Three things to know about Appalachian State at NC State
Appalachian State (3-5) returns to Raleigh for the first time since 2013-14 season opener. The Wolfpack won that game 98-77. N.C. State (7-2) returns to PNC Arena after its usual December visit to Reynolds Coliseum. Here are three things to know about Thursday night’s game:
1. The Big Yurt
Freshman forward Omer Yurtseven finally makes his college debut after sitting out the first nine games. The Wolfpack will get four games to prep for ACC play and learn how to play with Yurtseven in the middle.
2. What about the other bigs?
While all the attention is on Yurtseven, senior forward BeeJay Anya is coming off one of the best games of his career (12 points, 14 rebounds, seven blocks) in last Saturday’s win over Tennessee State. Anya, junior Abdul-Malik Abu and Ted Kapita will all get some minutes, it will be up to Mark Gottfried to sort out the rotation.
3. O-for-NC
The Mountaineers are 0-4 against Division I teams from the state. They’ve lost to Davidson, Duke, Western Carolina and Charlotte. Sophomore guard Ronshad Shabazz (15.5 points per game) will need some help for Jim Fox’s crew to pull off the upset.
Joe Giglio
Appalachian State at NC State
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
TV/radio: ESPNU, 101.5-WRAL
This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 8:27 PM with the headline "Three things to know about Appalachian State at NC State."