up at least four fouls in six of his last seven games. He’s averaging 3.4 personal fouls per game, something he’ll have to limit as the team’s only true center and means of stopping the Tar Heels in the paint. Redshirt sophomore DJ Funderburk has spent time at the 5 and redshirt senior Torin Dorn is even equipped to handle defense in the post, but the Pack’s best chance of coming away with a win is with Walker staying out of foul trouble as much as possible.
Guard-wise, the Pack matches up well. UNC’s leading scorer Cameron Johnson is averaging an impressive 16.7 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting an excellent 47 percent from 3-point range and 54 percent overall. Coby White, the team’s star freshman, has been excellent this year with 14.4 points per game and Kenny Williams has been solid as well while leading the team in assists per game with 4.2.
Fortunately for NC State, almost everyone on the roster can play as a guard. Dorn will match up well against anyone due to his versatility and redshirt sophomore Devon Daniels and redshirt junior C.J. Bryce have proven effective offensively. Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly has shot better as of late and freshman forward Jericole Hellems can provide valuable minutes at the wing.
Junior guard Markell Johnson has built on his exceptional sophomore season and is averaging 12.2 points and 4.2 assists per game while running the point. His uptick in scoring can be attributed to his sensational shooting from beyond the arc. After averaging 40 percent last season while not shooting a ton, he’s shooting 50 percent on almost as many attempts as last year.
“I’ve challenged Markell in many ways because we need his leadership,” Keatts said. “He’s had some big moments early in our season where he just took over the game and we need him to be that guy.”
If the Wolfpack can keep its big men out of foul trouble, rebound well and contain UNC’s guards as best as possible, NC State could see its first home win over the Tar Heels since 2013.
“We have the best fans in the country,” Dorn said. “I think that when they get excited and when give us that energy, we’re hard to beat at PNC.”
The game is set to tipoff at 9 p.m. at PNC Arena and can be seen on ESPN.
