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In 2020, the NC State Wolfpack were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament but saw its season end in the Sweet Sixteen to Indiana, 73-70.

Now, the Wolfpack come to Assembly Hall as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge trying to get revenge from that loss.

After a season-opening loss to South Carolina, NC State has gone on to win six in a row, winning by at least 18 points in each game.

The Wolfpack are led by Elissa Cunane, a 6-foot-5 senior forward. She averages 14.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and will match up with IU's Mackenzie Holmes, a battle of two superior front court players.

Jakai Brown-Turner is another terrific player alongside Cunane. She is a 6-foot forward who averages 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. While Cunane is more of a traditional big, Brown-Turner is much more perimeter oriented. She connects on 37.9 percent of her 3's on the season and has made at least two 3's in four games this year.

In the backcourt, the Wolfpack are led by Raina Perez who has nearly a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio. She averaged nearly five assists a game a season ago, and while her numbers are down a bit this season -- around threee a game, she rarely turns the ball over. Rutgers transfer Diamond Johnson comes off the bench for NC State and averaged 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection a season ago after averaging 17.6 points per game. She's a terrific shooter, connecting on 43.9 percent of her 3's.

The Hoosiers are coming into another top-10 matchup after losing their first game of the season last week in the Bahamas to No. 7 Stanford, 69-66.

On the season, they are 1-1 against top-15 teams, with a 21-point win over then No. 13 Kentucky.

This is once again another huge showdown for Indiana and head coach Teri Moren to show this program is more than just here to stay for now.

But, they will have to play much better than down in the Bahamas.

"They are who we think they are," Moren said. "We have to be much better than in the Bahamas, without a doubt."

While the attention to detail is always there for Moren's team, tonight it needs to be there more than ever.

"We have to be that much more determined and focused and understand what we're trying to take away," Moren said. "We can't turn it over. We have to take great care of the ball. Our ability to rebound and push the pace, as well as guarding, is crucial.

"This will be a team that will come in here with a lot of motivation. We knocked them out of an opportunity to perhaps get to a Final Four. There's a lot of built-up motivation there."

The biggest x-factor? Rebounding.

The Wolfpack come in as one of the best rebounding teams in the country at 44.6 per game -- out rebounding their opponent by 16 a game.

"We've done a poor job rebounding. We emphasize it every day. It is skill related. It's also heart related," Moren said. We have to be more relentless than them. They will be bigger than we are. They are probably better athletically than we are. But that doesn't give us an excuse to not put ourselves in positions to box out or chase down long rebounds or chase down loose balls.

"Rebounding is a huge deal. It will be one of the major keys to figure out how to be successful against a good North Carolina State team."

Indiana and NC State will square off Thursday night at 7 pm ET on ESPN2.

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