The No. 6 seed Creighton Bluejays (21-12, 15-7 Big East) take on the No. 11 seed North Carolina State Wolfpack (23-10, 13-9 ACC) Friday at Ball Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina State was dismantled by the Clemson Tigers 80-54 at Greensboro Coliseum on March 9 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tourney.
DJ Burns was the top scorer in the loss with 12 points. Jack Clark chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds. Creighton lost in blowout fashion in the semifinals of the Big East Conference Tourney on Friday at Madison Square Garden, falling to the Xavier Musketeers 82-60.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 points in the loss to lead the team. The Bluejays won the last meeting between the teams 112-94 at Virgin Islands Sport & Fitness Center in November 2016.
Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner, averaging 17.5 and 17.1 points per game, respectively, are leading the Wolfpack in scoring this season. Smith also has dished 4.2 assists per game. Meanwhile, Burns is grabbing 4.8 rebounds per game.
Kalkbrenner (14.0 ppg), Trey Alexander (13.6), and Baylor Scheierman (12.8) have been the primary providers of the Bluejays’ offense. Scheierman also has pulled down 8.4 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Ryan Nembhard has tallied 4.9 assists per game.
North Carolina State is 5-5 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +1.1 (74.2-73.1). For the season, the Wolfpack are averaging 78.2 points per game, compared to 70.8 for opponents. Creighton has a 6-4 record over the last 10, scoring 76.2 points per game on average while allowing 71.3 (+4.9 margin).
WOLFPACK HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Casey Morsell: 10.4 | 17.1 | -6.7
Points per game:
Jack Clark: 8.2 | 6.2 | +2.0
Casey Morsell: 7.0 | 11.9 | -4.9
Assists per game:
Terquavion Smith: 2.8 | 4.2 | -1.4
BLUEJAYS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points per game:
Ryan Kalkbrenner: 18.6 | 14.0 | +4.6
Rebounds per game:
Ryan Kalkbrenner: 3.2 | 5.5 | -2.3
Assists per game:
Baylor Scheierman: 4.6 | 3.2 | +1.4
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
Creighton (-255)
Want up to a $1K risk free bet for this pick?
Claim with 
today!
If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our college basketball hub page for all your college basketball needs!
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
