Presbyterian is off to a 1-1 start and play at NC State on Friday night.
Dustin Ferrell is in his fifth year with a 49-104 record, so his season could be a little hot. The Blue Hose bottomed out in 2022-23, going 5-27 overall and 1-17 in the Big South, but improved to 14-19 overall and 6-10 in the league.
Presbyterian opened up with a 88-79 loss at Charlotte last Monday, and then rolled past Carolina Christian College 120-45 on Wednesday.
Presbyterian will play at NC State at 7 p.m. Friday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, with the game on ESPN-plus. NC State last played Presbyterian, winning 86-68 on Nov. 16, 2017.
Overview
Presbyterian has proved that in the first two games that the three-pointers will fly, and are shooting well from deep.
Sophomore point guard Kory Mincy is coming off a strong freshman year, and post players Kaleb Scott and Jonah Pierce are factors in the point. Scott attended Holy Springs (N.C.) High and played his first three years at Georgia State.
Sophomore Jaylen Peterson, Kobe Stewart and senior Jamarhi Harvey handle the heavy minutes on the wing.
Presbyterian will play against NC State, Miami (Fla.) and South Carolina from high-major leagues.
Rankings
Presbyterian finished No. 281 in the NET rankings last year, and NC State was No. 63.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Blue Hose ranked No. No. 244 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 34.
KenPom.com has Presbyterian at No. 292, and NCSU checks in at No. 50.
Shooting
Presbyterian is averaging 99.5 points per game and is shooting 59.5 percent from the field, 42.6 percent on three-pointers and 74.4 percent at the free-throw line. The win over Carolina Christian College skewed the numbers.
Mincy has gone 6 of 11 from three-point land and sophomore shooting guard Carl Parrish is 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Rebounding
The Blue Hose are averaging 40.0 rebounds per game, and have grabbed 22 offensive rebounds.
Peterson is averaging 7.0 rebounds a contest and Pierce is chipping in 6.5 boards per game.
Defense
Presbyterian is allowing opponents to average 66.5 points per game, shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 31.8 percent on three-pointers.
Peterson has six blocks and Pierce has four, while freshman Iverson King leads the way with four steals.
Depth
Parrish and likely Scott could be coming off the bench, with the Blue Hose playing eight players against Charlotte. King and junior point guard Quadir Pettaway round out key bench players.
Parrish is averaging 11.5 points in 18.5 minutes per game, and Scott is chipping in 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest. King, who played at Lewisville (N.C.) Forsyth Country Day, is an athletic forward, who is averaging 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in nine minutes a contest.
Star Watch
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Kory Mincy was an all-Big South freshman team member after averaging 6.0 points and 1.3 assists per game.
Mincy shot 44.8 percent from the field and 36.8 percent on three-pointers, while playing 15.7 minutes a contest in 33 games (11 starts).
Mincy showed in the Charlotte game that he’s ready for a bigger role this season. He had 17 points, seven assists and three three-pointers in the 88-79 loss Nov. 4. The points tied his career-high, which he set last year with 17 points and four three-pointers against South Carolina-Upstate in a 74-72 loss Feb. 28, 2024.
The East Point (Ga.) Tri-Cities High product won the 5A state title in 2022. He was named the Big South freshman of the week four times last year.
Likely starters
NC State
PG — 12 Michael O’Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.0 apg, 2.0 spg)
SG — 8 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Sr., 8.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg)
G — 10 Marcus Hill (6-4, 185, Sr., 14.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg)
F — 3 Dontrez Styles (6-6, 210, Sr., 9.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
C — 34 Ben Middlebrooks (6-10, 240, Sr., 10.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 4.0 bpg)
Presbyterian
PG — 4 Kory Mincy (6-1, 185, Soph., 14.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 8.5 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 10 Jamahri Harvey (6-4, 170, Sr., 8.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg)
SF — 3 Kobe Stewart (6-6, 180, Sr., 7.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 3.0 bpg)
F — 14 Jaylen Peterson (6-7, 190, Soph., 7.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 3.0 bpg)
C — 15 Jonah Pierce (6-9, 220, Sr., 19.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 2.0 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
0 Appearances in either the NIT Tournament or NCAA Tournament. The Blue Hose have made it to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 1996, 2003 and 2006.
97 Career three-pointers for senior wing Jamahri Harvey, who played at Hudson (N.C.) Moravian Prep and Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple. He played his first three years at North Carolina-Wilmington.
1,018 Career points for senior center Jonah Pierce between his two years at Francis Marion and his stint at Presbyterian, which began in 2023-24.
Game within the game: Presbyterian's Jonah Pierce vs. NC State senior centers
Senior post player Jonah Pierce went a perfect 11-of-11 from the field for 22 points against Charlotte in the 88-79 loss Monday.
The 6-9, 220-pounder from Sanford, Fla., followed up by going a perfect 5-of-5 for 17 points in the win over Carolina Christian College. He set his career-high against the 49ers. He had scored 19 points in a 82-79 loss against Elon last year Nov. 27, 2023.
Jones had scored in double digits in nine games last year and averaged 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game off the bench at Presbyterian.
Pierce played his first two years at Francis Marion, where he avered 14.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game his sophomore year.
Pierce will see a steady does of NC State senior centers Ben Middlebrooks and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who combined for 23 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in the 97-66 win over South Carolina-Upstate on Monday.
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