It’s a big week for Texas, but it’s critical for North Carolina State for different reasons.
The teams meet Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C., as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Texas (6-1) has won six consecutive games since losing its opener to Ohio State. Four of the wins came at home and the other two — against Syracuse and Saint Joseph’s — were in New York in the Legends Classic. This will be the first true road game for the Longhorns, who’ll host defending national champion UConn on the weekend.
Both teams have been off since Friday, when Texas whipped visiting Delaware State 90-68.
“A lot of growth over the month,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “Still not where we want to be from a defensive standpoint. We can control our effort, our energy and our activity on defense every night.”
NC State (5-2) is trying to snap a two-game skid with its ACC opener on the horizon Saturday vs. Florida State.
“We learned early in our season what things we need to get better at and what we need to work on,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said.
After playing only at home, NC State took a 5-0 record to San Diego and lost to Purdue and BYU in the Rady Children’s Invitational.
“We’ve got to grow,” Keatts said. “I’ve got to get this team connected. It starts with me. If there’s anybody to blame, it starts with me and ends with me. We’ve got some things that we need to clean up. If we clean those up then we have a chance, but I didn’t think we played connected basketball (last week).”
Terry said it’s important to look beyond NC State’s recent setbacks because he’s aware of what the Wolfpack are capable of doing. NC State played in last season’s Final Four.
“It’s going to be a hard, hard game for us,” Terry said. “They played well on the biggest stage last year. … (Keatts has) got some key contributors from last year’s team. They have a winning culture. I know it will be a hostile environment, a tough place to play against a quality team.”
Forward Kadin Shedrick is in his second season with the Longhorns. The former Virginia player is from the Raleigh suburb of Holly Springs.
“Going back to Raleigh will be really cool for me,” Shedrick said. “That’s where I’m from and I’ll have a lot of people out there. I didn’t think I’d play in Raleigh ever again.”
It’s also the return to ACC territory for Frank Haith, who grew up in North Carolina and has made several stops as a head coach, including at Miami. Haith is in the second season of his second stint as a Texas assistant.
Tre Johnson leads Texas with 21.1 points per game. Arthur Kaluma adds 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, and both Johnson and Kaluma are shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
Jayden Taylor leads four NC State players averaging in double figures with 14.3 points per game.
–Field Level Media
