NIT: #3 North Carolina State v. #1 Colorado State

Who will WIN this matchup?

#3 North Carolina State Wolfpack (14-10)

#1 Colorado State Rams (19-6)

Current odds:

North Carolina State Wolfpack: (-130)

Colorado State Rams: (+110)

• The line for this game is NC State by 1.5 points.

• NC State enters Thursday night having won six of its last seven games. All but one of those games has taken place away from Raleigh. The Pack’s only loss during this stretch is in the ACC Tournament second round to Syracuse (The Orange currently have won five of their last six games and have advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament).

• Manny Bates and D.J. Funderburk combined for 35 points on 15-of-17 shooting (88.2%) in the Pack’s first round NIT win over Davidson last Thursday. The duo is one of the most efficient scoring units in NC State history. Funderburk is a career 57.4% shooter and is second all-time on the program’s all-time field goal percentage list. Bates is on pace to eventually lead that list and knock Funderburk down to third. The sophomore is a career 64.1% shooter and is just 41 made field goals away from qualifying for NC State’s all-time field goal percentage chart (minimum 200 made field goals). In 24 games this season, Bates and Funderburk have both scored in double figures in the same game only six times, but it has now happened in three of the last four games.

• Freshman Cam Hayes is playing his best basketball of the season. The Greensboro native has now scored in double figures in four of the last seven games. Hayes had not scored in double figures in 12 straight games prior to this seven-game stretch. Over the last six games, Hayes has hit 14 three-pointers (2.3 per game average) and is shooting 50% from long range during these six games. He has also turned it on defensively as Hayes has almost half of his season total of steals in the last seven games. He has 14 steals in the last seven games (2.0 per game) and has 29 total in 22 games this season.

• Force at least 15 turnovers. When NC State forces an opponent into 15 or more turnovers this season the Pack is 10-1. When its opponent has less than 15 turnovers, NC State is 4-9. In the Pack’s 14 wins this season, opponents are averaging 16.9 turnovers per game. In its 10 losses, NC State’s opponents average just 12.4 turnovers.

• The Pack is averaging 33.5 points in the paint in the 11 games since Devon Daniels was injured. With the loss of Daniels, NC State’s top-three scorers remaining are all forwards. After being outscored in points in the paint in five of its first six ACC games, the Pack has tied or outscored its opponents in points in the paint in 11 of the last 13 games. Only Syracuse (twice) has outscored the Pack in points in the paint in the last 13 games.

• This will be the first meeting in history between Colorado State and NC State along with the first time that head coach Niko Medved will face the Wolfpack.

• Against the ACC, CSU is 3-10, but all three wins have come on neutral courts.

• Against the ACC, Medved is 1-4 all-time and 0-1 at CSU