Scouting Northwestern @ N.C. State

Posted November 30, 2009 10:00 pm

By Lindsey Willhite

Northwestern (5-1) at North Carolina State (5-0)

When: 6 p.m. at RBC Center

TV: ESPNU; Radio: WIND 560-AM

Skinny: The Wildcats gained plenty of confidence from last year's ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory over an undefeated Florida State team. This year's crew knocked off a pair of unbeaten teams in Notre Dame and Iowa State to win the Chicago Invitational Challenge (and earn 15 points in the latest AP poll), yet faces its toughest challenge to date. The Wolfpack beat Auburn and MAC favorite Akron on a neutral court, but the RBC Center figures to be anything but neutral. It'll be interesting to see how NU freshmen guards Drew Crawford and Alex Marcotullio deal with their first true hostile experience - and whether co-Big Ten Player of the Week John Shurna maintains his weekend pace of 24 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. N.C. State's leader is 6-foot-8, 247-pound junior power forward Tracy Smith (16.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg).

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