The NC State men’s basketball team will travel to Winston-Salem this Saturday for round two of one of the oldest rivalries in the ACC. The Wolfpack (9-9, 5-8 ACC) will look to extend its winning streak to two games; the team has not won two straight ACC games since beating Chapel Hill and Boston College in December.
Wake Forest (6-10, 3-10 ACC) is coming off a blowout loss to Duke and a heartbreaking overtime defeat to No. 16 Florida State. The Demon Deacons are 3-4 in their last seven games.
Wake Forest has been hit hard with injuries and COVID-19 protocol, but has now returned much of its lineup. Guard Ian DuBose, a transfer from Houston-Baptist, returned from a months-long absence three games ago. Since his return, the senior has averaged 15 points per game on 45.5% shooting from the field and 28.6% from 3.
Other contributors are guard Daivien Williamson (12.6 points per game) and forward Isaiah Mucius (10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game). As a team, Wake Forest is middle of the Pack, both offensively and defensively, averaging 69.6 points per game and giving up 70.9. While this team has its flaws, it has certainly shown progress under first-year coach Steve Forbes.
Despite a promising early start to the season, the Wolfpack has struggled the past few games, especially without star redshirt senior guard Devon Daniels and his 16.5 points per game. Junior forward Jericole Hellems and redshirt senior forward D.J. Funderburk have put up good numbers, 13.2 and 12.2 points per game, respectively, but it has not been enough to overcome the team’s woes.
Against Duke, NC State only managed 53 points with 19 turnovers, not much of an improvement compared to the 20 turnovers against Syracuse the game before. Simply put, the Wolfpack has to do a better job taking care of the ball against Wake Forest in order to win the game.
Signs of this progress were evident in the 74-73 win over Pittsburgh, and the team will look to build off of this success. The Wolfpack will need talented freshmen guards Shakeel Moore and Cam Hayes to continue to develop and provide production at the point guard position in order to win the game. Ultimately, NC State needs to find rhythm and consistency; Wake Forest will provide a good opportunity to do so.
Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and the game will be televised on RSN. Follow @TechSports on Twitter for live updates of the game.
