The Wolfpack come off their best win of the season in a seven point outright road win in Tennessee. It has to be a confidence builder for a young group that features legitimate talent and young guards.

N.C. State looked a bit lost earlier in the year, highlighted by a home defeat at the hands of North Carolina Central back on November 20. Since then, they have rattled off six straight wins and look to be headed in a positive direction behind an ever growing roster.

ECU is a ball club that really interests me, though. They don’t have any standout wins this year, but they come in at 10-2 and took Duke to the last two minutes on the road. They have an offensive efficiency ranking in the top 100 and used consistent ball penetration to attack the Blue Devils.

They have four different scorers averaging in double figures and hoist, on average, 26 triples a game. They are 50 in three point shooting percentage and are excellent at the line as well.

N.C. State is excellent at defending the three point shot, currently ranking 17 in that category. Their three guard combo of Anthony Barber, Desmond Lee and Ralston Turner has provided them dependability and consistency.

The real challenge for the Pirates could be to contain those guards and also produce quality scoring chances via penetration.

But the other issue will be how they match-up inside. Jordan Vandenburg is now healthy and, at 7’1, creates a serious issue at the center spot. His presence is enhanced by the fact that he plays alongside T.J. Warren in the front court.

Warren was a beast a season ago as a sophomore on a team full of veterans. He enters this game averaging 23 PPG and 7 RPG. ECU has two talented bigs in Michael Zangari and Brandan Stith, but they are going to be outmanned on the glass to some extent.

Overall, I have the Wolfpack as 10 point favorites in this scenario, but there are some concerns for them in terms of motivation. For starters, ECU is not terribly far away so this road game doesn’t come with extensive travel for the visitor. It also comes on a holiday weekend that could dilute the effectiveness of its student section.

More importantly, the Wolfpack come off the huge win over the Vols and have to play a good Missouri team the following weekend. The current spread of 10.5 doesn’t offer a ton of added value given where I believe the number should be, but situationally this is a good opportunity to fade a Wolfpack team that is still working through its challenges and could easily overlook their opponent in this one.

East Carolina +10.5