A pair of 2-4 conference foes square off in Raleigh today. Brian Gregory’s Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come off a much needed road win at Boston College in a game in which they were four point dogs.
For N.C. State, they have lost three of four recently but just picked up a huge home win over Maryland despite being without the services of T.J. Warren, their best player and leading scorer.
The Wolfpack seem to be slowly developing into a better squad, but they are awfully young. They have been simply blasted by the conference’s elite teams, yet their next 4-5 games will enable them quality opportunities to make up ground in a conference full of mediocrity.
G.T. has really struggled on the offensive end this season. Tennessee transfer Trae Golden had a monster game in Chestnut Hill to enable them to hang on late, but the question marks are still there. This team enjoys playing a slow tempo, but they turn it over at a high rate.
Fortunately here, the Wolfpack don’t feature a defense with much turnover creation potential. They like to sit back in zone, and that has really hurt them on the defensive boards. They have some players with good size and athleticism. yet, as a group, they rank 267 nationally in defensive rebounding efficiency.
Warren is expected to return for this game, but his absence last game was good in a way for this club. It forced their young guards to be more assertive, and they were able to take the game over down the stretch against a Maryland club that could not contain their guards.
The current spread for this game is 5.5 with the home team favored. The total has been set at 137, although that figure has only posted at a handful of books. First glance would potentially indicate some value on the under, especially given the fact neither team is all that special offensively.
But N.C. State built some legitimate momentum the other night, and getting Warren back only helps their offense. They scored over 40 points in the second half against a good Maryland defense. Both offenses will be rested after having had at least five days off.
Georgia Tech’s ability to make this game a grind and keep it tight will ultimately determine how the the score approaches the total. If N.C. State is able to generate turnovers and make this more up and down, a potential blowout would aide the over.
It will be of a great interest to see how the Wolfpack guards build off their most recent win. This is a young team that has some potential. We saw them grow up in the second half against Maryland, and now they have another challenge in front of them against a G.T. team that has shown flashes.
