What to expect from NC State vs. Wisconsin

The No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers will certainly partake in a different style of game on the hardcourt in Tuesday night’s contest against NC State.

After dropping a 53-46 slugfest to No. 4 Virginia, Wisconsin (5-1) will have to contain an NC State (6-0) squad averaging 90.8 points per game that has not scored less than 78 points per contest in all six victories.

“Completely different from what we saw Friday [against Virginia]. Instead of being 60 possessions, it’ll be 120,” head coach Greg Gard said on Monday in regards to what type of team Wisconsin will face. “[NC State head coach] Kevin [Keatts] does a good job of implementing what he wants to do with rotating 10 guys through, playing 94 feet for 40 minutes, trying to speed you up. Some pressure that’ll come for most of the game, and not particularly, it’ll have a different feel than what Virginia had in terms of the type of game.

“Probably instead of a half court fist fight or rock fight, it’ll be more, they’ll play a little smaller lineup at times. Obviously, you got really good players in [C.J.] Bryce and [Torin] Dorn and then some other names that we obviously recognize through some Midwest kids or guys that we’ve been involved with though the years. It’s a good team. It’s a good team that totally different style-wise and that’s one thing that we’ve talked about and we’ve prepared for yesterday and will continue to today that it’ll have a different feel probably than what the Virginia game had.”

Team stats

• Field goal percentage: 51.3 (197 for 384)
• 3-point percentage: 39.6 percent (57 of 144)
• Free throw percentage: 70.1 (94 of 134)
• Outrebounding opponents 42.5-28.2

Notable Leaders of the Wolfpack

• Redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn: 18.2 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game (leads team in both categories); shooting 56.3 percent from the field (40 of 71), 50 percent (nine of 18) from three-point range
• Redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce: 12.8 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game, over two assists per game; shooting 54.0 percent from the field (27 of 50), 38.5 percent from three-point range (five of 13)
• Junior guard Markell Johnson: 10.3 points per game; 22 assists (leads team) to only eight turnovers through six games; 13 of 23 (56.4 percent) from three-point range
• Graduate forward Wyatt Walker: 6.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, leads NC State with eight blocks through six games; shooting 65.2 percent from field (15 of 23)

NC State boasts seven players scoring 7.6 or more points per contest, and as Gard alluded to on Monday, the Wolfpack have started with a smaller lineup based on its stats. Guards Dorn, Bryce and Johnson have started all six games so far, while guards Devon Daniels and Braxton Beverly have started in five and one contest, respectively. Dorn, Bryce and Daniels are all listed as 6’5.

Walker, a graduate transfer from Samford who had interest in Wisconsin before committing to NC State, has started all six games as well.

NC State’s opponents are only scoring 57.8 points per game and shooting 38.9 percent from the field, including only 23.4 percent from three-point range. Wolfpack have also forced 113 turnovers on the season (18.8 per contest) as well.