NC State will face Oakland on Saturday afternoon with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

Both NC State and Oakland pulled off first-round upsets on Thursday in order to get to this position. The Wolfpack took care of business against Texas Tech while Oakland won a tight battle with No. 3-seeded Kentucky.

11 NC State vs. 14 Oakland betting info

NC State has won 5 straight games as an underdog, but will now be the favorite in the round of 32 against Oakland. The Wolfpack have not covered the spread as a favorite in nearly a month (Feb. 24) and are just 8-12 against the number as a favorite all season. Oakland is 10-3 against the spread as an underdog this season.

To help with making predictions in this matchup, here’s some advanced stats via KenPom for both teams:

Opponent-adjusted offensive ratings

  • NC State: 114.9 (43rd)
  • Oakland: 109.1 (125th)

Opponent-adjusted defensive ratings

  • NC State: 100.8 (77th)
  • Oakland: 105.3 (157th)

Opponent-adjusted tempo

  • NC State: 68.1 possessions per game (139th)
  • Oakland: 66.6 possessions per game (238th)

Here are 3 player prop picks for this game:

DJ Burns over 14.5 points (-110 at ESPN Bet)

We’re all living in DJ Burns’ world as far as I’m concerned. The NC State big man has been dominant during this winning streak for the Wolfpack, and I don’t see any reason that won’t continue on Saturday vs. Oakland. Burns has cleared this number in 4 of NC State’s 6 postseason games so far. He’s been incredibly efficient during that stretch, posting a true shooting percentage over 65% since the start of the ACC Tournament.

DJ Horne over 2.5 made 3-pointers (-120 at ESPN Bet)

I took DJ Horne under 2.5 made 3-pointers for NC State’s first-round game against Texas Tech, and he burned me. I’m flipping to the over in this matchup for a couple of reasons. First, Horne appears to have broken out of his shooting slump after going 3-for-8 from long range against the Red Raiders. Second, Oakland does not defend the 3-point line very well. The Golden Grizzlies give up a lot of attempts (40.9% 3-point attempt rate ranks 295th in the country) and a decent number of makes (33.8%). Horne should be able to get up 8+ 3-point attempts in this game and I think he’ll make at least 3 of them.

Jack Gohlke under 13.5 points (-110 at ESPN Bet)

I took Jack Gohlke to make under 3.5 3-pointers in our Day 3 betting preview for the ACC, so I’ll double down and take his points under prop as well. Gohlke gets almost all of his points at the 3-point line (he has attempted 8 2-point shots all season) and NC State has defended the 3-ball very well this postseason. I think Gohlke will regress back to the mean a bit after making 10 3-pointers against Kentucky on Thursday.