North Carolina State University Athletics
MBB Travels to Rival North Carolina
2/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State Travels to North Carolina: NC State starts a stretch of three of the next five ACC games on the road, when the Wolfpack travels to Chapel Hill this Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. at North Carolina. UNC won in Raleigh earlier this season, 77-63, on January 26.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN with Mike Patrick and Len Elmore.
The Series Versus North Carolina: Saturday’s meeting will mark the 217th between NC State and North Carolina in the series that dates back to the 1912-13 season. The Wolfpack has faced just Duke and Wake Forest more times than the Tar Heels.
UNC holds a 141-75 lead in the series and has won 17 of the last 22 meetings dating back to the 1999-00 season. UNC has won the last seven meetings between the teams, and Coach Lowe is 1-7 against the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels hold the advantage in games played in Chapel Hill, 68-22. The last time the Pack won at UNC, was in overtime in 2003 (75-67). The Pack also won the 2002 road matchup, the first time NC State won back-to-back years at UNC since 1973 and 1974.
Earlier This Season Versus North Carolina: NC State went over eight minutes without a point in the second half, as North Carolina came away with a 77-63 win at the RBC Center on January 26. The Pack put together a 20-6 run wrapped around halftime, including a 10-1 spurt to open the second half, as NC State captured a 43-38 lead with 17:04 left. The Pack then missed 17 of its next 18 shots, and UNC went on a 18-2 run to capture the lead for good. UNC shot 50.9 percent (29-57), including 57.7 percent (15-26) in the second half. Tracy Smith led the Pack with 20 points, while Javier Gonzalez had 19, including scoring 15 of NC State's 18 points during one stretch.
Last Time Out for NC State: Virginia Tech led from start to finish, as the Hokies won in Raleigh for the first time since 1917, with their 72-52 win at the RBC Center on Wednesday. The Hokies made their first 10 shots of the game and jumped out to a 26-7 lead nine minutes into the game. NC State would shoot a season-low 28.6 percent (20-70) from the field, and failed to make a three-pointer (0-11) for the first time in 655 games (1989 at Wake Forest). Dennis Horner had his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Second Half Shooting Woes: NC State has dropped its last five ACC games, and its shooting performances in the second half have been a major factor in the losses.
NC State has hit just 30.2 percent (49-162) of its second half shots in the last five ACC games. NC State's best showing was 35.1 percent in the second half at Georgia Tech, and in each of the other four losses NC State was under 30.0 percent. The Pack's opponents have combined to shoot 55.9 percent (71-127) in the second half of those games.
The Pack has also been outscored 202-148 (40.4-29.6) in those second halves.
In the home loss to UNC, NC State captured a 43-38 lead with 17:04 left, but the Pack would miss 17 of its next 18 shots and go over eight minutes without scoring a point. At Virginia, the Pack would score just four points in the first 10 minutes of that half.
Degand Returns After Missing Game: After sitting out the Georgia Tech game with a deep thigh bruise, senior Farnold Degand returned for Wednesday's game against Virginia Tech. Degand was limited in practice before the loss to the Hokies, but came off the bench to play 20 minutes.
Changing the Starters: After having the same starting lineup in 14 of the first 16 games of the season, the Pack's starters have been undergoing change as of late. In the Pack's nine ACC games since January, the Pack has had five different starting lineups.
Freshmen Josh Davis and Richard Howell were each inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season at Georgia Tech last weekend. Howell replaced senior Dennis Horner who was 24 starts. Freshman Scott Wood is the only Pack player to start all 25 games, the first 23 at small forward before starting at shooting guard the last two games.
Juniors Javier Gonzalez and Tracy Smith have been staples in the starting lineup all season, as the two have combined to start 46 of their 48 games played this season.
Davis Provides Spark: Freshman forward Josh Davis might not have been known to many Wolfpack fans when he was a late signee this past spring, but the one-star recruit's impact on the court is making him a well known factor.
The local product from Athens Drive High School has made his way into the starting lineup each of the last two games at small forward. Davis has averaged 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 29.5 minutes in those games.
