A Look Ahead at Today's Game Against Georgia Tech

A battered NC State looks to bounce back from two embarrassing losses this time at home against Georgia Tech. The talented Wolfpack have been unable to execute on the road losing all four games but the team is undefeated at home this season and looks to continue the streak tonight. Georgia Tech demonstrates a well balanced offense and is lead by center Ben Lammers and guard Josh Okogie. Lammers is an undersized center being only 6-10/227 which matches up well for Omer Yurtseven who has struggled against bigger, more physical players all season long. Don't underestimate Lammers though as he has excellent speed and is one of the nations best shot blockers, 3.2 blocks per game, with excellent vision to dish the ball out when double teamed. Josh Okogie is a freshman wing guard who is a nightmare at slashing to the basket and finishing in traffic and will provide a challenge for State's defense all night long because he is a player you cannot lose sight of. The biggest advantage NC State has is in its scoring ability; NC State averages 83 points per game while Georgia Tech only averages 67 points per game. The focus will be on taking the paint early and keeping an upbeat tempo the entire time not giving the Georgia Tech defense time to set up or Lammers the chance to get back and disrupt shots. The Wolfpack defense will also have to not let easy passes to Lammers inside and avoiding slashing players from getting to the rim; the Yellow Jackets are a fairly poor group shooting threes, the shining star in the group being Tadric Jackson who shoots 43% from beyond the arc. With all of this and a little home magic from PNC, hopefully the Wolfpack can pull themselves out of the slump and back into the spotlight.

Statistics 

Points Per Game

NC State

Dennis Smith Jr. - 18.8

Terry Henderson - 15.35

Torin Dorn - 12.88

Georgia Tech

Ben Lammers - 15.4

Josh Okogie - 14.0

Tadric Jackson - 10.8

Assist Per Game

NC State
Dennis Smith Jr. - 6.23
Markell Johnson - 2.43
Terry Henderson - 1.76
Georgia Tech
Justin Moore - 3.5
Josh Heath - 3.1
Quinton Stephens - 2.1

Rebounds Per Game

NC State
Abdul Malik Abu - 7.82
Torin Dorn - 5.88
Omer Yurtseven - 5.0
Georgia Tech
Ben Lammers - 9.9
Quinton Stephens - 7.8
Josh Okogie - 4.2

Other Notable Statistics

NC State
Dennis Smith Jr. - 2.2 Steals per Game
Dennis Smith Jr. - 3.2 Turnovers per Game
Abdul Malik Abu - 1.3 Blocks per Game
Beejay Anya - 1.4 Blocks per Game

Maverick Rowan - 86.7% Free Throw %

Torin Dorn - 46.5% 3 Point %
Georgia Tech
Ben Lammers -  3.2 Blocks per Game

Ben Lammers - 80% Free Throw %

Tadric Jackson - 43.2% 3 Point %

Josh Okogie/Quinton Stephens - 1.3 Steals Per Game

Lammers - Almost averages a double-double 15.4 PPG- 9.9 RPB

A By the Numbers Look of What Went Wrong Against BC

The Wolfpack failed to bounce back after a loss to UNC by adding another loss, this time to the Boston College Eagles. The numbers were favorable for a Wolfpack win but what happened? First of all, State couldn't buy a bucket; no NC State player not named Beejay Anya met or exceeded their season average for points (Beejay averages 3 but scored 8). Dennis Smith scored 15 points which is 4 lower than his usual 19, Terry scored 14 to his usual 15.5, and Abu only scored 8 to his usual 11.8. Free throw shooting was abysmal tonight as the Wolfpack shot 13 for 18 (72%) while Boston College cruised on the line making 18 of their 19 (95%) that 5 point difference makes a huge impact especially considering many of the missed shots came late in the game during crucial moments. Possibly most importantly, we lost the turnover and steals battle; State committed  17 turnovers and stole the ball 6 times while Boston College turned the ball over 14 times and stole the ball 9 times. These seems like a small difference but they are crucial to gain momentum and demoralize the opponent and traditionally in college basketball the team that won the turnover battle win the game. Of course we cannot ignore the Eagles players too, Jerome Robinson scored 24 points (3.4 higher than average), Ky Bowman put up 19 points (6.6 higher than average), AJ Turner stayed on par with his seasonal average and scored 10, and the big jump comes from the big man Connar Tava who scored 13 while his average to date was only 6.4. Not everything can be negative so a positive outlook on the night has to be the play by Beejay Anya. He wasn't dynamic on the glass only getting one rebound however he got 8 points with a perfect shooting percentage (3-3) including perfect from the stripe making both his freethrows (Thats a W in itself right?). Beejay also got 2 of his patented blocks to cap of the night. The Wolfpack once again looks to bounce back at home Sunday against the 9-6 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

A Look Ahead at the 1/11 Game Against Boston College

A Look Ahead at the Boston College Game

A reeling NC State is looking to bounce back from a devastating 56-107 against rival UNC Chapel Hill. There is no better team to try and do this against than Boston College; in a stacked ACC, Boston College is the shining beacon of hope for an easy win. Boston College is lead by Raleigh native Jerome Robinson who plays 34.5 minutes per game and averages 20.6 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, and 3 assist per game. Although these are impressive numbers for the guard, the remainder of the team doesn't stack up; Ky Bowman averages 12.4 points per game and AJ Turner averages 10.2, no other Eagle averages anywhere close with the next one only scoring 6.6 points per game. This essentially creates a "Big Three" for the Eagles. The Wolfpack demonstrate far more depth than the Eagles boasting 5 players averaging double digits (DSJ, Henderson, Dorn, Abu, Maverick). State looks poised to win for a second year in a row and hopefully not on a last second Maverick Rowan layup this time.

Statistics 

Points Per Game

NC State

Dennis Smith Jr. - 19.0

Terry Henderson - 15.4

Torin Dorn - 13.5625

Boston College

Jerome Robinson - 20.6

Ky Bowman - 12.4

AJ Turner - 10.2

Assist Per Game

NC State
Dennis Smith Jr. - 6.4
Markell Johnson - 2.3
Terry Henderson - 1.75
Boston College
AJ Turner - 4.1
Jerome Robinson - 3
Ky Bowman - 2.6

Rebounds Per Game

NC State
Abdul Malik Abu - 7.6
Torin Dorn - 6.0
Omer Yurtseven - 5.4
Boston College
Mo Jeffers - 6.2
Connar Tava - 5.8
Jerome Robinson - 4.8

Other Notable Statistics

NC State
Dennis Smith Jr. - 2.18 Steals per Game
Dennis Smith Jr. - 2.75 Turnovers per Game
Abdul Malik Abu - 1.3 Blocks per Game
Beejay Anya - 1.3 Blocks per Game
Boston College
Jerome Robinson - 1.9 Steals per Game
Jerome Robinson - 3 Turnovers per Game
Ky Bowman - 1.2 Steals per Game
Ky Bowman - 2.6 Steals per Game

NC State averages 2.68 points per game more than Boston College
Boston College allows 3 more points per game than NC State

BC Notable Games: Loss to Nicholls (-6), Loss to Hartford (-2), Win against Auburn (+1), Loss to Fairfield (-6), Win against Providence (+12), and Win against Syracuse (+15)