North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack to face #22/20 Creighton Sunday in Paradise Jam
11/19/2016 1:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NC State defeated Montana Friday to advance to Paradise Jam semifinals
The NC State men's basketball team returns to action Sunday evening when it faces #22/20 Creighton at 8:30 p.m. ET in the Paradise Jam held in St. Thomas, USVI.
Sunday's game will be televised on CBS Sports Network with Darren Goldwater (play-by-play), Kevin Lehman (analyst) and Monyka Johnigan (reporter) on the call. Wolfpack fans can also listen to the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Patrick Kinas calling the action.
Sunday will be only the second-meeting all-time between the two programs. NC State won the only other meeting between the two teams, 86-55, on Dec. 26, 1987 in Honolulu, Hi. The Pack are 40-27 all-time against opponents currently in the Big East.
Last Game
The Wolfpack opened the Paradise Jam on Friday evening by defeating Montana, 85-72. NC State outscored Montana by 15 points in the second half to win going away. Junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Pack. Abu was 8-of-10 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw. Abu also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Pack was freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., with 21 points and sophomore Torin Dorn with 16 points.Â
Freshman Markell Johnson came off the bench to score nine points, pass out six assists and record four steals. Johnson played 27 minutes against Montana and did not commit a turnover.
Sunday Need to Know                                    Â
This is NC State's first appearance in the Paradise Jam. The Pack last played in the Caribbean in the 2012-13 season at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off ... NC State defeated Penn State and Princeton before falling to Oklahoma State in the championship game. #22/20 Creighton is 3-0 and has already knocked off a top-10 opponent this season, in beating ninth-ranked Wisconsin, 79-67, on Nov. 15. The Bluejays return 11 lettermen and four starters from last year's team. Creighton is averaging 90.3 points per game this season and shooting 52.7% from the field. The Bluejays have connected on 33 three-pointers in three gamesnand are shooting 48.5% from long distance.
Balanced Scoring Attack      Â
NC State had five players reach double figures in scoring in its two opening games this season. Last season in 33 games, NC State only had three games where five players reached double figures in scoring. The Pack has had a different leading scorer in each game: Terry Henderson vs. Georgia Southern, Torin Dorn vs. St. Francis and Abdul-Malik Abu vs. Montana. Through three games this season, the Pack has six players averaging at least 14.0 points per game.
Getting Their First Run with the Pack      Â
Counting Terry Henderson (who only played the first six minutes of the season last year before being injured and lost for the year), almost 70% of the minutes (415 of 600 minutes) played for NC State this season have been by players that did not play for the Wolfpack last season. NC State will eventually add another newcomer to its lineup when five-star recruit Omer Yurtseven becomes eligible to play. Yurtseven has to sit out the first nine games of the season for the Pack.
Shooting Star      Â
Sophomore guard Torin Dorn shot 50.5% from the field as a freshman at UNC-Charlotte in 2014-15 en route to being named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year. Through three games this season, Dorn is 23-of-33 (69.7%) from the field. He is 22-of-27 (81.5%) on two-pointers. Dorn did not miss a two-point field goal attempt in the Nov. 13 game against St. Francis. He was 8-of-8 in the game on two-pointers. He also hit his his first four field goals against Montana before missing a layup late in the first half to snap his streak of 13 consecutive 2-point field goals made.
Freshman Running the Show      Â
Freshman point guards Dennis Smith, Jr., and Markell Johnson run the show for the Wolfpack this season. The two players combined have 20 assists and just eight turnovers in 152 minutes of action this season. The two combine to average just 1 turnover every 19 minutes. Through three games, NC State is averaging 84.0 points per game and shooting 52.7% from the field. Johnson has been very sharp in the last two games. He is 7-of-9 (77.8%) from the field with nine assists and just one turnover in his last two outings.
Mr. Double-Double      Â
Junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu opened the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his 17th career double-double. The 17 double-doubles are the most of any current player in the ACC. Abu had two double-doubles as a freshman and 14 last season as a sophomore.
