2014 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 5 Saint Louis vs. No. 12 North Carolina State

By Trevor Lowry
North Carolina State basketball
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The North Carolina State Wolfpack won their play-in game against the Xavier Musketeers. The Wolfpack will now face the Saint Louis Billikens in the round of 64.

Although North Carolina State is the lower seed, I would not want to play it right now. They have won five of six and two of those wins came against Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

The Billikens are not entering the tournament on a good note. They have lost four of five after winning 19 straight. Not to mention, Saint Louis lost to St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 tournament. The Bonnies aren’t exactly a tournament team (6-10 in A 10).

What to Watch For

T.J. Warren has been great all season long and finally was given the respect he deserved by winning the ACC Player of the Year award. Warren is putting up 24.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game.

As for the Billikens, keep an eye on Dwayne Evans and Jordair Jett. Evans is averaging 14 points per contest and Jett is averaging 13.7 points per game.

Prediction

Although playing in a play-in game isn’t exactly ideal, it is really going to benefit North Carolina State in this case. The Wolfpack have the momentum going into this contest. They already have one NCAA tourney win under their belt and they shouldn’t have any jitters. With that in mind, Saint Louis has a lot of experience and will be trying to avenge last year’s exit in the round of 32. Still, T.J. Warren and Co. enter this matchup the hotter team out of the two and will claim their second victory of the tournament.

North Carolina State 71 Saint Louis 68

Trevor Lowry is a Senior Writer and Copy Editor at www.RantSports.com. If you’re a tweeter feel free to follow him @TheTrevorLowry or add him to your network on Google.

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