Miami @ NC State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 3, 2019 ) NC State 87, Miami-Florida 82

After back-to-back setbacks against ranked ACC foes Duke and Louisville to open 2020, Miami (Fla.) earned win No. 1 of the new year Sunday night, defeating Pittsburgh 66-58. Now the Hurricanes head to the Tar Heel State Wednesday for the first of three visits in 11 days as they face a North Carolina State team that has also struggled since the calendar turned to 2020 with losses in two of the last three games after falling at Virginia Tech 72-58 Saturday.

The Wolfpack's recent woes can be traced to the absence of leading scorer (16.1 per game) and rebounder (6.8 per game) C.J. Bryce, who has missed the last four games with a concussion and isn't likely to return for this contest. "We miss him," NC State coach Kevin Keatts told reporters. "I try not to make any excuses about it but there aren’t many teams who can afford to lose their leading scorer and leading rebounder and be successful." The Wolfpack are shorthanded without Bryce, playing just seven players in two of the last three games - a situation Miami is quite familiar with as it has only eight healthy scholarship players, with just three big men after forward Keith Stone suffered another knee injury before the Jan. 7 Louisville game and is out indefinitely. Just seven Hurricanes made the court against Pittsburgh, with two starters - guard DJ Vasiljevic and forward Sam Waardenburg - playing the full 40 minutes, the first time a Hurricane played every minute of a game since January 2015.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: RSN

ABOUT MIAMI (10-5, 2-3 ACC): The Hurricanes are the only team in the ACC with the same starting five - guard Chris Lykes, guard Kameron McGusty, center Rodney Miller Jr. Vasiljevic and Waardenburg - in each game and only two other teams have had four players start every game. Miami continues to be led offensively by the guard threesome of McGusty (15.4 points per game), Lykes (15.3) and Vasiljevic (14.3), the only trio of teammates in the top 13 in the ACC in scoring. Waardenburg recorded a team-high 10 rebounds in each of the last two games while freshman guard Harlond Beverly came up big against Pittsburgh after Lykes (12 points in 19 minutes) fouled out, finishing with six points, five assists and two blocked shots.

ABOUT NC STATE (11-5, 2-3): The Wolfpack had just two players score in double figures against Virginia Tech, with D.J. Funderburk registering 18 points followed by Pat Andree with 11 as NC State shot a season-low 31.9 percent from the floor. The lack of bodies has hurt the team's ability to play its customary full-court pressure and over the last four games, the Wolfpack has only forced 41 turnovers - the fewest over a four-game stretch in the three seasons under Keatts. Manny Bates (50) broke the school single-season blocks record for a freshman last week as he has had multiple rejections in every game this season.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. NC State owns a slim 13-11 advantage all-time in this rivalry after winning the last meeting 87-82 at Miami last January.

2. Miami had just seven turnovers in last year's loss to NC State, tied for the fewest forced under Keatts.

3. Vasiljevic has hit 33 straight free throws dating back to last season and is 28-of-28 in 2019-20.

PREDICTION: NC State 74, Miami 70