NC State returns to action with a 6-1 record tonight against William & Mary at 7 p.m. at PNC Arena.

William & Mary has declined the last three-plus years under fourth-year coach Dane Fischer. He went 21-11 overall and 13-5 in the CAA in 2019-20, and then it bottomed out last year — 5-27 overall and 4-14 in the league.

Fischer was a protege of coach Dave Paulsen, coaching under him at Williams, Bucknell and George Mason. Paulsen is now an assistant coach at Fordham.

William & Mary is off to a 3-4 start with wins over Army, Radford and Mid-Atlantic Christian. The Tribe have already played ACC foes Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh.

William & Mary has mixed in four transfers to bolster the starting lineup this season.

The offense revolves around forward Ben Wright, who led the Tribe in points and rebounding last year. Rice transfer Chris Mullins, Vanderbilt transfer Gabe Dorsey, Pittsburgh transfer Noah Collier and St. Thomas Minnesota transfer Anders Nelson have joined Wright in the lineup.

William & Mary, which was picked eighth in the preseason CAA polls, had 10 newcomers — five freshmen and five transfers.

Rankings

William & Mary was No. 339 in the NET rankings last season, and NC State was No. 139.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Tribe ranked No. 309 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 39.

KenPom.com has William & Mary at No. 309, and NCSU checks in at No. 49.

RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 58 in the country, and William & Mary is 253.

Shooting

William & Mary is averaging 74.0 points per game, and are shooting 45.3 percent from the field, 40.0 percent on three-pointers and 68.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Dorsey has been lights out at 21 of 41 from three-point land for 51.2 percent, and Nelson has shot 8 of 19 from 42.1 percent beyond the arc. Senior wing Miguel Ayesa has missed some time with injuries, but he shot 7 of 9 on three-pointers against Mid-Atlantic Christian.

Rebounding

The Tribe are averaging 36.7 rebounds per game, with a rebounding margin of plus-5.4.

Collier leads the way at 7.1 rebounds a contest, with Wright second on the squad with 6.1 boards. Wright also has a team-high 22 offensive rebounds.

Defense

William & Mary is allowing 68.1 points per game, with opposing teams shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 36.1 percent on three-pointers.

Collier is the lone rim protector with eight blocks and Mullins has a team-high seven steals.

Depth

Freshman Jake Karasinski, who is 6-7 and 206 pounds, is averaging 6.0 points in 16.9 minutes per game. He’s 6 of 18 on three-pointers.

Sophomore guard Tyler Rice, junior wing Jake Milkereit and sophomore wing Matteus Case are also in the rotation. Ayesa has played in four games this season, but just a minute in the Pittsburgh loss.

Junior post player Ben Wright has been a consistent contributor the last two years for the struggling Tribe.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pounder from Columbus, Ohio, is averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 23.0 minutes per game this season. He had 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 80-64 loss at Pittsburgh last Friday. He also had 10 points and six rebounds in the 94-77 loss at Virginia Tech on Nov. 13, in the other ACC contest.

The 24 points against the Hokies was the second 20-plus effort this season. He had 21 points and nine rebounds in a 76-67 win over Army. Wright isn’t a three-point threat and also has zero blocks in seven games. this season.

Wright is averaging 11.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per game last year. He shot 61.6 percent from the field. He scored at least 10 points in 24 games, with four double-doubles for points and rebounds and three games with 20-plus points.

Wright had 18 points against Wake Forest lsat year Nov. 10, 2021, and he also had 21 points and 11 rebounds in a 83-75 win over Drexel on Jan. 22, 2022.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, Sr., 18.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.6 bpg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 16.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 2.1 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 13.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.7 spg)

PF — 5 Jack Clark (6-8, 200, R-Jr., 10.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 2.0 spg)

C — 11 Dusan Mahorcic (6-10, 235, Sr., 9.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.6 apg)

William & Mary

PG — 0 Anders Nelson (6-1, 172, Sr., 9.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 5.7 apg, 1.0 spg)

SG — 24 Chris Mullins (6-3, 192, Sr., 7.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.5 spg)

SF — 21 Gabe Dorsey (6-6, 215, Soph., 10.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.6 apg)

PF — 5 Noah Collier (6-8, 220, Jr., 8.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.1 bpg)

C — 35 Ben Wright (6-9, 220, Jr., 12.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.3 apg)

10.9 Turnovers per game this season, which ranks 36th in the country for fewest turnovers per game.

40.0 Percentage this season from three-point land, which ranks 18th in the country. The Tribe are averaging 7.7 three-pointers per game.

49 Consecutive wins that freshman guard Chase Lowe helped Matthews (N.C.) Beddington win the last two years, including back-to-back NCHSAA 3A state titles.

William & Mary junior power forward Noah Collier is taking advantage of getting consistent minutes.

The 6-8, 220-pounder from Mullica Hill, N.J., was hyped up at a young age coming out of middle school and was a standout at Westtown (Pa.) School. He was a Rivals.com three-star prospect in the class of 2020, who picked Pittsburgh over offers from UConn, Maryland, Syracuse, California and Clemson, among others.

Collier played in 44 games at Pittsburgh, but only amassed 57 points and 71 rebounds with the Panthers. He transferred to William & Mary and has started in the first seven games. Collier has averaged 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game this season.

Collier had 17 points and eight rebounds in a 74-59 loss vs. Navy in the season opener, and he had 13 points and 11 rebounds at American in a 71-64 loss Nov. 16.

NC State redshirt junior forward Jack Clark is also from Philadelphia and attended La Salle his first three years. He is averaging 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and is shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 28.1 percent on three-pointers.

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