Pence's Quick Thoughts
It's teams like Cleveland State that make it interesting to look at statistical profiles. At first glance, Cleveland State is a relatively uninteresting team. They are pretty average in 3 out of the 4 factors. That said, a couple things stand out.
They rank 311th in defensive FT Rate, meaning they send their opponents to the line a lot. Its not because they've been down in a lot of close games either. They simply just foul a lot. Further, their opponents have made them pay making 78% of their free throw attempts. What does that mean? Simply put if Cleveland State can cut down on fouling they are a much better defensive team.
The other thing that is strange is that Cleveland State is an excellent 3 point defensive team (ranked 24th), but a woeful 2 point defensive team (ranked 256th). This should benefit NC State.
Interesting numbers aside, this is a team NC State cannot sleepwalk through. They will need to come to play, but if they come out strong for the first 20 minutes they should be able to cruise the rest of the way. Pack should win by double-digits.
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With a ton of returning talent and a pair of promising freshmen coming in, North Carolina State entered the season with huge expectations.
While it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for the Wolfpack thus far, they showed signs of coming around their last time out.
No. 25 North Carolina State looks to build on its latest win Saturday when it hosts Cleveland State.
After reaching the regional semifinals of last season's NCAA tournament, the Wolfpack (5-2), led by Richard Howell, C.J. Leslie, Lorenzo Brown and Scott Wood, figured to become all the more formidable with the additions of T.J. Warren and Rodney Purvis.
More from Fox Sports Ohio
The Cleveland State Vikings hope to take-down the #25 North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday 1:00PM at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Cleveland State Vikings of the Horizon League have won the last 4 out of 5 games to improve their record to (6-2) on the season. In the Vikings last matchup, they defeated the Toledo Rockets 78-73. Sophomore guard Charlie Lee led the Vikings in scoring with a career high of 22 points. Lee hit a 3 pointer with 31 seconds left in the game to give Cleveland State its first lead of the game and helped them escape with the win. The Vikings only losses came against #3 team in the nation Michigan Wolverines 77-47, and then to Robert Morris 71-61.
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