Deivon Smith leads the Jackets in field goal percentage and offensive rebounds vs. ACC teams. (photo by Keith Lucas)
Only three players in the Power-5 lead their teams in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
By Tuesday night, Georgia Tech will have faced all three of them.
In addition to Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis and USC’s Isaiah Mobley, Dereon Seabron (18.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.5 spg) has emerged as a Pack-of-all-trades player for NC State. A leading candidate for ACC Most Improved Player, the 6-7 Seabron is a downhill guard who forces contact and has a knack for making tough layups. He’s also a punishing offensive rebounder – his 78 boards are more than twice as many as Georgia Tech’s leader, and he ranks second overall in the ACC in rebounding. That rim pressure enables Seabron to rank 11th nationally in free throw attempts, a stat that should have the Jackets’ full attention given their recent issues with free throw differential.
With Seabron at the helm, NC State runs a four-out, ball screen-heavy offense that features a variety of dribble handoffs, pick-and-pops, roll-and-replaces, and Iverson cuts (when a guard glides over a pair of screens at the elbows to catch at the wing). He’s joined in the backcourt by 6-1 Terquavion Smith (15.2 ppg), a bucket-getting freshman with unbridled confidence who leads the ACC in made three-pointers. Look for both to swish and sway on the dribble to get defenders off-balance, similar to how Miami’s guards operate. Six-foot-7 Jericole Hellams (13.5 ppg) has struggled of late but could occupy the high post role against Georgia Tech’s zone like he did against Syracuse.
NC State may be riding a six-game losing streak, but the Wolfpack were talented enough to hang 1.38 points per possession in a 77-63 win over Virginia, the highest efficiency rating the Cavaliers have ever allowed in ACC play under Tony Bennett. They also don’t undercut themselves with turnovers: the Wolfpack have the 11th-lowest turnover rate in the country. Can Tech, which still ranks among the ACC’s best at forcing turnovers, get NC State’s guards out of rhythm Tuesday? Jordan Usher and Khalid Moore could also play key roles with their ability to neutralize mismatches.
*****
They’ll both draw top billing on the scouting report, but Usher and Seabron may command even more attention in the second half.
In his last two games, Usher has scored 23 of his 27 points after halftime.
In his last two games, Seabron has scored 32 of his 39 points after halftime.
*****
Jose Alvarado made a patent out of playing bigger than his size, but Deivon Smith has done a pretty fair impression in his place. The 6-1 Smith actually leads Georgia Tech in both field goal percentage (52.4 pct.) and offensive rebounds (13) in ACC play. His shooting numbers are even more impressive if you take away his first three ACC games, which happen to be his three worst shooting games of conference play:
Deivon Smith FG% – ACC:
- First 3 games: 21.4% (3 of 14)
- Last 10 games: 61.2% (30 of 49)
He’ll come face-to-face with a former school that courted him out of high school: Smith said he took his first official visit to N.C. State.
