The NC State men’s basketball team looks to start the 2018-19 season strong this week, hosting Mount St. Mary’s Tuesday and Maryland Eastern Shore Saturday.
Coming off a 21-12 record last year, this will be the Wolfpack’s second year with head coach Kevin Keatts. During Keatts’ first year, the Pack finished 11-7 in conference play and tied for third in the ACC. This year NC State has been selected to finish eighth in the ACC preseason basketball poll.
Three starters will be returning for the Wolfpack, redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn, junior guard Markell Johnson and sophomore guard Braxton Beverly. Dorn was one of the leading scorers and rebounders for the Pack last year with 13.9 points per game and 6.3 rebounds. Johnson averaged 7.4 assists, the most in the ACC. Beverly averaged 9.5 points and 4.0 assists in his 31 games. However, the sophomore guard will miss the beginning of the season due to a broken hand he suffered in practice.
The team will have three transfer students joining them on the court this season: redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce, redshirt sophomore guard Devon Daniels and sophomore guard Blake Harris. Bryce played under Keatts in the 2016-17 season at UNCW and was the leading scorer of 17.4 points per game. Daniels started 26 of 29 games at Utah during the 2016-17 season while averaging 9.9 points per game. Harris started 9 of 14 games at Missouri before transferring at the beginning of January 2018.
One of the youngest teams in the nation, Mount St. Mary’s roster will feature a graduate student, nine freshman and seven sophomores. In total: 10 new faces, 16 freshman and sophomores combined and first-year head coach Dan Engelstad. Their top returnee will be sophomore forward Omar Habwe who appeared in all 31 games last season with one start.
The Wolfpack will look to put defensive pressure on the Mount’s sophomore guard Jalen Gibbs who scored 23 points in their exhibition against Hood College last Thursday, Nov. 1. Gibbs went 10-for-10 from the line and 6-for-12 from the field.
After a 7-25 season, Maryland Eastern Shore is predicted to finish 11th in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Led by head coach Clifford Reed, the Hawks will see three veteran players return: graduate student guard Ryan Andino, redshirt junior guard Dontae Caldwell and redshirt junior forward Isaac Taylor; all three missed the 2017-18 season due to injury.
On defense, NC State will bring attention to junior forward Tyler Jones and redshirt junior forward A.J. Cheeseman. They combined for 32 of the Hawks’ 60 points in their exhibition against Salisbury University. Jones went 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line. The Pack should push the break and get Johnson, who shot 40.9 percent from 3-point territory last year, hot early on.
Tipoff against Mount St. Mary’s is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Saturday 12 p.m. for Maryland Eastern Shore, both at PNC Arena.
