Penn St. @ NC State preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 15, 2012 ) NC State 72, Penn St. 55

After a 5-0 start that included a win over the fourth-ranked team in the country, North Carolina State has fallen back to earth. The Wolfpack will try to pick up the pieces from an uneven performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament when it hosts Penn State as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Wednesday evening.

N.C. State's 90-84 win over Arizona in the opener in the Bahamas was followed by close losses to Northern Iowa and Tennessee, during which the Wolfpack shot a combined 35.8 percent while making 11-of-46 from 3-point range. "You look at the next two games (after the Arizona win), I feel like we were never out of the game and we had opportunities to win both of those games," first-year coach Kevin Keatts told reporters after the 67-58 loss to Tennessee on Friday. "But I do think as a team, early on with a new staff and a bunch of new players, we have to go back to the drawing board and now we have to figure out obviously how not to beat ourselves." The Nittany Lions were unable to win their lone game against a ranked opponent - losing to Texas A&M last week - but otherwise have been solid with six wins by at least 11 points. Reserves Nazeer Bostick and Jamari Wheeler scored 14 points apiece and Penn State shot 56.1 percent in an 86-48 rout of Oral Roberts last time out.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ESPNU

ABOUT PENN STATE (6-1): The runaway win over the Golden Eagles allowed coach Patrick Chambers to give his regulars some rest, but leading scorer Tony Carr (20 points per game) still managed 13 points and a team-high five assists in 21 minutes. Junior guard Josh Reaves chipped in 10 points and recorded four steals for the second straight game, giving him an average of three per contest - tied for eighth in the country entering Tuesday. Sophomore forward Lamar Stevens is second on the team in scoring (14.6) and leads the way on the boards with 6.7, grabbing at least six in all seven contests.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (5-2): Grad transfer Allerik Freeman leads four players in double figures with 15.9 points per game but he was 4-for-18 from the floor in the loss to Tennessee and is shooting just 33.7 percent from the floor. Sophomore 7-footer Omer Yurtseven is asserting himself with four straight double-digit scoring efforts while making 61.8 percent of his shots. Senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu, who averaged 11.8 points and seven boards last season, is just getting going after missing the first four games due to a sprained knee and he is putting up five points and 6.7 boards in his first three outings.

TIP-INS

1. The Wolfpack enters Tuesday ranked 330th nationally in 3-point shooting (27.5 percent)

2. Carr made 3-of-4 beyond the arc versus Oral Roberts and is 10-for-13 over a four-game stretch.

3. N.C. State has a 16-3 series advantage.

PREDICTION: North Carolina State 73, Penn State 70