N.C. State Wolfpack (8-2) vs. Tennessee Volunteers (4-3) – 7pm @ PNC Arena in Raliegh; TV: Espn2 – The Deuce!
The Pack is back in action tonight, this time at The Bank (PNC) instead of the Old Coliseum. N.C. State is looking to bounce back after a (literally) last second loss to Wofford on Sunday. The small break didn’t provide much time to lick the wounds, and that may be a good thing – to get right back out there and get after it. We’ll see how the team responds at 7pm – hopefully they’ll be energized, ready to put the Wofford game behind them in a big way.
Tennessee, meanwhile, entered this season after a Sweet 16 run from the ‘First Four’ in last season’s NCAA Tournament. It is hardly the same team – or program – that N.C. State visited last December, however. Cuonzo Martin left to take the head job at California, and key pieces from last season’s Sweet 16 team are no longer there.
Tennessee’s coaching search led them to Donnie Tyndall, formally the head coach at Southern Miss and also Morehead State before that. Some of you may recall Morehead State’s memorable NCAA Tourney upset of Louisville a few years back – that victory was engineered under Tyndall.
Unfortunately for Tyndall – and possibly Tennessee – recent reports have surfaced of possible shenanigans happening under Tyndall’s watch at Southern Miss (additional info). Whether directly or indirectly, it seems these reports have had an impact on Tennessee’s current season, as the Vols’ program has had two assistants resign recently. It will be interesting to see how this overall story develops and what possible ramifications there may be for Tyndall, Southern Miss, and Tennessee.
Putting those distractions to the side, Tennessee sputtered a bit out of the gate but have consecutive home victories over K-State in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge and also nationally ranked Butler. The Volunteers enter tonight’s contest on a definite uptick, and a tough early schedule has them rated #69 in the current RPI rankings even though they are just 4-3 overall. This will be Tennessee’s first true road contest, though they went 1-2 on a neutral court in the Orlando Classic.
As for style of play, well – we will get to see the Pack’s zone offense in action once again tonight. Under Tyndall, it’s pretty much all zone, all the time for Tennessee – heavy on the 1-3-1. It will be interesting to see how N.C. State attacks the zone after struggling against it at times so far this season.
Enjoy the game everyone and please share your thoughts! Here are the Wolfpack game notes. And here is today’s video:
Go Pack 🙂
