What a difference a couple of weeks can make. NC State’s season felt completely up in the air after the baffling home loss to Georgia Tech, but the Wolfpack has since won four straight, including three on the road, to put itself in good shape as February gets underway. State is solidly in the NCAA tournament field as of today and has put itself in position to earn a top-four seed for the ACC tourney.
Now that we’ve reached the midpoint of league play, let’s have a look at how State has played in ACC games.
(All ranks in the above table are ACC ranks.)
NC State leads the league in three-point shooting and also has leveraged turnover margin better than any other team in the ACC. State has been even or better in the turnover column in all nine games, which is a very handy bonus to be able to count on regularly for a team that shoots the ball well. It also helps compensate for being not so good on the boards.
The tough part of the schedule lies ahead—KenPom rates State’s ACC schedule as only 15th-toughest so far—and with that will come a stronger test of the team’s strengths. NC State’s offense should be fine, but turnovers may be a little tougher to come by over the next month, and opponents will start to pick it up at the free throw line, or so you’d think, so I’m most interested in seeing how this group holds up defensively.
They’re in a good spot, though. Especially compared to last year. Looking at conference play last year just reminded me how dreary an experience that whole mess was—helps keep things in perspective, too. Having a team that’s actually watchable sure is nice.