Wolfpack take down Yellow Jackets again

The NC State Wolfpack defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by 21 in a 86-65 victory in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. The win marks the first time this season the Wolfpack have had a ACC winning streak, which is now at 2 games. Six NC State players had double digit points, Tracy Smith finished as the player of the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

What’s going right?

• Free throw shooting, finally the Wolfpack were able to put up good numbers in the GA Tech game and shot 80% from the line.
• It’s raining 3-pointers, the Wolfpack shot 53% from behind the arc, Costner hit 2-3, Fells hit 2-4, and Williams hit 3-5 in the GA Tech game.
• Great big play from Tracy Smith, game after game Tracy is showing us amazing post moves and great power.
• Rebounding numbers have been good, with a 34-26 margin in the GA Tech game, it seems Sid’s bigger line up for NC State is working out.

What’s going wrong?

• Point guard position, we talk about this every week, lets face it Javi did a great job on Saturday and Degand struggled with 5 turnovers. It seems that Javi can control the press just a little better than Degand right now, Javi’s up court passing really seems to be helping us. Lets just hope that Javi’s emotions, won’t get the best of him in the Carolina game on Wednesday night.
• McCauley going merely scoreless in the GA Tech game, not to big of a concern, but we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again against bigger opponents.
• Turnovers, really we have to talk about this again. Quit turning the ball over, the GA Tech game was the 3rd of the past 4 games the Wolfpack has gone 20+.

What’s next?

The NC State Wolfpack will take on the UNC Tarheels in the Dean Smith Center. The Wolfpack have lost the past four meetings with UNC in the Smith Center by an average of 22 points, flat out embarrassing. The Wolfpack will have to stop Tyler Hansborough inside the paint with key double teams from its big men. Javi with a bit of help from Fells will need to control Ty Lawson. As for scoring, the Wolfpack will need to put up big numbers, double digits from both McCauley and Costner, Fells/Williams/Horner will need to be hitting 3’s.  The upset is scheduled for prime time Wednesday night at 7:45pm in the Smith Center, this game for sure will be on TV.

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