NC State
Illinois
Wolfpack Heads to Illinois for first road test of the season
11/28/2016 3:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
After three home games and three neutral site games, Pack heads out for first true road game of the year
The NC State men's basketball team plays its first road game of the season on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET, as it takes on Illinois in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. NC State is off to a 5-1 start this season, while Illinois enters the contest with a 4-3 record.
The game will be shown on ESPNU with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Sean Harrington (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.
Pack Tracks
-Â The Pack battled back from an 11-point first half deficit to defeat Loyola, 79-77, on Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena. At 5-1, NC State is off to its best start since the 2014-15 team started the season 6-0.
- Freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr., has scored 20 points or more in four consecutive games. Against Loyola on Saturday, he recorded a season-high 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting. He added seven assists, six rebounds and three steals in the win.
-Â Getting to the foul line:Â The Pack has made more free throws this season (111) than its opponents have attempted (109). NC State has attempted more free throws than its opponent in all six games and has made more free throws than its opponent in five of six games.
-Â In the past three games, the Pack has shot 30-of-64 (46.9%) from three-point range after only hitting nine three-pointers in the first three games.
- Despite the departure of Cat Barber, the leading scorer in the ACC last season, and returning just 45.4% of its scoring, 65.5% of its rebounding and 29.8% of its assists, the Wolfpack was selected 6th in the preseason ACC media poll.
Tuesday Need to Know                                    Â
This is NC State's first road game of the season ... They have played three home games and three neutral site games prior to the game at Illinois ... The game at Illinois will mark NC State's only true road game of the non-conference schedule ... The Pack play five games at PNC Arena and one game at its former home of Reynolds Coliseum in December before opening ACC play on Dec. 31 at Miami ... The Pack are 6-10 all-time in the ACC Big Ten-Challenge ... The Wolfpack's last win in the challenge was 12/4/13 vs. Northwestern, 69-48 ... NC State's last road win in the challenge was at Purdue, 61-59, on 12/1/99 ... Illinois Head Coach John Groce was an assistant on Herb Sendek's staff at NC State from 1996-2000.
NC State vs. Illinois Series        Â
This is the fourth-ever meeting between the Wolfpack and the Fighting Illini ... Illinois has won the previous three meetings ... The last meeting was 12/30/95 in the Rainbow Classic, won by Illinois 85-76.
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 and Loyola (Chicago). Through six games this season, the Pack has five players averaging at least 13.8 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), 72.8% of the minutes (874 of 1200 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 41-of-64 (64.1%) from the field. He is 31-of-45 (68.9%) on two-pointers and 10-of-19 (52.6%) on three-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
Freshman point guards Dennis Smith, Jr., and Markell Johnson run the show for the Wolfpack this season. The two players combined have 52 assists and just 17 turnovers in 359 minutes of action this season. The two combine to average just 1 turnover every 21.1 minutes. Johnson (19 assists/4 turnovers) has a 4.75 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Smith (33 assists/13 turnovers) has a 2.75 assist-to-turnover ratio. Through six games, NC State is averaging 83.0 points per game and shooting 50.1% from the field. The two freshmen also have 10 steals each and are tied for the team lead in that category.
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.
