Raleigh, NC – The NC State men’s basketball team (6-3, 2-2 ACC) heads to Tallahassee to take on the defending ACC Champion, Florida State Seminoles on Wednesday evening.
The game will tipoff at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network with Mike Couzens and Jordan Cornette on the call. NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Tracks
– NC State dropped its second straight contest Saturday afternoon, falling to Miami, 64-59, inside PNC Arena.
– Junior guard Thomas Allen led NC State with a season-high 14 points. The Raleigh native hit 4-of-5 three-pointers in the game and is now shooting 46.9% (15-of-32) from long-range this season.
– Senior forward D.J. Funderburk added 12 points and eight rebounds against the Hurricanes. The Cleveland, Ohio native opened ACC play with back-to-back 20-point performances against Boston College and Clemson. It was the first back-to-back 20-point performances of his career. In ACC-only games, Funderburk currently ranks third in scoring at 17.7 points per game and is leading the conference in field goal percentage (68%, 17-of-25) and is third in free throw percentage (94.7%, 18-of-19). He also is averaging 3.67 offensive rebounds an outing in conference games to rank third in the ACC.
– Senior guard Devon Daniels has stuffed the stat sheet this season. Daniels leads the team in scoring and assists, is second in steals and third in rebounding. Daniels and Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvarado are the only players in the ACC to rank in the top-15 in scoring, field goal percentage, assists and steals.
– NC State leads the ACC – seventh in NCAA DI – with an average of 9.8 steals per game. The Pack has had 10 or more steals in four games this season, including 18 against Charleston Southern, which was the most under Kevin Keatts. The Pack has six players averaging at least one steal per game. Freshman Shakeel Moore leads NC State with 19 steals, ranking third in the ACC with an average of 2.11 steals per game. Devon Daniels has 18 steals and ranks fifth in the ACC at 2.0 steals per game.
Wednesday Storylines
– NC State enters Wednesday’s game leading the ACC – and ranking 11th in the NCAA – in turnover margin at +5.8, but in its last two games the Pack has lost the turnover battle and is -8 combined in turnover margin in those two games. In the Kevin Keatts era, NC State is 58-22 (72.5%) when it has the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent and just 13-17 (43.3%) when it has more turnovers than its opponent.
– Get Jericole Hellems Going: The NC State junior has made increases across the board this season – 11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 44.3% FG shooting are all career-bests – but no player on NC State’s roster has a bigger difference in wins and losses. In NC State’s six wins, Hellems is averaging 13.7 points on 50% shooting and has 16 assists against nine turnovers. In NC State’s three losses, Hellems is averaging 6.3 points per game on 30.4% shooting and has two assists against five turnovers. During NC State’s current two-game losing streak, Hellems has been saddled with foul trouble. Against Clemson he was limited to just 27 minutes before fouling out. Hellems fouled out with NC State leading 59-53 and 4:14 remaining in regulation. The Pack was outscored 21-11 the rest of the way with Hellems out. Against Miami, Hellems fouled out in 23 minutes. The Pack was +8 with Hellems on the floor, but was outscored by 13 points with him not on the court.
– Finish the Second Half: NC State has led at halftime of all nine games this season and has led with under five minutes left in regulation in eight of its nine games. In its four ACC games, NC State has shot 51.2%, including 42.9% from three-point range, in the first half and has shot just 37%, including 23.1% from three-point range, in the second half.
NC State – Florida State Series
– Wednesday marks the 59th all-time meeting between the two programs.
– NC State leads the all-time series, 31-27. The Pack has an 8-15 record all-time against the Seminoles in Tallahassee and has a three game losing streak at the Tucker Civic Center. NC State last won in Tallahassee on Jan. 17, 2015. Trevor Lacey scored 17 points to lead the Pack to a 72-63 win.
– Last season: The Wolfpack lost to eighth-ranked Florida State, 67-61, inside PNC Arena. NC State led 32-27 at halftime, but the Seminoles opened the second half on an 11-3 run to take the lead. FSU led 50-48 when it went on a 7-0 run to take a nine-point lead and NC State never got within five the rest of the way. Devon Daniels led the Pack with 18 points and nine rebounds. Jericole Hellems came off-the-bench and added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds. The shooting stats were nearly identical, but the Seminoles big advantage was at the free throw line where FSU got to the free throw line 29 times compared to just 13 attempts for NC State.
– Kevin Keatts is 1-2 against Florida State as head coach of NC State. In his first season with NC State, Keatts and the Wolfpack defeated #25 Florida State by 20 points. In the last two seasons, FSU has pulled out five-point and six-point wins.