WVU - NC State Preview: MSG'd

Game Day Vitals

• #22 West Virginia Mountaineers (9-1, Big XII 0-0, ESPN RPI 37) vs. NC State Wolfpack (9-2, 1-0 ACC, ESPN RPI 48)
• Series Record: 9-7 (Neutral: 2-3), last meeting: W 71-66 in Morgantown en route to a 2007 NIT Title
• Location: Madison Square Garden (19,812), New York, New York
  
• Vegas Lines: N/A O/U N/A
• Date: Saturday, December 20th, 2014, at 9:30PM ET
• Television: ESPN2/WatchESPN App
  
• Radio Affiliates

Opponent Information

• NC State Wolfpack (9-2, 1-0 ACC, ESPN RPI 48)
• Head Coach: Mark Gottfried, Fourth year as NC State head coach, 356-192 career (.655)
  
• Last Result: Won vs Tennessee 83-72 in Raleigh
• Official NC State athletics website
• NC State SB Nation - Backing the Pack

The Internet is Fun

Yes, West Virginia has an intensely intimate relationship with Madison Square Garden that the Big Ten will be cuckolding. I don't want think about that right now. I just want Rush Hour bloopers.

Game Preview

It's nice to get back to actual sports after this week being jammed packed with everything around it. If you can rewind back the years that were six days, WVU squeaked by Marshall in a game that perennially never really tells us anything about the state of the Mountaineer basketball program, this year included. The upcoming game against NC State in Madison Square Garden for the Gotham Classic, however, really can tell us something. In fact, it call tell us a lot.

NC State is a solid basketball program with a solid coach and three solid guards. Trevor Lacey, the 6-3 junior guard, leads the team with 17.2 points and will be on the court practically the entire game. Same goes for senior guard Ralston Turner and both of them shoot +40% from outside the arc. Sophomore Car Barber rounds out the Wolfpack guards and averages double digits just like the veterans.

They may be one of the best backcourts the Mountaineers will face this year and will certainly pose a challenge for the rapidly maturing Daxter Miles, Jr. and Jevon Carter. What is going to be guaranteed fun is seeing how Juwan Staten handles the matchup and if he can evenly balance his role of involving everyone in the offense while still "getting his." Juwan doesn't seem like the type of guy that would put his own personal stats in front of the team, but there has been a difficult transition period of contributing as both an effective assist-driven point guard and a natural scorer.

Who knows? Maybe the sexy headline guard vs. guard faceoff will even out and the afterthoughts of these two teams in the front court will end up being the the deciding factor. Either way, I'm pumped to watch this one. Oh, and I'm picking the Mountaineers because WVUIE97 will be in attendance and his will shall prove to be enough.

Prediction

WVU 75 - NC State 72