NC State
Loyola (Chicago)
Pack Returns Home to Host Loyola (Chicago)
11/25/2016 5:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NC State has not played at home in nearly two weeks
The NC State men's basketball team plays its first home game in 13 days Saturday afternoon when it hosts Loyola (Chicago) at 4 p.m. in PNC Arena. The Wolfpack are 4-1 on the season, while Loyola enters the contest with a 5-1 record.Â
The game will be shown on ACC Network Extra with Andrew Sanders (play-by-play) and Chris Corchiani (analyst) on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes calling the action.
Saturday Need to Know                                    Â
This is NC State's first home game in 13 days ... This game is part of the Paradise Jam, but does not count in the final standings of the tournament ... The Pack finished third in the Paradise Jam with a 2-1 record ... Loyola finished fourth in the Paradise Jam with a 2-1 record ... The only common opponent for the two teams at the tournament was Saint Joseph's ... The Pack beat Saint Joseph's 73-63, while Loyola lost to Hawks, 71-57, to open the tournament ... The Ramblers start three transfer from Power-5 schools; Clayton Custer (Iowa State), Milton Doyle (Kansas) and Maurice Kirby (Virginia Tech) ... Since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, Loyola has recorded six wins over Power 5, Big East or Mountain West Conference teams (Mississippi State, Texas Tech, Washington State, Boise State, Creighton and DePaul).
NC State vs. Loyola Series        Â
This is the third-ever meeting between the Wolfpack and the Ramblers ... The series is tied at one ... In the last meeting, the Pack defeated Loyola, 97-85, in Reynolds Coliseum on 12/30/86.
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 four different players lead the team in scoring this season: Terry Henderson vs. Georgia Southern and Creighton, Torin Dorn vs. St. Francis, Abdul-Malik Abu vs. Montana and Dennis Smith, Jr., vs. Saint Joseph's. Through five games this season, the Pack has six players averaging at least 15.4 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), 70.8% of the minutes (708 of 1000 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.
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 four games this season, Dorn is 34-of-54 (63.0%) from the field. He is 26-of-38 (68.4%) 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.
Freshmen Running the Show      Â
Freshmen point guards Dennis Smith, Jr., and Markell Johnson run the show for the Wolfpack this season. The two players combined have 43 assists and just 14 turnovers in 284 minutes of action this season. The two combine to average just one turnover every 20.3 minutes. Johnson (17 assists/3 turnovers) has a 5.67 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Smith (26 assists/11 turnovers) has a 2.36 assist-to-turnover ratio. Johnson is leading all ACC freshmen in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.67:1), while Smith leads all ACC freshmen in scoring (17.8) and assists 5.2) per game. At the Paradise Jam last week, Johnson had 14 assists, seven steals and just 1 turnover in 83 minutes of action. Through five games, NC State is averaging 83.8 points per game and shooting 50% from the field.Â
Mr. Double-Double      Â
Junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu has two double-doubles this season and now has 18 for his career. The 18 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.
