Raleigh, NC – The NC State men’s basketball team (22-11) is a No. 2 seed in the NIT and will host No. 7 seed Hofstra (27-7) Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum. The game will be televised on ESPN2
“Obviously we’re very disappointed to not be selected for the NCAA Tournament, but we don’t have time to hang our heads and will begin preparing tonight for a very talented Hofstra team. NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said. “I’m familiar with the Hofstra program from my time in the Colonial and they’ve had a great season this year. They’ve won 27 games and have the two-time CAA Player of the Year in Justin Wright-Foreman. It will be a great test for our team.”
This marks the 12th appearance all-time for the Pack and first since 2010. NC State has an all-time record of 16-12 in the NIT and has advanced to the NIT semfinals four times, most recently in 2000.
Tickets
Tickets for the game against Hofstra are on-sale now. All tickets are reserved and cost $15. The priority deadline for ticket orders is 10 AM on Monday, March 18. Fans may purchase up to four (4) tickets on Wolfpack Club priority and up to four (4) additional non-priority tickets. Fans can purchase tickets here.
All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges once orders are placed.
Pack Tracks
– NC State is making its 12th appearance all-time in the NIT and the first since 2010. The Pack has an all-time record of 16-12 in the NIT and has advanced to the NIT semifinals four times, most recently in 2000.
– The Pack
advanced to the Quarterfinals of last week’s ACC Tournament. NC State opened
the tournament with a 59-58 win over Clemson. The Pack trailed by 18 points in
the first half and 16 points at the break before coming back to win. The Tigers
led 51-37 with 15:12 to play, but NC State held Clemson to just seven points
and two field goals the rest of the way to win on two Markell Johnson free
throws with 2.6 seconds remaining. Johnson scored 23 points in the win. In the
quarterfinals, the Pack fell to top-seed and second-ranked Virginia, 76-56. NC
State led by two at halftime and still led by one with 15:30 to go, but UVA
went on a 14-1 run over the next four minutes to pull away.
– Torin Dorn leads the Pack in scoring at 13.4 points per game to rank 21st in
the ACC in scoring. NC State relies on a balanced scoring attack as seven
different players have led the team in scoring this season and only twice in
the last 24 games has the Pack had the same leading scorer in consecutive
games.
– The Pack’s bench is averaging 29.9 points per game and has outscored the opponent’s bench by 465 points this season. NC State’s bench has had 42 individual double-digit scoring performances this season and had at least one player score in double figures in 14 of 18 ACC games. The Pack has scored 40+ points off the bench in eight games this season, including a school-record 62-point performance in the win over USC Upstate on Dec. 22. The Pack is 20-6 when its bench scores over 20 points and 2-5 when it scores less than 20 points.
NC State – Hofstra Series
– The Pack leads the all-time series, 2-0. NC State won the first meeting, 82-56, on Dec. 10, 1983 and won the last meeting, 76-64, on Nov. 17, 2014.
NC State in the NIT
– This is NC State’s 12th appearance in the NIT and first since 2010.
– In the previous 11 appearances, NC State has only gone one-and-done twice (1984 and 1948)
– The Pack’s best finish is runner-up in 1978.
Experimental Rules for the NIT
– Three-Point Line: Extend the current three-point line (20’6”) by approximately 1’8” making the line the same distance as the FIBA three-point line (22’ 1 and 3/4”) used in international basketball.
– Width of the Lane: Widen the lane from 12’ to 16’ making it consistent with the width of the lane used by the NBA.
– Shot Clock Reset after Offensive Rebounds: Reset the shot clock to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of 30 seconds.
– Elimination of bonus free throws and resetting of team fouls: For the purpose of determining bonus free throws only, each period (“half”) shall be divided into two 10-minute segments (a “segment”). This shall not
include overtime periods.
– At the 10:00 minute mark of the first and second periods, team fouls shall be reset to zero for each team.
– A team shall be awarded two bonus free throws beginning with:
a. The fifth team foul assessed against an opponent during each 10-minute segment, or
b. The second team foul committed with under two minutes remaining in each period (half) if that should occur prior to the fifth team foul in the second segment of either period (half).
– There shall be no one and one bonus free throws.
– Team fouls shall be reset at the beginning of each overtime period. During each overtime period, a team shall be awarded two bonus free throws beginning with:
a. The fourth team foul assessed against an opponent, or
b. The second team foul assessed against an opponent with under two minutes remaining in each overtime period if that should occur prior to the team’s fourth team foul in the overtime period.
Tuesday Storylines
– Kevin Keatts has had back-to-back 20-win seasons in his first two years at NC State. It’s the first time since the 2011-12 & 2012-13 teams that the Pack has had back-to-back 20-plus win regular seasons. Keatts is just the 11th coach in ACC history to have back-to-back 20-win seasons in his first two seasons as a head coach in the league.
– NC State had the highest NET ranking (33), BPI ranking (26) and Sagarin ranking (25) of any team to miss the NCAA Tournament.
– Junior guard CJ Bryce shot 54.1% from three-point range away from home in league play and enters the NIT having hit 19 of his last 30 three-point attempts when not playing in PNC Arena.
– Tuesday’s matchup is of two of the top scoring offenses in the NCAA. Hofstra is seventh in the NCAA at 83.6 points per game and NC State is 34th in the NCAA at 79.6.
– NC State leads the ACC and ranks 17th in the NCAA in forcing opponents into turnovers this season (15.88 per game). Hofstra led the CAA and ranks 9th in the NCAA in turnovers per game. (9.8 per game)
– The Pack ranks 21st in the NCAA in opponent’s three-point field goal percentage, holding its opponents to 30.4% shooting from long range this season. Hofstra ranks 13th in the NCAA in three-point FG% at 38.9%.
– Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly has connected on 131 three-pointers in his first two seasons at NC State and needs just five more to have the most in program-history after a player’s sophomore season. Currently, Scott Wood has the most three-pointers with 135, while Rodney Monroe and Maverick Rowan each had 134 after their sophomore seasons.
– In 20 games against ACC competition, the Pack’s opponents made more free throws than NC State has attempted in 11 of 20 games. NC State only attempted more free throws than its opponent seven times in that span. In those 20 games, NC State’s opponents attempted 124 more free throws (463-to-339) than the Pack and outscored NC State by 92 points at the free throw line. Hofstra ranks second in the NCAA in free throws made on the season and second in the NCAA in free throw percentage (79.9%)
– Sophomore forward DJ Funderburk has made 42 of his last 49 free throw attempts. He is shooting 78.9% from the foul line for the season and has risen to 6th in the ACC in free throw percentage. Funderburk leads the Pack in free throw percentage and would be the first non-guard since Brandon Costner (82.2% in 2007-08 season) to lead the team in free throw percentage.
– When the Pack shoots 35% or better from three-point range this season it is 17-5. It is 5-6 when it shoots below 35% from long range.