NC State Welcomes the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers

When: Friday November 6 – 7:00 PM

Where: Lenovo Center

TV / Streaming: ACCNX

Opponent: East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Buccaneers (Southern Conference)

Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 86-71 / NC State 89-68

Wolfpack Season So Far:

The Wolfpack won game 1 of this important 4 game stretch, thank you Ven Lubin. KenPom ranks Campbell #271, ETSU #168, Presbyterian #240, and Troy #179. And then the gloves come off, Murray State is ranked #91, Seton Hall is #64 / Wisconsin is #42. The Pack needs to make the most of these first four games before heading to the Bahamas.

Like most teams, the Pack players are learning to play with new teammates, some are playing new roles, and all are learning to execute new offensive and defensive schemes. Very much a work in progress.

What adjustments are the players making?

• Preston Edmead is adjusting to being a full-time point guard for the first time in his college career. At Hofstra he played shooting guard, Cruz was the point guard. However, he and Cruz played sort of a double PG role at Hofstra, similar to he and Adams.
• Ven Lubin is a full-time forward for the first time in his college career.
• Kyle Evans has never played this style of center role before; there is a lot more movement required of him.
• Robert Jurkovic has never played this style of center role before; nor has he played American style college basketball. Musa Sagnia took a while to adjust last season.
• Eemeli Yalaho and Christian Hammond were early signees and probably did not expect to come off the bench. Both were full-time starters last season. Yalaho played 28.4 mins per game, Hammond 30.4 mins per game.
• Paul McNeil is a primary focal point of the opposing scouting report and the face of the Wolfpack for the first time. Campbell defended him well and he struggled to get open shots. He only hit 1 3PT, 6 of his 11 points were from the FT line.
• Hall, Whitty, and Wilkins are all adjusting to P4 ball.

None of these ‘adjustments’ are concerns or unique at this point. Lubin certainly has adjusted just fine and very quickly. It will be fun to watch each player evolve as the season progresses.

Opponent Overview:

OPPOSING COACH’S NAME OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE – Brooks Savage (!)

Coach Savage (!) worked for Steve Forbes on the staff at ETSU and then followed him to Wake Forest before landing his first head coaching job back at ETSU in 2023. ETSU won the SoCon Regular Season Championship last season and Savage (!) was the Conference Coach of the Year. Under his leadership, the Bucs have appeared in the SoCon championship game two out of his three seasons but haven’t won it yet.

ETSU was voted to finish 2^nd this season in the SoCon coach’s poll and received one first place vote.

NC State will be the highest ranked opponent ETSU will play this season.

Their Season So Far:

The Bucs lost at Arizona State Monday, 75-65. After holding the lead briefly at the beginning of the game, the Sun Devils led the rest of the way. The Bucs closed to within 6 with 2:33 left but got no closer.

Game starters / stats:

ETSU Player Notes

• BJ Ward was voted to the SoCon preseason All-Conference team

ETSU Key Player Injuries – Not Expected to Play

• Jordan McCullum was the leading returning scorer and only returning starter, and would probably have been an all-conference player, went down with a torn ACL in practice during September. He is expected to be lost for the season.

Wolfpack: What to watch for:

• Is Ven Lubin going to be a consistent outside threat?
• Watch Paul McNeil get better at finding open shots.
• Kyle Evans is improving. He only picked up 2 fouls, and delivered 5 pts / 3 reb / 1 assist and 2 blocked shots against an undersized Campbell team.
• Somebody has to step up as Kyle’s backup. Jurkovic is a work in progress. Shah Hall seems to have faded from his MSU game.
• Will Mr Basketball NC keep working his way into the rotation?

Prediction: Wolfpack wins 80-69