NC State was selected to play in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed.
The Wolfpack will play No. 6-seeded Creighton at 4 p.m. Friday on TNT in Denver, Colo., in the South Region. The Bluejays went 21-12 overall and 14-6 in the Big East, and were ranked No. 24 in the country by The Associated Press.
Creighton fell 82-60 to No. 15-ranked Xavier in the Big East Tournament on Friday. The Bluejays had non-conference wins over Texas Tech and Arkansas, but also had a six-game losing streak to close out the non-conference schedule, and the Big East opener against Marquette.
Creighton’s top victories were arguably over Xavier and Connecticut at home in the regular season. The Musketeers went 2-1 against the Bluejays.
Coach Greg McDermott has gone 576-343 overall and has been a head coach at Wayne State (1994-00), North Dakota State (2000-01), Northern Iowa (2001-06), Iowa State (2006-10) and Creighton since 2010.
McDermott has gone to the NCAA Tournament five times at Creighton and would have gone in 2020.
Creighton features five players in double figures with 7-foot-1, 260-pound junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner leading the way. The skilled big man averages 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game and he played in 30 games this season. Rivals.com ranked him No. 95 in the country in the class of 2020.
Sophomore wing Trey Alexander has emerged in his second season and is a knock-down three-point shooter at 44.0 percent, to go along with 13.6 points per game. The former Auburn commit was ranked No. 85 in the country in the class of 2021.
South Dakota State graduate transfer Baylor Scheierman is another three-point threat as a stretch four. The 6-7, 205-pounder is averaging 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and he’s shooting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc. He shot 46.9 percent on three-pointers last year for SDSU.
Sophomores Arthur Kaluma, a forward, and point guard Ryan Nembhard were both highly-regarded recruits. Rivals.com ranked Kaluma at No. 51 overall in the class of 2021, and Nembhard was ranked No. 76 in that class.
Nembhard is averaging 11.9 points, 4.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game, and he’s shooting 36.8 percent from three-point land. The Canadian is the younger brother of former Florida and Gonzaga point guard Andrew Nembhard of the Indiana Pacers.
The 6-7, 225-pound Kaluma is averaging 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season.
The last time NC State and Creighton met, the Bluejays put on an offensive clinic in a 112-94 win in the Paradise Jam tournament on Nov. 20, 2016. Creighton shot 60.6 percent from the field.
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