Nicholas Faulkner
Sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu grimaces as he goes up for a layup against the Louisville defense. Abu had his fourth double double in the last five games during the 77-72 loss to Louisville on January 7th in PNC Arena.
After dropping its first three ACC games, the NC State men’s basketball team looks to right the ship Wednesday night at PNC Arena against the visiting Florida State Seminoles.
The Wolfpack (10-6, 0-3 ACC) comes into Wednesday’s matchup looking for answers after a narrow defeat at the hands of Wake Forest. The Seminoles (10-5, 0-3 ACC) find themselves in predicament much like the Pack. The Noles dropped their first three ACC games to Clemson, No. 5 UNC-Chapel Hill and No. 8 Miami (FL) and present a record similar to that of State.
The Seminoles’ most recent outing came on Saturday in Coral Gables, Florida where they were decimated by No. 8 Miami (FL) 72-59. Florida State shot 35.4 percent from the field against the Canes, well below its season average of 45.7 percent.
The real head scratcher from the loss came in the Noles’ three-point shooting performance. The Seminoles shot 2 for 19 from three (10.5 percent). That is an atrocious number, even for a college team. Albeit Florida State’s season average from beyond the arc is only 31.5 percent, but it seems the Noles tend to rely on the deep ball to provide a majority of their offensive production.
Leading scorers and freshmen Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley provide a good bulk of the Seminole offense as they average a combined 33.4 points per game between the two. Sophomore Xavier Rathan-Mayes comes in averaging 12.2 points per game, but the Scarborough, Ontario native has raw offensive potential as evidenced in his 30-point outburst against the Tar Heels.
The Noles boast a guard-heavy lineup in the aforementioned trio of Bacon, Beasley and Rathan-Mayes. Junior guard Anthony “Cat” Barber and his two-plus seasons of experience at the collegiate level should provide useful against a young, inexperienced Florida State backcourt. Another advantage for the Wolfpack would come in the post as sophomore Abdul-Malik Abu should have a good chance to tally yet another double-double this season.
Barber has been quietly having a fantastic season as it is hard to get noticed when players such as LSU’s Ben Simmons, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield and Providence’s Kris Dunn have been attracting all the attention as of late. Still, Barber is the only player in the country to be averaging at least 20 points, five assists and five rebounds per game as he is averaging 22.9, 5.0 and 5.1, respectively.
The Pack finds itself in a must-win situation against the Seminoles as it tries to avoid an 0-4 start to ACC play. State put itself in a position to win in the first three ACC games of the season, it just fell short in all three. A win against this Florida State team would hopefully provide some momentum for the Pack as its next game comes Saturday against the rival Tar Heels at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill.
The jury is still out on how good this Wolfpack team can be. It will not be until junior guard Terry Henderson returns from injury before the Pack’s full potential as a basketball team can be seen. Until then, the Pack needs to keep scratching and clawing for every win it can get as the ACC only gets tougher from here.