NC State (8) vs LSU (9), Thurs approx 9:20pm TBS, [Updated 9:45pm]

14-15 Basketball102

NC State is seeded #8 in the East Region and will play 9th seeded LSU in Pittsburgh on Thursday. With the tournament bid, Mark Gottfried becomes the first coach in ACC history to earn an NCAA Tournament bid in each of his first four seasons and moves within one of the school’s all-time record of five straight.

Interestingly — NC State senior, Ralston Turner played at LSU for two seasons before transferring to NC State three years ago.

LSU was 22-10 on the year against the 97th toughest strength of schedule in the country; while NC State (20-13) finished the year at #39 in the RPI against the 9th toughest schedule in the country. The Tigers lost to Auburn in the SEC quarterfinals this weekend.

LSU went 3-2 against the Top 50 while NC State went 4-8. LSU’s three T50 wins were against Arkansas (#20), West Virginia (#24) and Georgia (#38).

LSU defeated West Virginia (74-73) on the road on December 4th…right around the time the Mountaineers manhandled NC State in Madison Square Garden. LSU also lost in November on a neutral floor to Clemson by three points. LSU also manhandled Tennessee in Knoxville in February, a Volunteers team that NC State also defeated relatively easily in December.

NC State has opened as 1.5 point favorite in Las Vegas.

The Sporting News has their preview up right now and is available by clicking here.

Storylines

— With ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren, N.C. State beat Xavier in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament to move into the field of 64, but lost an overtime battle to St. Louis in the second round.

— The Wolfpack was on the wrong side of the tournament bubble in early February, but wins over Louisville and North Carolina within 10 days of each other vaulted them back into the Tournament discussion.

— Gottfried has taken the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons in Raleigh, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2012.

— Quarterman and junior guard Josh Gray each average four assists per game. The Tigers have four players averaging double-digit scoring, and Mickey has averaged a double-double for the season. The Tigers average nearly 74 points per game.

— LSU is in the tournament for the 21st time in program history, reaching the Final Four in 1953, 1981, 1986 and 2006. LSU’s lone national title came in 1935, before the first NCAA Tournament in 1939.

— The Tigers have steadily improved under Jones, who has LSU in the Tourney for the first time since 2009. Jones previously took North Texas to the Big Dance in 2007 and 2010.

If Wolfpackers have much about which to complain it would be having to be in the same bracket with two ACC brethren – Louisville and Virginia.

CBS’s Clark Kellogg thinks that LSU will make it to the second weekend by defeating NC State and Villanova, but Doug Gottlieb followed up with a counter point that he thinks NC State is the team to watch.

I tend to agree with ESPN’s Jim Calhoun who states that he looks NOT at ‘how a good a team did all year’, but instead at ‘how good a team is/can be.’ Calhoun then called NC State ‘immensely talented’. Ultimately, NC State was the 31st overall seed in the tournament and LSU was the 35th overall. See the entire seed list below.

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14-15 Basketball

Home › Forums › NC State #8 in the East — Plays LSU

Viewing 25 posts - 76 through 100 (of 103 total)
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  • Author
    Posts
  • 03/15/2015 at 9:00 PM #80128
    john of sparta
    Participant

    +1.
    agreed.
    we caught a Big Bracket Break.
    we have to take advantage of it.

    03/15/2015 at 9:01 PM #80129
    WTNY
    Participant

    LSU’s lone national title came in 1935

    NOPE. This is a Helms Foundation “title” — the same California baker that gave the Holes their fake 1923 title.

    03/15/2015 at 9:05 PM #80130
    MrPlywood
    Participant

    Here’s info from USAToday, complete with a couple of nice diagrams. Not exactly sure how to read them, but when State’s on defense it looks like we have LSU covered.

    http://q.usatoday.com/2015/03/15/ncaa-tournament-march-madness-bracket-bracketology-kentucky-wildcats/

    03/15/2015 at 9:32 PM #80134
    WTNY
    Participant

    Couple of interesting stats:

    * The head coach at LSU was an assistant for Gottfried at Alabama in 2000-2001

    * This is the first trip to the big dance for LSU in six years. Hope “just happy to be here” is a factor for them.

    03/15/2015 at 9:38 PM #80136
    redisgood
    Participant

    We have the late game Thursday. Villanova goes at 6:50, we play after them.

    03/15/2015 at 9:38 PM #80137
    Alpha Wolf
    Keymaster

    One of LSU’s guards is Keith Hornsby. He lit us up for 20+ a few years ago when he played for App State.

    I expect he will be under the Cat’s paw for much of the game Thursday night. Cat’s one of the best defenders in the country, and it won’t be his first picnic against a tough opponent.

    The LSU “NBA frontcourt” will be facing a good rotation of good bigs, and I would expect that our will cancel out theirs. The real question then immediately becomes whether or not they can match our backcourt, which I do not think that they will be able to do.

    This is not going to be an easy game, but it is one that our players will have to look at as one that they can and will win. It’s going to require poise and complete game effort, but we ought to win the first round.

    03/15/2015 at 9:40 PM #80138
    PapaJohn
    Participant

    LSU took Kentucky to the wire, lost by two. Came closer than anyone else to beating them all season. Gonna be a handful.

    03/15/2015 at 9:46 PM #80140
    redisgood
    Participant
    pack_time wrote:

    Does anybody know what time we play? Or when we find out?

    We play after Nova. They play at 6:50, so probably somewhere between 9:30 – 10:00.

    03/15/2015 at 10:11 PM #80145
    theTHRILL
    Participant

    Whenever I feel my hopes getting the least bit high, I remind myself that (1) we are NC State, and (2) we were embarrassed this year by Wake, Clemson and BC.

    03/15/2015 at 10:22 PM #80148
    JeremyH
    Participant
    WTNY wrote:

    * This is the first trip to the big dance for LSU in six years. Hope “just happy to be here” is a factor for them.

    Don’t think our guys don’t remember, one year ago, dropping a game they should have won after the play-in.

    03/15/2015 at 10:54 PM #80155
    PackFamily
    Participant

    I was wrong about our seeding. I thought the committee would just divide RPI by 4 and move up or down no more than 1. We got a lot of credit for road wins and SOS.

    03/16/2015 at 12:51 AM #80164
    MrPlywood
    Participant
    JeremyH wrote:

    Don’t think our guys don’t remember, one year ago, dropping a game they should have won after the play-in.

    And should be well past the “happy to be here” stage.

    03/16/2015 at 6:53 AM #80167
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Re facing Hornsby, that’s just the way it is.

    03/16/2015 at 7:04 AM #80169
    Prowling Woofie
    Participant

    If we shut Hornsby down, we’ll be Sailin’….

    03/16/2015 at 7:09 AM #80170
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    Congrats to GOTT and the Kids !

    IIRC… #28 in the country… exceeds the expectations of most observers…
    … as does 4 NCAAs in a row.

    Since we are no longer in control of who are opponents are…
    Does that matter?

    Not really. They got to beat us too…
    We’ve beaten three TOP 15 teams already this season.

    We just need to PLAY our game…

    Play smart.
    Play hard Defense.
    BIGS GOTT to be BIG.
    Shooters GOTT to hit their Shots.

    Everything will be fine.

    And the momentum and lessons of 2 or 3 games in this NCAA will set the stage for next season.

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    03/16/2015 at 7:40 AM #80174
    wufpup76
    Keymaster
    bill.onthebeach wrote:

    We’ve beaten three TOP 15 teams already this season

    Notable wins (Top 25 RPI – H/A/N):

    NC State 5 – Duke (H); 11 – Cheats (A); 21 – Louisville (A)
    LSU 19 – Arkansas (A); 24 – West Virginia (A)
    Villanova 14 – VCU (N); 23 – Prov (H+A+N); 25 – Georgetown (H)

    Just interesting to compare, that’s all …

    03/16/2015 at 10:08 AM #80181
    rtpack24
    Participant

    Hornsby played for UNCA and hung 26 on us. 6’4″ leaper who is a spot up shooter. Does not handle the ball much. Very athletic and can run the floor. Will be interesting who Gott has check him, I believe Cat will guard their point guard because he has ball most of the time.

    03/16/2015 at 10:25 AM #80184
    redisgood
    Participant

    Yep, I think Trevor will get 1st crack at him, and possibly Dez will get some PT as well.

    The LSU team reminds me very much of the Tennessee team we played and beat last year. They had two big bodied projected NBA draft picks in Jarnell Stokes and Jordan McRae. Lennard Freeman had a great game and was a big part of shutting them down. I think Gott & Lutz will have a great game plan for neutralizing LSU’s two big guys.

    03/16/2015 at 10:33 AM #80187
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster
    PackFamily wrote:

    I was wrong about our seeding. I thought the committee would just divide RPI by 4 and move up or down no more than 1. We got a lot of credit for road wins and SOS.

    One thing that you have to remember is that the math will start to break down after the 7th seed or so because teams will be left out with better RPI rankings than State.

    03/16/2015 at 10:34 AM #80188
    redisgood
    Participant
    Prowling Woofie wrote:

    If we shut Hornsby down, we’ll be Sailin’….

    Hornsby will get his 15-20 points no matter what. LSU begins and ends with Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey. Both are 1st team All SEC players. Leading point getters, rebounders, and shot blockers. One know on them is they are turnover prone, so they will see lots of pressure from our bigs.

    They also have a couple guys who can get hot from the 3, and these are the kind of players who kill us sometimes.

    03/16/2015 at 11:45 AM #80194
    WallyB
    Participant
    BJD95 wrote:

    Re facing Hornsby, that’s just the way it is.

    No you didn’t just go there.

    I recall that Bruce H is a UVA guy and actually quite a baller himself.

    03/16/2015 at 12:48 PM #80198
    Tau837
    Participant
    Alpha Wolf wrote:

    under the Cat’s paw

    Love this phrase.

    03/16/2015 at 1:01 PM #80200
    BJD95
    Keymaster
    Tau837 wrote:
    Alpha Wolf wrote:

    under the Cat’s paw

    Love this phrase.

    Trap him like a mole!

    03/16/2015 at 2:28 PM #80206
    redcanine
    Participant

    Ricky Scagg’s boy plays for them too.

    03/16/2015 at 3:05 PM #80207
    wufpup76
    Keymaster
    redisgood wrote:

    Yep, I think Trevor will get 1st crack at him, and possibly Dez will get some PT as well.

    The LSU team reminds me very much of the Tennessee team we played and beat last year. They had two big bodied projected NBA draft picks in Jarnell Stokes and Jordan McRae. Lennard Freeman had a great game and was a big part of shutting them down. I think Gott & Lutz will have a great game plan for neutralizing LSU’s two big guys.

    I think this is a good comparison.

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