The Yellow Jackets enter today's game with one of the worst offenses in the ACC. They don't shoot well, take care of the basketball, or get to the free throw line. Offensive rebounding is their only saving grace, so if the Wolfpack can keep them off the glass, they're likely to struggle as they usually do. They may struggle regardless.
Iman Shumpert, Glen Rice Jr., and Brian Oliver carry the load; the three of them account for over 80% of Tech's field goal attempts when they are on the floor. Those guys have each taken over 120 threes this year, but only Oliver shoots better than 30% from outside. That's a big reason why they've made just 29% of their three-point attempts this season.
Those three guys give the Jackets a lot of size along the perimeter and rebound well under the circumstances, but Tech has little in the way of useful frontcourt players. There are only two players who stand taller than 6-6 who get decent minutes, so Paul Hewitt has less to rely on in the paint than he has in a while. It's an area State should be able to exploit. The bigs are foul prone, like just about everyone on the roster.
The Pomeroy Predictor likes NC State by six.