Undefeated NC State hosts Elon at 1 p.m. Saturday on the ACC Network Extra.

NC State is off to a 3-0 start and Elon is 1-3 heading into the game at PNC Arena. The Phoenix under first-year coach Billy Taylor, a former Notre Dame player, defeated Erskine in the season opener, but then lost to East Tennessee State, Harvard and North Dakota.

Taylor previously was the head coach at Lehigh, Ball State and Belmont-Abbey.

Elon returns a pair of part-time starters from last year’s 10-22 squad, which went 7-11 in the CAA.

Senior small forward Zac Ervin started 14 games last year, and senior wing Torrence Watson started eight games. Senior point guard Sean Halloran, junior wing JaDun Michael and senior center John Bowen III round out the starters.

Elon played a challenging non-conference schedule last year with Florida, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Temple, North Carolina, Duke and Arkansas.

Rankings

Elon was No. 253 in the NET rankings last season, and NC State was No. 139.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Phoenix ranked No. 328 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 54.

KenPom.com has Elon at No. 332, and NCSU checks in at No. 63.

RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 63 in the country, and Elon is 327.

Shooting

Elon is averaging 73.5 points per game and shooting 44.2 percent from the field, 30.0 percent on three-pointers and 69.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Halloran has made 7 of 16 on three-pointers this season and Ervin has gone 9 of 28 from beyond the arc.

Rebounding

Elon is averaging 33.3 rebounds per game this season, and allowing 35.0 rebounding a contest.

Watson leading the way with 5.3 boards a contest, and Michael chips in 4.8 rebounds a game.

Defense

The Phoenix are allowing 75.3 points per game, with opponents shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 30.4 percent on three-pointers.

Elon has seven blocks in four games, and Halloran has an impressive 11 steals.

Depth

The Phoenix had five players come off the bench against Harvard, and all played at least 11 minutes. Four players played at least 10 minutes off the bench against North Dakota.

Smart has come off the bench in all four games and is fourth on the team with 9.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game.

Freshman wing Matt Mackinnon plays starter minutes and is averaging 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per game.

Senior center Andrew Junkin, a Mississippi State transfer, sophomore center Sam Sherry, and freshman wing LA Pratt are also in the rotation. Sophomore guard RJ Noord missed the North Dakota game, and Junkin has missed two contests this season.

The 6-foot-5, 199-pound Torrence Watson signed with Missouri in the class of 2018, where he played three years. Watson got off to a quality start with the Tigers and then it went downhill. He closed out his freshman year with at least 12 points in five of the last six games. He reached double figures against eight SEC opponents.

Watson transferred to Elon and he averaged 9.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last year coming off the bench in 12 of 20 games. He has improved to 11.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. Watson had 16 points against Erskine in the season opener Nov. 7, and 14 against Harvard on Nov. 13.

Watson scored in double figures in eight games last year, including an explosive outburst of 34 points and five three-pointers in a 83-77 loss vs. High Point on Dec. 4. He also had 20 points in a 80-77 loss to at Delaware on Jan. 22.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, Sr., 20.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.3 apg, 1.7 spg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 20.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.7 apg, 3.7 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 14.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 2.0 spg)

PF — 5 Jack Clark (6-8, 200, R-Jr., 9.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2.3 spg, 1.0 bpg)

C — 11 Dusan Mahorcic (6-10, 235, Sr., 9.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.0 apg)

Elon

PG — 0 Sean Halloran (6-0, 160, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.8 spg)

SG — 14 Zac Ervin (6-5, 201, Sr., 10.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg)

SF — 5 Torrence Watson (6-5, 199, Sr., 11.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.0 spg)

F — 2 JaDun Michael (6-5, 198, Jr., 7.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.5 apg)

C — 33 John Bowen III (6-9, 215, Sr., 5.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.0 apg)

2: Players on the Elon roster who are from the state of North Carolina — senior center John Bowen III of Bladenboro and junior wing JaDun Michael of Burlington. The latter is a former NC State target.

13.8 Average turnovers per game for Elon through four games.

215 Career coaching victories for Elon coach Billy Taylor, but he has one with the Phoenix.

Senior point guard Sean Halloran was a standout point guard for four years at Belmont Abby in the Charlotte, N.C., suburbs.

The 6-0, 160-pounder from Orlando, Fla., averaged in double figures all four years. He has career averages of 12.3 points, 4.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 116 games at Belmont-Abbey. He’s the all-time leader in assists with 502 and is second all-time with 147 steals, and he shot an impressive 42 percent on three-pointers.

Halloran averaged 14.4 points and 4.4 assists per game last year, and shot a blistering 52.7 percent from three-point land.

Halloran is averaging 12.3 points and 4.3 assists in four games at Elon. He came alive for 21 points and made all four three-point attempts against North Dakota.

Halloran and center John Bowen III played together for a year at Belmont Abbey. Bowen then transferred to North Carolina-Wilmington, but he reunited with Halloran and Coach Taylor this season.

Halloran will get matched up against NC State senior point guard Jarkel Joiner, who is coming off scoring 26 points and six three-pointers against Florida International on Tuesday. He’s leading the Wolfpack with 20.3 points per game, plus 5.3 assists. While playing for Ole Miss last year, he had 16 points in a 74-56 win over Elon on Nov. 19, 2021.

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