TV/Radio: ACC Network Extra/103.9
Series: First meeting
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 112-56 in his sixth year at Wright State and 522-296 in his 27th year overall. Kevin Keatts is 86-51 in fifth year at N.C. State. He went 72-28 in three seasons at UNC Wilmington, reaching the NCAA in 2016 and 2017.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
A.J. Braun 6-9 Fr. C 6.9
Grant Basile 6-9 Jr. F 17.5
Tanner Holden 6-6 Jr. G 19.2
Tim Finke 6-6 Jr. G 8.0
Trey Calvin 6-0 Jr. G 12.7
Probable NC State starters
Ebenezer Dowuona 6-11 So. F 4.2
Jericole Hellems 6-7 Sr. F 14.5
Cam Hayes 6-3 So. G 12.0
Terquavion Smith 6-4 Fr. G 12.5
Dereon Seabron 6-7 So. G 19.5
About Wright State: The Raiders are 298th out of 358 teams in the NET computer rankings. Keaton Norris’ under-the-radar contributions are getting noticed. The 6-foot freshman point guard from Hilliard Bradley HS returned to playing his normal minutes in Saturday’s 72-63 victory over Tennessee Tech. After playing fewer than 10 minutes in the two previous games, Norris logged 26 minutes and scored seven points with one assist and only one turnover against Tech. He also took a timely charge late in the game. Norris is averaging 21.1 minutes with only one turnover a game. “He’s a great point guard, and does his job, doesn’t turn the ball over and makes those hustle plays, the plays that don’t get recognized,” said fellow guard Trey Calvin. … While Nagy is pleased with the defensive turnaround that has begun, he’s still not seeing what he wants on offense. The numbers reveal 43.4% field goal percentage and only 27.2% from 3-point range. Plus, assist-to-turnover ratio is only 0.9. “Our offense is struggling,” Nagy said. “There’s nothing smooth about it right now. And it’s a little frustrating.”
About N.C. State The Wolfpack have lost two striaght games, including an 83-74 decision to Richmond last Friday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout. Seabron recorded his seventh double-double of the season vs. Richmond ... He leads the team in scoring (19.8), rebounding (10.8), assists (3.1) and steals (1.9) and shooting (52.6 percent). Smith is a two-time ACC Freshman of the Week. NC State has won 29 straight regular season home games vs. non-confernece opponents. The Wolfpack are 129th in the NET computer rankings.
Next game: The Raiders kick off a stretch of 20 straight Horizon League games on Thursday, Dec. 30, at home vs. Milwaukee.