The Wolfpack reaches the last of our five “gettin’ ready” games
When: Friday November 22 – 7:00 PM
Where: Lenovo Center (venue formerly known as PNC Arena)
TV: ACC Network Extra
Opponent: William and Mary Tribe (Colonial Athletic)
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 87-72 / NC State 88-71
Wolfpack Snapshot: KP #57 / BT #54
Wolfpack Season So Far: 4-0
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Mike James had knee surgery on 10/30. Expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
- Trey Parker sustained a sore wrist from a fall during the Coastal Game. Missed our last game. MRI showed no damage. Not expected to be a long-term issue. Day to day.
- Ismaël Diouf injured an elbow during practice earlier in the week. Missed our last game. Nothing serious, but sore. Not expected to be a long-term issue. Day to day.
Opponent Overview:
William and Mary are both (3-3) KP #199, BT #192. The Colonial Athletic writers predict the Tribe will finish 7th in the 14-team league.
History – The Wolfpack and the Tribe appear to have a very long history, the earliest recorded game I can find listed is on their team site, 30 meetings ago, Jan 8, 1932 when we blistered them 23-19. NC State leads the series 24-6. The most recent was two years ago when we won 85-64. Casey Morsell was shooting his best that day, 6-9 from 3PT and totaled 23 points.
William and Mary hired Cornell’s Brian Earl as their new head coach in March. He was coming off one of Cornell’s best seasons ever, 22 wins (2nd most ever) and their first NIT bid. His Cornell teams characteristically were fast paced, and they made a lot of 3PT shots.
Last Game: They just played in the Rock Hill (SC) Classic, three games in three days, last weekend. They went 1-2, ending Sunday with a solid win against KP #203 Georgia Southern (102-87) in which 10 players played at least 14 minutes, six players scored in double figures, and they hit 16 3PT shots. They had 67 FG attempts, 44 (65.6%) of which were 3PT shots.
Formula To Beat the Wolfpack – The Tribe can score, they average 84 ppg. (+9.8) On the season they average 34 3PT attempts a game, and shoot a ‘we wish’ 34.6%. This is one of those ‘David’ teams that will knock off a ‘Goliath’ on the night the 3PT shooting is white hot. In their first six games, they did it once. They turned it on against Winthrop and shot 45.2% but lost 85-86 because they committed 22 turnovers. So far this season, we’ve guarded the 3PT line well. Something to watch.
The training wheels are coming off after this game
NC State scheduled 7 ‘buy games’ (here’s a check, please come to Raleigh and lose). William & Mary completes the fifth of those seven. So we would love to see the team showing progress in this one, it gets serious next week.
- This is what we’ve been building up to, a brutal – and critical – four game stretch. Purdue (KP #23) and Ole Miss (KP #50) or BYU (KP #29) in San Diego. And then back at home for Texas (KP #24), and our ACC opener, FSU (KP #79).
The last two ‘buy games’ serve a purpose similar to a ‘bye week’ in football (or the bread in a peanut butter sandwich).
- Coppin State is an opportunity for the team to recharge body and spirit in the Heritage game at Rockin’ Reynolds just before possibly the toughest game of the season
- Off to Phog Allen Fieldhouse to play our old pal Shakeel Moore and the AP #1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks.
- And then Rider is the Pack’s one last chance to recover, regroup, and gird ‘em up before the ACC regular season kicks off for real.