NC State basketball's mantra of one game at a time will be especially important this week.

The Wolfpack's first matchup is against No. 6-ranked Duke at 9 p.m. Wednesday at PNC Arena. NC State follows with No. 8 Florida State at 4 p.m. Saturday at home. Toss in a future rematch at Duke at 7 p.m. March 2, and the Wolfpack have three key resume-boosting opportunities for the NCAA Tournament.

“I think it is a great opportunity for us because we are playing against two teams who are ahead of us in the standings,” NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts said. “It’s important, this Duke game, because it’s the next game.

"It’s also a great opportunity for us to get a signature win for our resume. We have a couple of good non-conference wins and a very good win at UVA on the road.”

NC State has a 16-9 overall mark and is 7-7 in the ACC, and it nearly won three straight road games before getting tripped up 71-68 against Boston College on Sunday.

“We were a couple of possessions from winning all three of our road games,” Keatts said. “I think our guys are playing pretty good basketball at this time. When we dropped the Boston College game, we don’t have time to worry about that game.”

The point guard matchup will be crucial with NC State senior Markell Johnson going against Duke sophomore Tre Jones. Johnson had 16 points and 10 assists last year at Duke, but the Blue Devils won 94-78 on Feb. 16, 2019. Jones finished with 13 points and five assists in the victory.

Johnson is coming off one of his most lackluster games of the season at Boston College on Sunday. He had four points, three assists and six turnovers in just 17 minutes played.

Keatts hopes the Johnson vs. Jones matchup brings out the energy in his floor general.

“Tre Jones is a really good point guard and one of the best point guards in the country and in our league,” Keatts said. “He makes them go. I hope our guys will step up to the challenge.”

NC State shot just 2 of 19 on three-pointers in the loss against Boston College. The Pack shot 35.3 percent on three-pointers last year, but are currently 31.7 percent from beyond the arc. The NCAA pushed back the 3-point line to 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches this season. The arc was 19-9 from 1987-2008 and 20-9 from 2009-2019.

Keatts originally didn’t think the rules change would make much difference going into the season, and the NIT statistics with the new arc backed that up, which NC State was a part of.

“It makes a big difference with guys who are not three-point shooters — the guys who were finally comfortable making shots at where the line was at," Keatts said. "But I think the specialty guys can still shoot it.

“Guys who are just marginal three-point shooters, I think it has affected those guys in a lot of ways.”

Duke’s teams have so much roster turnover that each season is different for the Blue Devils. NCSU fifth-year senior wing C.J. Bryce has been around long enough, where he played against Duke his freshman year in the NCAA Tournament at UNC Wilmington, with Keatts as head coach.

Four years later, Bryce will be going against freshmen Vernon Carey Jr., Wendell Moore Jr., Matthew Hurt and Cassius Stanley.

“We understand the opportunity we have with the conference wide open right now,” Bryce said. “We obviously have the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament this year, but first of all, we have to take care of conference.

“Duke is a good team and very well-prepared with Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski], but I believe in the guys we have in our program.”

NC State upset then No. 2-ranked Duke 96-85 in the last meeting between the two teams at PNC Arena. NCSU had six players in double figures, including current junior guard Braxton Beverly getting 14 points and five assists.

“We were able to get out in transition and get some easy baskets,” Keatts recalled.

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