NC State Plays UNCG’s Top-10 Defense in Greensboro
The N.C. State Wolfpack encounters a top-10 defense tomorrow on the road after their best 3-point shooting performance of the season a week ago.
The UNC-Greensboro Spartans (8-2, 1-0 SoCon) are ranked seventh in the country in scoring defense, 54.9 points per game, and only allowed more than 70 points once this season in a 74-62 loss against the No.3 Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.
N.C. State (7-2, 1-1 ACC) shot 12-22, 54.5 percent, from the 3-point line to win their first ACC game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 91-82 last Saturday, Dec. 14. A season-high 13 steals coupled their efficiency beyond the arc, but they had the most turnovers, 17, and personal fouls, 23, on the year.
Tomorrow’s game at the Greensboro Coliseum is the 12th all-time meeting between the schools. UNCG won their first game in the series 81-76 at PNC Arena in Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts’s first season the last time they played in 2017. N.C. State junior guard Braxton Beverly was the only Wolfpack from this year’s roster who played that game, and he scored 16 points and played every second of the game.
Noteworthy
Paint Scoring
This matchup features three of the best shot blockers in the country. Wolfpack freshman center Manny Bates is ranked ninth in the country with 3.44 blocks per game, and Spartan senior forwards James Dickey and Kerwin Galloway are ranked 32nd and 44th nationally with 2.40 and 2.10 blocks per game respectively. Both teams are shooting under 37 percent from the 3-point line and will dare the other to make perimeter shots.
Jericole Hellems Game-Time Decision
After posting a career-high 23 points against the Wisconsin Badgers, Jericole Hellems was taken on the court in a stretcher and transported to the hospital after he suffered a concussion in a hard collision with 23 seconds left in the game against Wake Forest. Hellems hasn’t practiced this week. Moreover, he is the team’s second-leading scorer with 12.2 points per game.
Pat Andree Shooting Struggles
If Hellems is unavailable, Coach Keatts must look to graduate forward Pat Andree for a scoring boost. Andree was a proven perimeter scorer at Lehigh, and opened eyes when he won the 3-point contest at Primetime with the Pack. However, Andree shot 28 percent, 7-25, from the floor over the last 30 days and has only made more than one shot once throughout the six-game stretch.
How to Watch
Tip-off: 3 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum
Watch: My48 (Greensboro) or ESPN+