NCAA BASKETBALL – TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010
N.C. State Wolfpack (11-5) vs. #18 Florida State Seminoles (13-3)
The North Carolina Wolfpack will travel to Tallahassee to do battle against the Florida State Seminoles at Donald L. Truckee Center on Tuesday.
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The Wolfpack fell to the Seminoles 78-65 on Jan 13 of last year.
NC State vs FSU Predictions
The ‘Pack marked the fourth time in four seasons it has begun conference play 0-2, as North Carolina blew leads of 10 and four with just over five minutes remaining, allowing Virginia to rally past them 70-62 on Saturday. Leading scorer forward Tracy Smith, scored 18 points while Dennis Horner scored 12 in the loss. The ‘Pack allowed the Cavaliers to shoot 50 percent from floor and gave up 17-points at the free throw line in the second half. Offensive free throw percentage has been awful for the Wolfpack, at 58.1 percent in its last four losses. Shooting has also been a problem with the ‘Pack hitting only 40 percent in those same four losses combined.
Maryland ended the No. 18 Seminoles’ seven-game win streak by handing them just their third loss of the season, beating them by a score of 77-68 last Sunday. Sophomore center Solomon Alabi had a team-leading 17 points and nine rebounds while Deividas Dulkys chipped in 15 points, and Chris Singleton finished with 12 points and 14 boards in the loss. The Terrapins out rebounded a bigger and taller Seminole squad 40-34 and shot 46 percent from the field against the nation’s best defense in field goal percentage (33.7 percent). The loss moves the Seminoles to 2-3 on the road this season.
The odds makers have the Seminoles at –9-point favorites.
The Wolfpack will need to find ways to beat a much taller, bigger Florida State squad. Despite the loss to Maryland, the Seminoles continued its streak of holding all opponents to fewer than 47 percent shooting and are still the national leader in field goal percentage defense. North Carolina will need to improve their field goal percentage taking advantage of any free opportunities.
Expect the Seminoles to out muscle North Carolina inside forcing the ‘Pack to resort to their poor perimeter shooting resulting in a win for Florida State at home.
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