North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Opens Basketball Season Friday Night
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| NC State (0-0) vs. Jackson State (0-0) | ||
| Date | Friday, Nov. 14 | |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET | |
| Location | PNC Arena - Raleigh, N.C. | |
| Tickets | Tickets | |
| Television | ESPN 3 | |
| Radio | Wolfpack Sports Network (Gary Hahn, Tony Haynes) | |
| Game Notes | NC State | Jackson State | |
| 2013-14 Season Statistics | NC State | Jackson State | |
| Live Stats | GameTracker | |
| Social Media | @PackMensBball  | Facebook  |
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The Starting 5 - The Top 5 Storylines For This Game
1. New Team, New Season
A team with eight scholarship freshmen and sophomores and a redshirt junior suiting up at NC State for the first time will be taking the floor Friday night to begin NC State's 105th season of intercollegiate basketball. Last season's Wolfpack squad was one of the nation's youngest, and this year's edition is almost as green. NC State returns just 52.8% of its starts from last season.
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2. NC State's Season Openers
The Wolfpack is 57-4 all-time in season openers since ACC play began in 1953. NC State hasn't lost a season opener since a 94-80 setback to Weber State back on Nov. 24, 1993. Only five players on the current Wolfpack roster were alive when that loss to Weber State took place. The only four season-opening losses for NC State took place in 1976 (North Carolina), 1979 (North Carolina), 1992 (UNC Wilmington) and 1993 (Weber State). Mark Gottfried is 13-4 all-time in season openers (3-0 at NC State, 7-4 at Alabama, 3-0 at Murray State).
3. First Time For #1
Friday evening will be the first regular season chance for Wolfpack fans to see redshirt junior guard Trevor Lacey in action. Lacey, who played two seasons at Alabama and then sat out last season after transferring to NCSU, is expected to be a significant contributor for the Pack this season. Friday night will be Lacey's first time playing in a countable basketball game since March 26, 2013 when he played in the NIT at Alabama.
4. New Freshmen
NC State's three scholarship freshmen will be getting their first action on the floor at PNC Arena this Saturday. Abdul-Malik Abu, a 6-8 forward from Boston, and 6-6 twins Caleb and Cody Martin will make their regular season debuts. As a signing class, the trio was ranked 16th nationally by 247Sports and 18th by ESPN. Both Caleb Martin (16 points) and Abu (14) scored in double figures in the exhibition vs. Queens.
5. 3 Seasons, 3 NCAAs
Mark Gottfried, in his fourth season at NC State, will be working toward mentoring his team into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. The Wolfpack has made the Big Dance in each of his first three seasons, making Gottfried the first Pack coach and just the third in ACC history to achieve that feat. It marks the first time NC State had made three straight tournaments since 2004-06.
