The NC State men’s basketball team will face their first major test of the 2022-23 season as they face the #3 ranked, defending National Champion Kansas Jayhawks Wednesday afternoon.
Tipoff is scheduled for 12 PM in Nassau Bahamas during the annual Battle 4 Atlantis seen on ESPN.
Both teams enter the contest 4-0 overall, but with different resumes. The Jayhawks have already faced a top-10 opponent – defeating Duke last week 69-64, while the Wolfpack showed grit in a sluggish 73-67 win over Campbell before bowing out Florida International 107-74. Most recently, the Wolfpack defeated in-state foe Elon, 74-63 at home last Saturday.
The Wolfpack have been in this situation before just last year facing a top 10 opponent on a neutral floor – falling in overtime to Perdue in what some would say started a downward spiral for that team.
But with almost a new team and new coaching staff, head coach Kevin Keatts is looking for a different outcome and needs one this season to keep his seat cool for a while. The Wolfpack will rely heavily on guard Terquavion Smith to help carry the load to an upset win. The sophomore guard, who tested the NBA waters over the summer, is blistering the nets so far – averaging 19 ppg while shooting just over 47% from the floor. Smith also leads NC State in assists with 5.3 per outing.
On the other end of the floor, the Wolfpack will have to find a way to slow down forward Jalen Wilson. The junior from Denton, TX currently leads the Jayhawks in scoring (24.5 ppg) and rebounds (9.3 rpg).
Both squads mirror each other statistically with the Wolfpack holding the slight edge in points per game at 88.3 to 80.5, while NC State allows just over 63.5 points per game compared to 65.8 for Kansas.
State fans will recognize two Jayhawks who have NC ties as Bobby Pettiford Jr enters his second year with the program and MJ Rice arrives to the program as a highly touted recruit who has been battling an injury to start the season.