NC State opens up the season against one of the better mid-major programs of the last decade.

Legendary head coach Jim Valvano coached at NC State from 1980-1990, but also at Bucknell from 1972-1975. He went 33-42 overall and 12-16 in the Middle Atlantic Conference before getting hired at Iona.

NC State hosts Bucknell at 8 p.m. Tuesday at PNC Arena on ACC Network Extra. The Bison did not play an exhibition game.

Below is the scouting report on Bucknell, who were picked tied for sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll, and fifth in Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook.

Covid did a number on Bucknell’s schedule last year. The Bison didn’t have a non-conference portion, and opened up play Jan. 2 against Navy.

Some games were canceled and it led to a 12-game season, with four of the games against Lehigh, all wins. The other victory came at Lafayette to finish 5-7 overall and 4-6 in the league. The Bison played Lafayette three times, with the win counting as a non-conference victory.

Bucknell did lose a significant performer to the transfer portal, who also is familiar to some area prep fans. Forward John Meeks helped The Burlington School in Burlington, N.C., to a 119-6 record and two NCISAA state championships while there. The two-time all-state performer improved each year at Bucknell.

Meeks averaged 25.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in only six contests last year, three of which were against Lehigh. He elected to be a graduate transfer at College of Charleston this season.

Rankings

Bucknell finished No. 225 in the NET rankings.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Bison current ranked No. 341 overall, while NC State is No. 53.

KenPom.com has Bucknell at No. 302 going into the season, and NCSU checks in at No. 56.

Shooting

Bucknell shot 33.0 percent from three-point land and 76.2 percent from the free-throw line last year.

Junior point guard Xander Rice went 14 of 33 for 42.4 percent from beyond the arc, and senior wing Andrew Funk was 18 of 67 for 26.9 percent.

Funk had shot 30.2 percent on three-pointers his sophomore year, and scored in double figures in 10 of the 12 games last year.

Jake van der Heijden, who played at Raleigh Ravenscoft and younger brother Eric is at Ole Miss, can stretch the floor at power forward. He went 8 of 22 from beyond the arc.

Rebounding

The Bison averaged 33.5 rebounds per game, while opponents averaged 36.9 a contest. What was most noticeable was opposing teams out-rebounded Bucknell 128-78 on offensive boards. Seven-footer Andre Screen pulled down 6.6 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game a year ago. Bucknell does have five players who are 6-7 or taller.

Defense

Opponents averaged 77.3 points per game and shot 43.8 percent from the field and 36.0 percent on three-pointers last year. The team had 42 blocks and 70 steals in 12 contests.

Depth

Junior power forward Malachi Rhodes and junior center Alex Timmerman return with some experience. The 6-8, 233-pound Rhodes averaged 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game over seven contests. The 6-9, 265-pound Timmerman appeared in eight games last year, and averaged 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

Bucknell has four freshmen — small forward Ian Motta, point guards Elvin Edmonds IV and Josh Bascoe and wing Brock Newton.

Star Watch

Sophomore center Andre Screen showed some promise at a listed 7-foot and 251 pounds. The sample size is small due to a 10-game season, but he averaged 7.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in just 18.9 minutes of action per game.

Screen showed a nice touch around the basket and shot 60.7 percent from the field, but will need to improve his 58.8 percent from the free-throw line. He’ll likely get fouled often in the Patriot League. Screen had a season-high 11 points and seven boards in a 63-60 loss vs. Navy on Jan. 3, 2021, before fouling out. He never played more than 21 minutes in a game.

Screen graduated from Saint Stephen’s & Saint Agnes School in Alexandria, Va., and averaged 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game his senior year.

NC State

PG — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 180, Soph., 7.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.1 apg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr.)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 4.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, at Virginia)

PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 12.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.1 spg)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-Jr., 9.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.7 apg, 2.7 bpg) or Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 0.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.0 apg)

Bucknell

PG — 21 Xander Rice (6-3, 185, Jr., 10.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.3 apg)

SG — 10 Andrew Funk (6-5, 188, Sr., 12.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.5 apg)

G — 11 Josh Adoh (6-3, 206, Soph., 1.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.3 apg)

PF — 32 Jake van der Heijden (6-9, 218, Jr., 3.3 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)

C — 23 Andre Screen (7-0, 251, Soph., 7.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 0.6 apg, 1.5 bpg)

4: Trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2011-19, which also resulted in eight Patriot League regular-season titles. The Bison last reached the Big Dance in 2018.

682: Days since Bucknell last played a non-conference game due to Covid complications. The last non-league opponent was a 71-59 loss at La Salle on Dec. 28, 2019.

1961: Year that Bucknell last defeated an ACC team, topping Virginia 99-81 in Charlottesville on Jan. 27, 1961. Bucknell is 11-54 vs. teams that are currently in the ACC.

Bucknell junior point guard Xander Rice made noticeable improvement from his first year to his second, and NC State will need the same to happen to sophomore point guard Cam Hayes.

Rice is the son of Monmouth coach King Rice, who played point guard at North Carolina, and his mother Summer Rice played volleyball for the Tar Heels. Xander Rice played at three of the elite high school programs in the country — Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony’s before it closed down, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and Elizabeth (N.J.) The Patrick School.

Rice struggled his freshman year, averaging 2.4 points and 1.3 assists in 12.8 minutes of action, with a miserable 34.1 field-goal percentage and just 17.9 percent on three-pointers.

Admittedly, it proved to be just 12 contests, but Rice improved to 10.5 points and 3.3 assists a contest last year. More importantly, he shot 50.0 percent from the field and an impressive 42.4 percent on three-pointers. He had a season-high 23 points, four assists and went 4 of 5 on three-pointers in a 87-76 lost at Lafayette on Jan. 10.

Hayes averaged 7.8 points and 3.1 assists per game last year, and started 14 of 23 games. The former Greensboro (N.C.) Day star shot 38.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent on three-pointers. With recruiting classmate and former CP3 traveling team backcourt partner Shakeel Moore transferring to Mississippi State, the ball is in Hayes’ hands.

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