Game Day Essentials: Game #8 at North Carolina St.

NC State Info

Head Coach: Kevin Keats 
Location: Raleigh, NC
Conference: ACC
Nickname: Wolfpack

Mascots: Mr. Wuf & Mrs. Wuf
Rotation Depth: 8+

Last Game: Win over Louisiana Tech

KenPom: 61
Line: NC State by 6.5

Other:  

• First ever meeting between NC State and Nebraska
• NC State lost starting center and defensive anchor Manny Bates in the first game of the season. Bates had led the ACC in blocks his first two seasons
• Providence transfer Greg Gantt has been out with a hernia issue and isn't expected to make his season debut tonight.
• Thomas Allen is still at NC State. Will he play?  After an injury filled 2020-21 season, he started off the year with a one game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned summer league. Allen has scored 10 total points this season and didn't play in NC State's last game vs Louisiana Tech

Player to watch: Dereon Seabron

On a team with a lot of talented players, Seabron is leading the Wolfpack in scoring and rebounding. Seabron does it all inside the arc, a career 20% 3pt shooter.  He also gets plenty of offensive rebounds so Nebraska will need to keep a body on him when the ball goes up.

Player to watch:  Jericole Hellems

Sometimes it feels like we see a lot of players best games here at Nebraska.  Well, Jericole Hellems just put up his highest scoring game of his career with 31 points behind 6-8 3pt shooting.  The Wolfpack's leading returning scorer from last year will be front and center on the scouting report.

Possible Wolfpack Starters

3 Cam Hayes G So. 6-3 180 Greensboro, N.C./Greensboro Day School
4 Jericole Hellems F Sr. 6-7 200 St. Louis, Mo./Chaminade
14 Casey Morsell G Jr. 6-3 200 Ft. Washington, Md./St. John’s College (Virginia)

1 Dereon Seabron G R-So. 6-7 180 Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor

21 Ebenezer Dowuona F So. 6-11 225 Accra, Ghana/The Heritage School (Ga.)

Probable Rotation

0 Terquavion Smith G Fr. 6-4 160 Greenville, N.C./Farmville Central

10 Breon Pass G Fr. 6-0 175 Reidsville, N.C./Reidsville

5 Thomas Allen G R-Sr. 6-1 175 Raleigh, N.C./Brewster Academy (Nebraska)
11 Jaylon Gibson F So. 6-10 220 Zebulon, N.C./Grace Christian School

24 Ernest Ross F Fr. 6-9 190 Alachua, Fla./Santa Fe
 

Bench

12 Chase Graham G Jr. 6-1 180 Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive

20 Alex Nunnally G Fr. 6-2 180 Cary, N.C./Cary Academy

15 Manny Bates F R-Jr. 6-11 230 Fayetteville, N.C./Northwood Temple Academy
23 Greg Gantt F Jr. 6-8 215 Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian School (Providence)
 

The Rest of the Roster

Cam Hayes slots in as the starting PG though really all the guards handle the ball in the offense. A good defender, Hayes has been pretty cold from outside to start the season. Virginia transfer Casey Morsell is the sort of rangy 3pt shooter/defender that Keats recruits. Highly regarded true freshman Terquavion Smith plays a lot of minutes and is an aggressive combo guard. The Wolfpack has Ebenezer Dowuona and Jaylon Gibson in a rotation at the center position. Their both rim protector types who don't bring much offensively and can be foul prone. Frosh Ernest Ross has a lot of potential at forward but has been used sparingly at forward. Same deal for frosh guard Breon Pass.  Will we see Thomas Allen tonight?  It's not a deep roster so foul trouble could mean more minutes from guys who normally don't get them.

Probable starters for Nebraska
1  Alonzo  Verge    G    6-3
5  Bryce  McGowens    G    6-7

23   Keon Edwards    G    6-7

11  Lat Mayen    F    6-9

13  Derrick Walker    F    6-9

Bench

32  Wilhelm Breidenbach    F    6-10

30  Keisei Tominaga    G    6-2

0    C.J.  Wilcher    G    6-5

35    Eduardo Andre    F    6-11

10  Kobe Webster    G    6-0

14  Trevor Lakes    F    6-8
3   Quaran McPherson    G    6-3

33    Oleg Kojenets    F    7-0
4    Jackson Cronin    G    6-1

12    Sam Hoiberg    G    6-0
15    Chris McGraw    G    6-0
21    Jace Piatkowski    G    6-3
 

The Skinny: 

The Huskers made it through the formative portion of their schedule in underwhelming fashion and now it's time to run the gauntlet with games vs NC State, Indiana, Michigan, Auburn, and Kansas St. Up first, a middle of the ACC pack Wolfpack squad will give Nebraska its first true road game of the season.  It will also give Fred Hoiberg a shot at winning just his second road here at Nebraska. If the journey to relevance begins with a first step, one has to wonder when or if that will occur with Hoiberg's rotating collection of Rival's Star™ players.

Now that expectations have been properly lowered, what does a win for Nebraska look like? Defense tends to travel so Nebraska being able to properly protect the paint without overcommitting to give State numerous wide open 3s is #1 on the list. The Wolfpack are a decent outside shooting team but offensively they're geared towards pick and rolling into the paint.  Turn them into a jump shooting team lads, but don't triple team these backup centers as part of the process. 

Offensively Nebraska needs to navigate against constant ball pressure that NC State will turn into easy baskets or bad shots. This might be a game where you really miss Trey McGowens' experience but thus far the 2021-22 Huskers have the sort of handles one might expect from a Fred Hoiberg team.  Once you get past the initial pressure there should be plenty of good looks to be found.

This is a NC State team that will give you the game but the same can be said for this Nebraska team.  Look for a close game where both teams go on hot and cold runs to delight and enrage fans of both clubs.

Prediction: NC State 73 - Nebraska 66