Game facts
South Carolina State (1-6) at NC State (6-2)
Game time: Saturday, Dec. 2, 12 p.m. — PNC Arena in Raleigh
Television: RSN
Probable starters
NC State
PG — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Fr., 8.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.0 spg)
SG — 12 Allerik Freeman (6-3, 210, 5th-Sr., 16.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.4 spg)
G — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 165, Soph., 7.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 6.4 apg, 2.4 spg)
PF — 2 Torin Dorn (6-5, 210, R-Jr., 12.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.3 apg)
C — 1 Lennard Freeman (6-8, 265, 5th-Sr., 12.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.0 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.4 bpg)
South Carolina State
PG — 23 Tyvoris Solomon (5-10, 185, Sr., 2.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.4 spg)
SG — 13 Donte Wright (5-10, 190, Sr., 12.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.6 apg, 1.0 spg)
F — 24 Ian Kinard (6-8, 210, Soph., 5.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.6 apg)
PF — 35 Damani Applewhite (6-8, 200, Soph., 10.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.9 apg)
C — 33 Armani Taylor (6-9, 305, Soph., 2.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.0 apg, 1.0 bpg)
South Carolina State
Location: Orangeburg, S.C.
Nickname: Bulldogs
2016-17 record: 11-20 overall, 7-9 MEAC
2017 postseason: None
Coach: Murray Garvin fifth season at South Carolina State and overall (53-85)
Notes
South Carolina State overview: The Bulldogs have played road games at Wisconsin, Boston College, Yale, UCLA and Winthrop this season.
Sophomore forward Damani Applewhite, who attended Fayetteville (N.C.) Westover High, and senior shooting guard Donte Wright lead the way this season.
South Carolina State was picked to finish seventh in the MEAC in the preseason poll, and KenPom.com ranks the Bulldogs No. 349 out of 351 college teams.
Part of South Carolina State’s struggles has been due to the knee injury of senior power forward Tashombe Riley, who averaged 11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last year. He has missed the first seven games.
Backcourt: Wright and senior Tyvoris Solomon are both 5-10 guards, but Wright is clearly going to let the ball fly.
Wright has four assists and 13 turnovers in seven games this season, so passing isn’t part of his resume thus far. He has attempted 60 out of 85 field goals attempts from three-point land, making 36.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Wright had back-to-back 23-point games with six three-pointers in a 73-64 loss to Central Arkansas on Nov. 21 and the 96-68 loss at UCLA on Nov. 17. He has started four out of seven games this season.
Solomon is a limited outside shooter, and averaged 1.9 points and 2.2 assists per game last year, and shot just 3 of 17 from beyond the arc. He is shooting 33.3 percent from the field this season, and has 25 turnovers vs. 11 turnovers. He had 11 points and 12 assists in a 100-91 win over Morris College last Tuesday.
Junior point guard Janai Raynor Powell is also 5-10, and checks in at 165 pounds. He averages 7.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per game, and he’s shooting 40 percent from the field. Like Solomon, he isn’t a big threat from three-point land (1 of 5).
Senior James Richardson, who is 6-2 and 185 pounds, also has recently come off the bench to average 7.3 points in 18.8 minutes per game. He lit up Morris College for 23 points and three three-pointers, which improved his shooting percentage to 28.0 percent. He was 7 of 35 going into that contest.
Sophomore Justin Jones is the fifth guard to averaged in double figures in minutes. The 6-2, 185-pounder is shooting just 28.6 percent from the field, and averaging 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.
Frontcourt: Applewhite is fresh off of back-to-back double-doubles. He had 27 points and 10 rebounds and shot 12 of 13 from the field in the win over Morris College. Applewhite also had 11 points and 12 boards in an 86-61 loss at Winthrop last Sunday.
Applewhite averaged 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game last year.
Taylor got the start against Morris College and had four points, three rebounds and three blocks in 12 minutes. He has 14 points, 14 rebounds, seven blocks and 15 fouls in 69 minutes this season.
Ian Kinard has started five out of seven games this season, and had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the loss vs. Central Arkansas. However, he is just shooting 24.3 percent from the field.
Sophomore Ozante Fields, who is 6-7 and 220 pounds, started at center the first six games, but was replaced by Taylor against Morris College. Fields is averaging 3.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest this season, and he is shooting 36.4 percent from the field. He had six points and 11 rebounds against Central Arkansas.
Sophomore David Bottenberg is the fourth post player in the rotation. The 6-8, 220-pounder averages 3.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game, and he is shooting 36.4 percent from the field.
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South Carolina State schedule/results
South Carolina State season stats
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