Colgate is off to a 1-2 start with a narrow 74-72 loss at Syracuse on the resume this season.
Colgate plays three high-major opponents this season with Syracuse, NC State and at Kentucky on Dec. 11.
Colgate (1-2) plays at NC State (3-0) at 7 p.m. Monday on ACC Network.
Overview
Colgate went 25-10 last year and fell 92-67 to Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Star guard Braeden Smith transferred to Gonzaga, and two other starters graduated. The Raiders do return sophomore guard Jalen Cox and junior wing Brady Cummins.
Sophomore wing Parker Jones, senior wing Nicolas Louis-Jacques and senior center Jeff Woodward round out the starting lineup.
Rankings
Colgate finished No. 125 in the NET rankings last year, and NC State was No. 63.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Raiders ranked No. No. 204 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 51.
KenPom.com has Colgate at No. 230, and NCSU checks in at No. 62.
Shooting
Colgate is averaging 74.3 points per game, and are shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 29.4 percent on three-pointers and 69.6 percent at the free-throw line.
Senior wing Chandler Baker comes in off the bench and is 7 of 20 on three-pointers for 35.0 percent, and Cummins is 4 of 10 from beyond the arc for 40 percent.
Rebounding
The Raiders are averaging 36.0 rebounds per game and have a minus-two rebounding margin. Colgate 23 offensive rebounds this season.
Woodward leads the way with 6.3 rebounds per game, and both Cox and Jones are averaging 5.7 rebounds a contest.
Defense
Colgate is allowing 69.7 points per game, with opposing teams shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range.
Colgate has nine blocks and Cox has seven of the 20 steals this season.
Depth
The aforementioned Baker is definitely the top impact player off the bench, and he had 15 points and made 4 of 9 on three-pointers in the narrow loss to Syracuse. He is second on the team with 10.7 points per game.
Sophomore center Sam Wright, junior guard Kyle Carlesimo and freshman point guard Blake Forrest have played in all three games, and freshman 7-foot center Cameron Brennan has played in two contests.
Star Watch
Sophomore guard Jalen Cox has tried to pick up where Braeden Smith left off.
Smith averaged a team-best 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game last year. He elected to transfer back to his home state and picked Gonzaga, where he is redshirting this season.
Cox has improved from 4.5 points per game last year, to a team-high 13.3 a contest, plus 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He is shooting 44.8 percent from the field, and 25.0 percent on three-pointers.
Cox has great speed, an explosive first step and wants to either use a floater in the lane or get to the rim. He’s also just as fast dribbling with his off hand, his left hand, as his right.
Cox reached double figures just once last year, when he had 15 points and three three-pointers in a 68-65 win over Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Cox eclipsed his carer-high by scoring 21 points on 9 of 20 shooting, plus six rebounds and three assists in the loss against Syracuse.
The slender 6-foot-3, 165-pounder played at Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola with Colgate teammate Parker Jones, and then spend a prep school year at South Kent School in Kent, Conn.
Likely starters
NC State
PG — 12 Michael O’Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.3 apg, 1.7 spg)
SG — 8 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Sr., 16.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2.7 spg)
G — 10 Marcus Hill (6-4, 185, Sr., 10.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.7 apg)
F — 3 Dontrez Styles (6-6, 210, Sr., 9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.3 apg)
C — 1 Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)
Colgate
PG — 3 Jalen Cox (6-3, 165, Soph., 13.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.3 spg)
SG — 1 Brady Cummins (6-6, 190, Jr., 9.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg)
G — 5 Nicolas Louis-Jacques (6-4, 195, Sr., 10.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.0 spg)
F — 25 Parker Jones (6-6, 190, Soph., 7.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg)
C — 55 Jeff Woodward (6-11, 270, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.0 apg)
Numbers Of Note
1 McDonald's All-American's, who have picked Colgate with the improbably 6-10 Adonal Foyle staying home in 1994. HIs adoptive parents were professors at Colgate. He is the second all-time leading scorer (1,776) and No. 1 in rebounds (1,103), and went to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three years. He was the No. 8 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, and played from 1997-to-2010.
7 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the last five tournaments that were played in. The Raiders are 0-7 in the Big Dance, and have been a No. 14 seed three times, and the No. 15 seed and No. 16 seed two times apiece.
1,119 Career points for Colgate coach Matt Langel at Pennsylania (1996-00), where he shot 40.4 percent for his career on three-pointers. He played for coach Fran Dunphy, then became Dunphy's assistant at Penn and Temple, before getting hired at Colgate, where he is 228-186 since 2011-12.
Game within the game: Colgate's Jeff Woodward vs. NC State's Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
Colgate senior center Jeff Woodward is an imposing but not overly athletic big man at 6-11 and 270 pounds.
Woodward averaged 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game last year. He started 18 of 35 games and reached double figures in 11 games. He had a season-high 17 points in a 76-62 win at Loyola (Md.) on Feb. 10.
Woodward tied his career-high of 17 points in the season opener in a 95-62 win over SUNY-Canton Roos, plus nine rebounds and six assists. Woodward followed up with 14 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes in a 73-56 loss at Drexel on Nov. 9.
Woodward has 876 career points and 533 rebounds in 123 games (28 starts), and shoots 58.9 percent from the field.
NC State senior center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield should be able to use his quickness and athleticism against Woodward. He is averaging 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and shooting 66.7 percent from the field.
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