Men’s basketball set for scrappy showdown at Miami

The NC State men’s basketball team is currently riding a three-game losing streak that contains disappointing losses at Georgia Tech, at home versus the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels and a blowout at home against the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals. The Pack (14-8; 5-6 ACC) is looking for a rebound game at Miami against the Hurricanes (11-10; 3-8 ACC), who are coming off of a five-point loss against Pittsburgh.

Miami did upset the Virginia Tech Hokies the game before, but at the same time, was responsible for handing Chapel Hill its first win after a five-game losing streak. 

The Hurricanes rank dead-last in the ACC in assists, second-to-last in 3-point percentage and have the third-most turnovers in the conference. The Canes also rank near the bottom of the conference in field goal percentage, offensive rebounds, total rebounds and steals.

The one area where the Pack and the Hurricanes vastly differ is how many fouls each team gives up. The Canes foul 13.95 times per game, while the Pack commits 17.73 per game. Unfortunately for the Pack, the Canes rank first in free throw percentage, so the Wolfpack will need to control its fouling problems and not allow the team that shoots nearly 78% from the line to get easy points.

Leading the Hurricanes in scoring is the three-headed guard tandem of Chris Lykes, Dejan Vasiljevic and Kameron McGusty, who average 43.8 points combined. The three guards are capable of knocking down 3-pointers, with Vasiljevic shooting 39% on nearly seven attempts per game in that regard. No one else on the team is capable of making many shots from that range.

The Pack will need to do a better job of closing out on the 3-point line in this game, after allowing Louisville guard Ryan McMahon to erupt for 23 points on seven 3-pointers, with 18 of those points coming in the first half. Head coach Kevin Keatts did not adjust in time to quell McMahon and will need to do a better job in this game. Redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels switched onto McMahon in the second half, and only allowed five points. He should defend whichever of Miami’s shooters who get hot.

Senior guard Markell Johnson, redshirt senior guard C.J. Bryce and Daniels are more than well-equipped to handle the three-headed monster of Lykes, Vasiljevic and McGusty, as our trio average 5.1 steals per game collectively. Johnson alone recorded four steals in his last game.

Neither team is exceptional at rebounding the basketball, with NC State ranking in at sixth in the conference in total rebounds and Miami ranking at No. 13. However, if NC State can grab up easy rebounds and not allow easy offensive boards, as Miami is a bad offensive rebounding team and play strong interior defense, the team should have no trouble defeating the Canes.

Expect this to be a scrappy game, as the Pack and its opponents have played sloppily for large stints during their three-game losing streak. Louisville committed 18 fouls and 18 turnovers in the game, despite ranking well in those areas prior to the game.

On top of this, the Pack and the Hurricanes are neck-and-neck in conference points per game, with the Pack at 67.8 points per game and the Canes at 66.6 per game.

While the Pack is statistically better in nearly every category than the Canes, the team will need to try not to underestimate its opponent. The team is already only four losses away from tying last year’s record for a team that went to the NIT and missed the NCAA Tournament. With games remaining at Syracuse, Chapel Hill and Duke, and home against Florida State and Duke, there is plenty of room to finish with a worse record than last season’s team.

The game between the Hurricanes and the Wolfpack tips off at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5 in the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. The game can be streamed on ACC Network and can be listened to on Wolfpack Sports Radio.