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NC State Game Notes | North Carolina Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team is back in action Saturday afternoon when it hosts North Carolina inside a sold out Lenovo Center.
Tipoff against the Tar Heels is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Tracks
– NC State secured its first win of the 2025 calendar year with a 66-65 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
– The Pack trailed by as many as 10 points in the game and the Fighting Irish had a 63-56 lead with 3:15 to play, but NC State held ND without a field goal for the rest of the game and closed the game on a 10-2 run to win.
– NC State hit a season-high 10 three-pointers in the win over Notre Dame as six different players hit from long-range.
– The Pack also tied its season-low for turnovers with seven against Notre Dame, including just two in the second half. NC State leads the ACC and ranks 20th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.8) and has now had single digit turnovers in seven games this season.
– Marcus Hill led the Pack in scoring for the second consecutive game against Wake Forest, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. The senior from Rockford, Ill., has scored in double figures in eight straight games and leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game. Hill is shooting 50.7 percent from the field this season, is second on the team with 34 assists and has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover (34-to-17) ratio.
– Jayden Taylor is 12-of-22 (54.5%) from long range in his last five games. Taylor made 64 three-pointers and shot 36.4 percent from three-point last season, but had started this season by only shooting 25.9 percent (10-of-39) from three-point range in the Pack’s first 10 games.
– Ben Middlebrooks leads the team in blocks at 1.7 per game (2nd in the ACC) and is tied for second on the team in steals (16). Middlebrooks is one of three players in the ACC to have over 20 blocks and at least 15 steals this season (Clemson’s Viktor Lakhin and Florida State’s Taylor Bol Bowen are the other two players).
– Michael O’Connell leads the ACC and ranks 11th in the NCAA with a 3.73 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. O’Connell finished last season third in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54). His career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.14 is the 12th best active assist-to-turnover ratio in DI. O’Connell has had one or fewer turnovers in 12 of 15 games this season. In four ACC games this season, O’Connell is averaging one turnover for every 32.5 minutes played.
Saturday Storylines
– Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season (two seasons and counting), NC State is 36-8 (.818) in home games, including a 15-7 mark against conference opponents.
– Saturday’s game will be NC State senior Dontrez Styles first game against his former school. Styles, a Kinston native, signed with North Carolina out of high school and played two years for the Tar Heels before transferring to Georgetown last season. Styles played in 45 career games for UNC in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
– Senior forward Ben Middlebrooks next block will give him the most blocks he’s ever had in a single season. Last season, Middlebrooks had 24 blocks in 41 games, but already has matched that total in 14 games this season. Coming into this season, Middlebrooks had multiple blocked shots in nine of 101 career games, but has already had six multiple block games this season. The more active Middlebrooks is, the better it is for the Pack. NC State is 6-0 this season when the senior has two or more blocks.
– Saturday will be the toughest test yet for the Pack’s defense. UNC leads the ACC in scoring, averaging 84.4 points per game. The Pack ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 66.9 points per game. The most points NC State has given up this season is 77 to Wake Forest last Saturday. UNC has scored more than 77 points in 11 of 16 games this season.
– Win the Paint, Win the Game? NC State is 8-1 this season when it scores more points in the paint than its opponent, but 1-5 when it ties or is outscored in the paint. The Pack is averaging 39.8 points in the paint in its eight wins, but just 24.6 points in the paint in its six losses.
– One of NC State’s calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent’s turnovers into points. In the Pack’s nine wins this season, it is averaging 19.3 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 102 points. In the Pack’s six losses it averages just 9.2 points off opponent turnovers and has been outscored by its opponents in points off turnovers (54-to-53).
NC State series with North Carolina
– Saturday will be the 248th all-time meeting between NC State and North Carolina. UNC leads the all-time series with the Pack, 166-81.
– Kevin Keatts is 4-11 against North Carolina as head coach of NC State, including a 2-5 record in games played at the Lenovo Center.
– Last Meeting (March 16, 2024): NC State closed its miraculous run through the ACC Tournament by knocking off top-seed North Carolina, 84-76, in the championship game played at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Four members of the Pack finished in double digits in the win with DJ Horne leading the way with 29 points, DJ Burns had 20, Mohammed Diarra had 11 and Michael O’Connell had 10 points.
