NC State Wolfpack basketball (13-10, 9-8 ACC) is set to play Davidson Thursday in the first round of the NIT in UNT Coliseum in Denton, Texas at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.

The Wildcats are 13-8 (7-4 A-10) under head coach Bob McKillop in his 32nd season with the program. Davidson is coming off of a 64-52 loss to VCU in the Atlantic-10 Tournament.

The Pack is also coming off of an 89-68 loss to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament.

Here is the scouting report on Davidson:

Davidson finished third in the Atlantic-10 Standings, a league that produced two NCAA Tournament bids and four to the NIT.

The Wildcats went a combined 1-4 against teams in the NCAA Tournament and 0-2 against NIT squads.

McKillop's team had a tough draw in the 2020 Maui Invitational in Asheville, N.C. back in November. The Cats lost a two-point game to Texas, the eventual Big 12 Champions, followed by a one-point loss to Providence before defeating UNLV by four in their final contest of the tournament.

Davidson is ranked No. 58 in the NET rankings (NC State is No. 73).

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Wildcats ranked No. 47 (NC State is No. 51), and KenPom.com has the Cats ranked No. 55 (NC State is No. 72).

Davidson is also ranked No. 126 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Davidson is one of the best shooting teams in the NIT field.

The Wildcats rank 17th nationally in effective field goal percentage (.555), 65th in three-point shooting percentage (.360) and eighth in two-point field goal percentage (.568).

Five of the Cats' eight-man rotation shoots at a 38 percent clip or higher from beyond the arc.

The one anomaly to Davidson's shooting strength is from the foul line. The Wildcats rank 260th nationally in free-throw shooting percentage (.680).

Advantage: Davidson

Davidson is an average rebounding team, as is the Pack.

The Wildcats' rebounding numbers are slightly better than the Wolfpack's, but NC State played in a more physical conference in the ACC.

The Cats rank 199th nationally with 35 rebounds per game. Davidson rebounds 28.3 percent of its misses, which is good for 157th among Division I teams.

The Wildcats have been strong in preventing opponents from crushing them on the offensive glass. Davidson has held opponents to an offensive rebounding percentage of 22.2 percent, which ranks 12th nationally.

Advantage: Tie

Davidson ranks 126th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing one point per possession to opponents according to KenPom.

The Wildcats aren't an aggressive defensive team and don't force many turnovers. The Cats produce a turnover on just 16.2 percent of defensive possessions, which ranks 315th nationally.

Davidson also gives up a lot of threes. Opponents have shot 40.7 percent of field goal attempts from deep, which ranks 288th among Division I squads. The Cats have held opponents to 33.4 percent from behind the three-point line, however, which is good for 147th nationally.

Advantage: NC State

Davidson typically plays about nine deep, but only the starting five plays more than 18 minutes per game.

The Wildcats have received 28.5 percent of their minutes from the bench, which ranks 236th nationally.

Advantage: Tie

Senior guard Kellan Grady is Davidson's leading scorer and ranks top three on the team in rebounding, assists and steals.

Grady averages 17.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.7 steals per game.

He also finished second in the Atlantic-10 in three-point shooting percentage (.397), averaging a team-high seven attempts per contest.

The 6-5, 205-pounder is a three-year All-Atlantic 10 selection and was on the preseason Wooden Award watchlist in each of the past three seasons. In 2020-21, he was named first-team All-Atlantic 10 and also earned Atlantic 10 first-team All-Tournament honors.

25-2 Is NC State's all-time record against Davidson since 1949. The Wolfpack is just 2-2 against the Wildcats in the last four meeting since 1994. Davidson won the last matchup between the two schools 72-67 in 2008 behind Stephen Curry's 44 points. Curry went on to become a three-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP.

5-16 Is McKillop's combined record in the NCAA Tournament and NIT in his 32 years at Davidson. His lone three wins in the Big Dance came during the Wildcats' 2008 Elite Eight run. The Cats are 2-7 in the NIT under McKillop.

10-2 Is the Wolfpack's all-time record in the first round of the NIT. Thursday will mark NC State's 13th appearance in the NIT. The Pack made the quarterfinals in its last NIT appearance in 2019 before losing 94-93 to the eventual runner-up, Lipscomb.

NC State

G — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 175, Fr., 7.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.0 apg)

G — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, Fr., 5.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.8 spg)

F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Jr., 12.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.7 apg)

F — 0 DJ Funderburk (6-10, 225, 5th-Sr., 12.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.1 orpg)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-So., 9.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.8 bpg)

Davidson

G – 24 Carter Collins (6-3, 190, Sr., 11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.8 apg)

G – 31 Kellan Grady (6-5, 205, Sr. 17.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg)

G – 1 Hyunjung Lee (6-7, 210, So., 13.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg)

F – 3 Sam Mennenga (6-9, 245, Fr., 6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.1 apg)

F –35 Luka Brajkovic (6-10, 250, Jr., 10.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.6 apg)

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