Predictions, scouting report for NC State basketball vs. Oakland in NCAA Tournament

PITTSBURGH — Two of March Madness' burgeoning stars will take center stage Saturday night in PPG Paints Arena trying to take their teams to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

DJ Burns, Jr. has been getting plenty of spotlight during the NC State basketball team's hot steak. His star power can only be comparable to that of Jack Gahlke, Oakland's sharpshooter specialist who helped the Golden Grizzlies take down mighty Kentucky with 10 three-pointers in the first round of the tournament.

Gahlke went for 32 points and was 10-of-20 from beyond the 3-point line. His only other shot attempts were at the free-throw line. Having appeared on Scott Van Pelt's SportsCenter, the Pat McAfee Show and many others since his performance Thursday night, Gahlke has been plenty busy in the aftermath.

"It's definitely been crazy," Gahlke said Friday. "When I finally did open my phone, it was overwhelming, to say the least, which I definitely appreciate all the support of all the support of all the people sending me messages and things like that. It means a lot, but to be honest, I'm kind of putting it all off until Sunday."

Gahlke said he's gotten plenty of name, image and likeness opportunities presented to him in the past 20 hours, though he's ignoring those until later. He'll have his share of money-making opportunities if he can get the Grizzlies to the Sweet 16.

To do that, Oakland will need to take down an NC State team that appears to be getting stronger as the season goes along. Players like Ben Middlebrooks said the Wolfpack have started to gel at the right time.

"I think the biggest thing is just sticking together," Michael O'Connell said. "Obviously the season hasn't been perfect by any means. ... but I think it's huge for us that we all banded together no matter what we were going through, we alway stuck together and had each other's backs."

Let's talk about zone

Oakland's zone defensive scheme is something Kentucky was unable to figure out. Head coach Greg Kampe said that he's watched every single possession NC State has faced a zone defense this season, part of the reason he hasn't slept in a few days.

"It's going to be a completely different game plan than we had against Kentucky," Kampe said. "At Kentucky we wanted them shoot from 10 to 12 feet. We didn't want them shooting 3s. ... we can't let the big dude (Burns) get in there and catch the ball at 10 or 12 feet, otherwise I might have three guys with broken bodies before the game is over."

Keatts said Oakland's matchup zone defense is something his team isn't accustomed to seeing, so the Wolfpack's challenge will be finding ways to operate against it, though the other end of the court is just as important with the likes of Gohlke to worry about.

"Oakland is unique," Keatts said, "and I think that's what makes them special. They've got shooters. They've got inside presence. They got post guys. They got wings that can play. And so when you get a team like that, you gotta do a good job of defending them. ... they don't have a weakness in their positions.

Trends to watch

Both teams are coming in on hot streaks. NC State has won six games in a row and Oakland five, both teams having needed conference tournament titles to make it into the March Madness field.

Kampe is one win away from his 700th career victory, all of them coming at Oakland, where he's in his 40th year as head coach.

NC State last made the Sweet 16 in 2015. The victory over Kentucky was Oakland's first NCAA Tournament victory as a Division I program.

Players to watch

NC State: DJ Horne

Oakland's zone means that guard play will be crucial for an NC State victory. The Wolfpack operated through the big men of Burns and Ben Middlebrooks against Texas Tech but will likely need Horne, the team's top 3-point shooter, to look for his shots when there is an opening.

Oakland: Rocket Watts

The former Michigan State player had the key pass to DQ Cole in the victory over Kentucky. Kampe commended Watts' willingness to be a role player, whichever role that may be, even being a highly-touted recruit out of high school. Watts continuing to play within the game, and the team, could be the difference.

Score prediction: NC State 83, Oakland 75

Bottom line: The Golden Grizzlies don't have the size to match up with the Wolfpack and NC State will likely try to take Gohlke out of the picture entirely.