Wolfpack Close Out Regular Season at Virginia Tech

March 2, 2012

NC STATE  (19-11, 8-7 ACC)  vs. VIRGINIA TECH (15-15, 4-11 ACC)

6 PM

CASSELL COLISEUM

BLACKSBURG, VA

TELEVISION: ESPNU

Justin Kutcher, Play-by-Play, Hubert Davis, Color Analyst

Jeannine Edwards, Sideline Reporter

RADIO: NC STATE RADIO NETWORK 

Gary Hahn, Play-by-Play, Tony Haynes, Color Analyst

Game Notes | Listen | GameTracker 

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Wolfpack looks to close out the regular season on a high note when it travels to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech in the regular-season finale for both teams. On the line for NC State is ACC Tournament seeding. The Pack can finish as high as fourth and as low as seventh with a combination of wins and losses by NC State, Clemson, Miami and Virginia, which are all tied with identical 8-7 conference marks. 

In addition to finishing the season on the positive side at Virginia Tech, a Wolfpack win can snap a four-game slide against the Hokies. State's last victory in the series came on Feb. 5, 2008, when it posted a 73-63 home win over Virginia Tech. A triumph on Sunday would give the Wolfpack its first 20-win regular season and its first winnning conference record since the 2005-06 season when it finished the year with 21 victories in the regular season and a 10-6 ACC record. 

Game time is 6 p.m., from Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum. 

TRANSITION POINTS

 The Wolfpack leads the all-time series with Hokies 34-15. 

 NC State is 10-8 in road games in the series, but 3-4 at Cassell Coliseum.

 State is 3-0 in games televised on ESPNU this season.

 The Pack is looking snap a four-game slide against the Hokies dating back to the 2008-09 season. 

 This is Mark Gottfried's first game versus Virginia Tech. 

 With a win Sunday, the Pack can log its 20th regular-season victory for the first time since the 2005-06 season and secure its first winning ACC mark since 2005-06.

 Sunday's contest is the second time in the last three years that the Pack has closed out the road portion of its ACC schedule at Virginia Tech. State suffered a 71-59 setback in Blacksburg on March 3, 2010.

 Over its last five games, NC State has outscored its opponents 160-136 in the paint.

 If the Pack were to win its last ACC game, it would give coach Mark Gottfried the second best ACC mark by State coach in his first year, trailing only Press Maravich's 10-4 mark in 1964-65. 

 Scott Wood has made a three pointer in an ACC-best 27 consecutive games. 

 In his last 20 games, Alex Johnson is boasting a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. In ACC play, his assist-to-turnover ratio improves to 2.7.

 Lorenzo Brown is nine assists from tying Spudd Webb (199) for seventh on the Pack's  single-season list. 

 C.J. Leslie is averaging 17.5 points over the Pack's last eight games, including a career high 24 points against North Carolina (2/21/12). He is shooting .505 from field which is the fourth best percentage in the ACC.  

 Richard Howell is the ACC's fourth leading rebounder with an average of 9.2 per game. 

 The Pack's strength of schedule is 23^rd according to Collegerpi.com (as of 3/2/12) and its NCAA RPI is 72^nd.

North Carolina State University Athletics

Wolfpack Close Out Regular Season at Virginia Tech

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