NC State and North Carolina have played two games with similar outcomes, but then nothing about the Wolfpack has been similar to the regular season this week.
NC State has defeated Louisville, Syracuse, Duke and Virginia in a four-day span and will now play its rival North Carolina to try and win its first ACC Tournament title since 1987. No. 4-ranked UNC is 27-6 and have defeated Florida State and Pittsburgh so far in Washington, D.C., and will be aiming for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
NC State (21-14) plays North Carolina today at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Overview
North Carolina senior guard R.J. Davis and senior center Armando Bacot were the last one’s standing from the purge after the 2023 season.
UNC crafted its new starting five by adding senior wing Cormac from Notre Dame, junior power forward Harrison Ingram of Stanford and had freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau graduate a year early.
NC State slowed it down in the first meeting, but lost 67-54 in Raleigh on Jan. 10. The Wolfpack shot 27.3 percent from the field and 2 of 20 on three-pointers.
North Carolina won 79-70 in a more-uptempo setting March 2 in Chapel Hill. Ingram had 22 points and four players reached double figures.
Rankings
North Carolina is No. 7 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 68.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Tar Heels ranked No. 9 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 60.
KenPom.com has North Carolina at No. 7, and NCSU checks in at No. 66 this season.
Shooting
North Carolina is averaging 81.6 points per game and shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 35.7 percent on three-pointers and 75.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Davis is shooting 41.1 percent from three-point land and is 102 of 248 this season. Ingram is shooting 37.2 percent on three-pointers, and Ryan is 34.6 percent.
Rebounding
The Tar Heels are averaging 41.0 rebounds per game and have a plus-6.7 rebounding margin. UNC has 401 offensive rebounds.
Bacot cleans the boards at 10.1 per game, but Ingram has been a sneak good rebounder at 9.2 a contest. Bacot has 102 offensive rebounds and Ingram 91.
Defense
UNC is allowing 69.8 points per game, with opposing teams shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from three-point land.
Bacot leads the squad with 51 blocks and Ingram leads the way with 46 steals.
Depth
Trimble, sophomore post player Jalen Washington, Louisville transfer Jae’Lyn Withers and former Loyola (Chicago) and Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik, a small forward, are the main components on UNC’s bench.
Trimble is chipping in 5.3 points in 17.4 minutes per game, and Washington is at 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 8.6 minutes a contest.
Star Watch
North Carolina senior guard R.J. Davis is the star and won the ACC Player of the Year, but NC State has alternated both senior wing Casey Morsell and junior guard Jayden Taylor on him, and he's struggled.
Davis has gone a 10 of 30 form the field and 6 of 15 on three-pointers for 30 points in the two wins over NC State.
The player who has hurt NC State has been junior power forward Harrison Ingram. He had 22 points and six rebounds in the win March 2, and had eight points and 19 rebounds in the win Jan. 10.
The 6-7, 235-pound Ingram is averaging 12.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He's made an immediate impact after transferring from Stanford, where he was a teammate of NC State point guard Michael O'Connell for two years.
Ingram showed on a big stage what he could achiever, when he went 5 of 9 on three-pointers for 21 points, plus 13 rebounds and four steals in a 93-84 win over Duke on Feb. 3. He followed up with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the rematch against the Blue Devils. He has 11 double-doubles for points and rebounds.
Ingram was ranked No. 16 overall in the country in the class of 2021 coming out of Dallas (Texas) St. Mark's High. He strongly considered UNC, but went with former Tar Heels assistant Jerod Haase and Stanford. Haase was fired this past week.
Ingram averaged 10.5 points per game both his freshman year and sophomore campaign with the Cardinal. He was a sub-32-percent three-point shooter at Stanford, but has improved to 37.2 percent this season.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 12 Michael O'Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 5.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg)
SG — 1 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Jr., 12.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Sr., 11.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.7 apg)
PF — 23 Mohamed Diarra (6-10, 215, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.6 apg)
C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Sr., 12.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg)
North Carolina
PG — 2 Elliot Cadeau (6-1, 180, Fr., 7.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 4.1 apg)
SG — 4 RJ Davis (6-0, 180, Sr., 21.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.2 spg)
G — 3 Cormac Ryan (6-5, 195, Sr., 11.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.3 apg)
F — 55 Harrison Ingram (6-7, 235, Jr., 12.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.4 spg)
C — 5 Armando Bacot (6-11, 240, Sr., 14.0 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.5 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
2 ACC Tournament titles for UNC coach Hubert Davis when he was a player — 1989 as a freshman and 1991 as a junior.
17 Years ago when NC State and UNC met for the ACC Tournament title in Tampa, Fla. UNC won 89-80 five starters between 13-to-16 points. Brandon Costner led NC State with 28.
18 ACC Tournament titles for North Carolina, with the last coming in 2016.
Game Within The Game: UNC's Elliot Cadeau vs. NCSU's Michael O'Connell
North Carolina freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau was a Rivals.com five-star prospect and No. 8-ranked player after he moved into the class of 2023. He won big at Brandon (Mo.) Link Year Prep and when he played in the Nke Elite Youth Basketball League before he departed.
Cadeau picked UNC and he's smoothly moved into the starting lineup and has started 27 of 33 games. The 6-1, 180-pounder is averaging 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. His weakness is his outside shooting, and he's gone 8 of 43 from beyond the arc.
Cadeau had 11 points and six assists in the 67-54 win over NC State on Jan. 10, and flourished in the rematch with 15 poitns, seven assists and four rebounds in a 79-70 win March 2 in Chapel Hill. He's reached double figures in seven games, with a career-high 19 points and eight assists in a 75-72 win at Miami on Feb. 10.
NC State fourth-year junior point guard Michael O'Connell is the new hero of Raleigh after he banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime in the eventual win over Virginian on Friday in the ACC Tournament semifinals. O'Connell is averaging 5.6 points and 3.0 assists in 23.6 minutes per game.
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