Busting Brackets
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NC State Basketball: 3 keys to getting revenge against Miami Hurricanes

By Austin Glasscox

Dec 10, 2022; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes guard Nijel Pack (24) attempts to shoot the ball over North Carolina State Wolfpack forward D.J. Burns Jr. (30) during the second half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2022; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes guard Nijel Pack (24) attempts to shoot the ball over North Carolina State Wolfpack forward D.J. Burns Jr. (30) during the second half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Isaiah Wong #2 of the Miami Hurricanes (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Isaiah Wong #2 of the Miami Hurricanes (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Win the backcourt battle

The strength of both of these teams is their backcourts. The battle of Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith against Nijel Pack and Isaiah Wong will most likely dictate how this basketball game will be decided.

Smith and Wong are both playing at an ACC POY caliber right now and leading both of their respective teams in scoring. It was a tale of two halves in the first matchup for these guys as Terquavion had 16 of his 19 points in the first half, and Wong had 16 of his 22 points in the second half.

This is something that has happened at times with Smith where he does most of his damage scoring-wise in the first half and when the other teams make defensive adjustments coming out of the break his scoring stalls in the second half as he becomes more of a passer. The Wolfpack is going to have to have Terquavion put two good halves of basketball together on Saturday to keep up with Wong and how effortlessly he scores the ball at times.

The Joiner and Pack matchup is an interesting one.

Pack has somewhat underperformed thus far for the Hurricanes. His points per game are down six points from last year and his 3-point shoot percentage is down to 35.7%, which is a pretty big decline from the 43.6% it was last year with Kansas State.

Jarkel Joiner will be the man responsible for making sure Saturday is not the breakout game for Pack. Joiner had the upper hand in the first matchup where he finished with 26 points 10-16 shooting from the field. He also was able to keep the aforementioned Pack at bay holding him to just 9 points on 3-10 shooting from the field.

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