NC State basketball will in fact be in action this week. According to multiple college basketball insiders, NC State and Saint Louis are in the process of finalizing a home-and-home series.
That series, however, will start later this week; NC State will play at Saint Louis on Thursday. SLU will then make the trip to Raleigh at some point in 2021-22.
Sources: Saint Louis and NC State are finalizing a home-and-home series that will begin on Thursday at Chaifetz Arena. Return game in Raleigh in 21-22.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 15, 2020
The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for the Wolfpack, though that may just be the state of the world in 2020. While up in Connecticut, a member of NC State’s travel party tested positive for COVID-19, which triggered a chain reaction. NC State was forced to cancel a Saturday matchup with UConn.
A road matchup with Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge was also called off due to the positive COVID result. Two days after that Michigan decision, NC State paused all team activities. Additionally, another member of NC State’s travel party tested positive for COVID-19, too.
NC State was set to open conference play this Wednesday (Dec. 16) against Louisville; however, the Cardinals have dealt with their own COVID issues as well. That game was eventually postponed.
Our game scheduled for Wednesday vs. NC State has been postponed.https://t.co/fvgaxVAC7f
— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) December 13, 2020
The addition of this new matchup presumes that NC State got through its COVID-19 infections/concerns.
Going up against mostly lackluster competition to start the season, NC State jumped out to a 3-0 start. However, the Pack haven’t played a game since Dec. 3, a 90-59 win over UMass-Lowell.
Saint Louis (4-0), coached by Travis Ford, is a strong team and will work as the first true test for the Pack this season. NC State won’t have much time to prepare for the game, either. The state of scheduling games in college basketball is absolutely wild, at the moment.
But it gives the Wolfpack an additional non-conference game — along with Campbell on Dec. 19 — before ACC play starts vs. North Carolina (Dec. 22).
The Billikens are a top-40 KenPom team and already have a win over LSU, which came back in late November.
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