Thanks to a combination of a soft schedule and excellent play, North Carolina State is quietly closing the regular season in a nice stretch of basketball.
The Wolfpack (22-8, 11-6 ACC) has beaten Georgia Tech, Boston College and Wake Forest in succession, and overall have taken six of their last seven contests with the lone loss at red-hot North Carolina. The average margin of victory in the current three-game stretch is 15.3 points, so the Pack is more than just getting by, they are playing terrific hoops.
N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried doesn’t see the recent positives as just a right-now deal. This is all part of the plan when he arrived.
“We’re taking some steps in the right direction,” Gottfried said after beating Wake on Wednesday night. “We have big goals. I came to this program with dreams of one day winning a national championship, and you’ve got to make progress toward that, and we’ve been able to do some of that.”
Part of that process is to get the best possible seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Saturday’s regular season finale is at dangerous Florida State, a team coming off a home victory over NCAA fence-sitter Virginia, so the Seminoles are plenty capable of handling the Wolfpack N.C. State must be ready.
Taking on the Seminoles (16-14, 8-9) Saturday at 2 p.m., however, affords the Wolfpack an opportunity to notch a victory and void having to play Thursday at the ACC Tournament next week in Greensboro and to also continue building toward those goals.
“We just need to keep improving on some things,” Gottfried said. “Whether it’s our defensive pressure, our rebounding or our offense, we just have to keep working.”
Pick: N.C. State, 66-61.
March 9
When: 2 p.m.
Full Court Press: Both teams have come along nicely, especially Tech, which is 6-5 in league play since an 0-5 start. But BC has been more than competitive at home, including owning wins over Maryland and Virginia, plus two one-point losses to Miami and Duke. Georgia Tech likely would guarantee itself an NIT invitation with a victory, but the task is pretty big given how the Eagles have been at Conte Forum.
Pick: Boston College, 60-56
When: 2:30 p.m.
Full Court Press: Clemson is really struggling, having lost eight of its last nine games. Miami needs to play well going into the postseason. The Hurricanes have dropped three of their last four and need to find a way to regenerate the intensity that carried them to a 13-0 league start. Jim Larranaga might want to put Julian Gamble back into the starting lineup. It worked before and may again.
Pick: Miami, 71-58
When: 9 p.m.
Full Court Press: This should be a thrilling game. It should have a lot of potential storylines with the most notable concerning Ryan Kelly, who has played in two games after missing 13 with a foot injury. Will he force UNC to go big, or will the Tar Heels wear him down forcing him to chase the likes of P.J. Hairston and company? That is the primary key in this game, assuming everything else goes according to form. Other keys: Perimeter shooting. Can Duke PG Quinn Cook give Duke an edge on top of what Kelly and Seth Curry provide, or will UNC PG Marcus Paige do the same for UNC, piling on what Hairston and Reggie Bullock give the Tar Heels? Foul trouble with Duke’s Mason Plumlee and UNC’s James Michael McAdoo could also be factors.
Pick: UNC, 75-70
March 10
When: 2 p.m.
Full Court Press: Wake coach Jeff Bzdelik likely isn’t on the hot seat but he still needs this win. A sixth victory in the ACC will show some improvement, but losing at home to the last-place team to close the regular season shouldn’t go over too well. Wake is the better club, and has been pretty good at times at home. Travis McKie, C.J. Harris (playing in the final home game of his career) and Devin Thomas will be too much for Erick Green.
Pick: Wake Forest, 77-72
When: 6 p.m.
Full Court Press: Huge game for both teams, but especially Virginia. The Cavaliers can’t afford to lose or they may have to get to Sunday at the ACC Tournament to receive an NCAA bid. Win this one and maybe one in the ACC Tournament and the Cavaliers should have no problem getting in. Joe Harris will do his thing, but Virginia needs to match Maryland’s physicality up front and get some transition baskets out of the turnovers the Terrapins’ guards will commit.
Pick: Virginia, 58-53
Season record: 187-52
