KU basketball vs. NC State at Battle 4 Atlantis: Probable starters, tipoff time, TV

Gary Bedore

THE DETAILS

When: 11 a.m., Central time, Wednesday

Where: Imperial Arena, Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

TV: ESPN

Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; KFH (1240 AM, 97.5 FM) in Wichita

PROBABLE STARTERS

P

No.

North Carolina State

Ht.

Yr.

PPG

F

11

Dusan Mahorcic

6-10

Sr.

9.5

G

0

Terquavion Smith

6-4

Soph.

19.0

G

1

Jarkel Joiner

6-1

Sr.

17.0

G/F

5

Jack Clark

6-8

Jr.

12.0

G

14

Casey Morsell

6-3

Jr.

14.8

P

No.

Kansas

Ht.

Yr.

PPG

F

24

KJ Adams

6-7

Soph.

6.0

F

10

Jalen Wilson

6-8

Jr.

24.5

G

15

Kevin McCullar

6-6

Sr.

8.3

G

4

Gradey Dick

6-8

Fr.

16.8

G

3

Dajuan Harris

6-1

Jr.

9.0

About North Carolina State (4-0):

North Carolina State, which was picked to finish 10th in the 15-team ACC, has won home games over Austin Peay (99-50), Campbell (73-67), FIU (104-74) and Elon (74-63). ... Sophomore guard Terquavion Smith, a preseason first-team, all-league selection, scored 15 points in the win over FIU while also tying his career-high with six assists and setting a career-high with six steals. The six steals were the most by an NC State player in the six-year Kevin Keatts era. …

NC State has launched 111 threes, hitting 41 for 36.9%. Opponents have shot just 70 threes, making 23 in four games for 32.9%. ... Jarkel Joiner is 8-of-15 from three for 53.3%; Casey Morsell is 11-of-21 for 52.4%. ... KU is 25-of-76 from three for 32.9%. …

This is NC State’s second appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis. In November of 2017 the Wolfpack shocked No. 2 Arizona in the first round, 90-84, and then lost to Northern Iowa in the semifinals, 64-60. NC State lost the third-place game, 67-58, to Tennessee. In the Arizona game, NC State guards Allerik Freeman and Braxton Beverly combined for 44 points. Arizona had future No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Deandre Ayton, plus future NBA player Allonzo Trier. Both had 27 points apiece. … Keatts is 94-68 in six seasons at NC State. He went 72-28 in three years at UNC Wilmington.

About No. 3 Kansas (4-0):

The winner of the KU-North Carolina State game will meet either Wisconsin or Dayton at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The losers will meet at 3 p.m., also on Thursday. Teams on the other side of the bracket are USC, Brigham Young, Tennessee and Butler. ...

KU is 11-1 all-time versus North Carolina State. The Jayhawks’ only loss was the first game of the series. The Wolfpack won 66-63 on Dec. 20, 1958, in Lawrence. Their last meeting was KU’s 60-57 victory on March 23, 2012, in a Midwest Regional Sweet 16 game in St. Louis. KU reached the NCAA title game that season. ...

KU has competed in the Battle 4 Atlantis once before. In November of 2013, KU defeated Wake Forest, 87-78, in the first round, then lost to Villanova, 63-59, in the semifinals. KU won the third-place game over UTEP 67-63. … KU has a 28-7 record in in-season tournaments with 10 tournament titles in the 20-year Bill Self era. KU won six straight in-season tournaments from 2014 to 2019. ...

Kansas has won 15 consecutive games dating back to last season. It’s the seventh longest winning streak in the Self era. ... KU freshman Gradey Dick is this week’s Big 12 newcomer of the week in a vote of a media panel. He averaged 16.0 points and shot 52% percent from the field and 50% percent from three-point range in wins over Duke and Southern Utah.

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