Pack Returns Home to Host Syracuse

The NC State men's basketball team (14-8, 3-6 ACC) returns home to PNC Arena Wednesday evening to host Syracuse (13-9, 5-4 ACC) after playing its last two games on the road against ranked opponents.The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Karl Ravech and LaPhonso Ellis 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
- NC State fell to #13/14 Louisville, 85-60, Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. Abdul-Malik Abu and Maverick Rowan led the Pack's offensive attack with 13 points each. Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., added a team-best six assists and three steals.
- With at least 10 games still left in the season, freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., is already in the top-5 in numerous NC State freshman categories. He has 49 steals on the season, second-most by an NC State freshman (Chris Corchiani - 61). He has scored 417 points this season and with 10 points on Wednesday night would move past T.J. Warren and teammate Maverick Rowan into third place in the NC State record for most points scored by a freshman (Brandon Costner - 605).
- In the last three games, junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu is averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 63.9 percent from the field (23-of-36) and has shot at least 60 percent from the field in all three games.
- Ted Kapita's double-double at Duke made him the sixth NC State player to record a double-double this season. Abdul-Malik Abu (4), Dennis Smith (3), Torin Dorn (2), BeeJay Anya (1) and Omer Yurtseven (1) have also recorded double-doubles this season. The six players with a double-double ties for the most in the ACC with Florida State, UNC-Chapel Hill and Syracuse.

Noting NC State
- NC State is ranked 66th in the most recent RPI with a 2-4 record overall against teams listed in the top-50. The Wolfpack's strength of schedule currently sits at 52nd in the NCAA. Thirteen ACC teams are ranked 66th or better in the RPI.
- After being outrebounded in five of the first seven games of the season, the Pack has outrebounded its opponents in nine of its last 15 games.
- The Pack has had more assists than turnovers in 15 of its 22 games this season. NC State is 12-3 when it has more assists than turnovers this season.
- Inside the numbers: Two stats that are a good predictor of the result for NC State - rebounding and opponent field goal percentage. The Pack is 9-2 this season when it outrebounds its opponent, but just 5-6 when the opponent wins the battle on the boards. This season when NC State holds its opponent to 45 percent shooting or worse from the field, the Pack is 10-1. NC State is 4-7 if its opponent shoots over 45 percent from the field.
- In the Pack's 14 wins this season, opponents are shooting 39.2 percent from the field (355-906) and averaging to score 70.3 points per game. In the Pack's eight losses, opponents are shooting 49.5 percent (255-515) and averaging 90.8 points per game.
- Freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr., has led NC State in scoring in 9 of the last 13 games, in assists 11 of the last 13 games and has led the team in steals in 13 consecutive games.
- Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., scored in double figures in the first 21 games this season before being held to eight points at Louisville on Sunday. He is the 10th freshmen in ACC history to have a double-figure scoring streak of at least 20 games.
- Smith is one of 12 players named to the midseason watch list for the Wayman Tisdale Award (national freshman of the year) and is one of 10 players named as a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award (best point guard in the country).
- Prior to his 14 point (on 6-7 shooting), 10 rebound in 19 minutes performance on Monday at Duke, freshman Ted Kapita had played 26 total minutes in ACC play (not playing in the last two games), and had scored four points 2-of-5 shooting and had seven rebounds.

Balanced Scoring Attack
            NC State has had five or more players reach double figures in scoring in six games this season. Last season in 33 games, NC State only had three games where five players reached double figures in scoring. The Pack had five players reach double-figures vs. Georgia Southern (Nov. 11), St. Francis Brooklyn (Nov. 13), Fairfield (Dec. 18) and Wake Forest (Jan. 21) and had six players in double figures in the win over Appalachian State (Dec. 15) and Rider (Dec. 28). In the Jan. 4 win over Virginia Tech, NC State had three players (Dennis Smith, Jr., Terry Henderson & Abdul-Malik Abu) score 20+ points. The Pack has had five different players lead the team in scoring this season: Abdul-Malik Abu, Torin Dorn, Terry Henderson, Maverick Rowan and Dennis Smith, Jr. Through 22 games this season, the Pack has five players averaging in double figures.

Smith Sets PNC Arena Assists Record
Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., set a PNC Arena record on Wednesday, Dec. 28 when he passed out 16 assists in the Pack's 99-71 win over Rider. The 16 assists broke the previous record of 13 which was held by NC State's Lorenzo Brown (vs. Duke on 1/12/13) and UNC-Chapel Hill's Kendall Marshall (vs. NC State on 2/21/12). The 16 assists are the most in a single-game by an NCAA DI player this season.

More on Smith's Triple-Double
- Dennis Smith Jr.'s triple-double was the second in school history. (Julius Hodge - 11pts/12reb/10ast - vs. North Carolina A&T on 12/14/02).
- His triple-double is the 17th in NCAA DI this season and the 3rd by an ACC player. He is the only ACC player this year to record his triple-double against an ACC foe.
- Smith is the 7th freshmen in ACC history to record a triple-double. He is the only one of the seven freshmen to register his triple-double against an ACC opponent.
- In addition to the triple-double, Smith also had a career-high five steals in the win over the Hokies.

Getting Their First Run with the Pack
            Counting Terry Henderson (who only played the first six minutes of the season last year before being injured and lost for the year), 69.2% of the minutes (3063 of 4425 minutes) played for NC State this season have been by players that did not play for the Wolfpack last season. Not counting Henderson, the Pack has had seven players make their NC State debut this season, including five freshmen. The five freshmen have played 1787 minutes this season, 40.4% of the total minutes played on the year. The freshmen class accounts for the highest percentage of minutes played this season for NC State.

One of Top-Scoring Trios in ACC
            Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., senior Terry Henderson and junior Abdul-Malik Abu combine to form one of the top-scoring trios in the ACC. The trio combines to average 45.2 points per game. Overall, Dorn, Henderson and Smith have combined to score 990 points this season, which is 55.7% of the points scored by NC State this year.

Top Scoring Trios in ACC
Pittsburgh - Jamel Artis (21.1), Michael Young (20.3), Cameron Johnson (11.6)           53.0     67.7%
Duke - Luke Kennard (20.2), Grayson Allen (15.6), Amile Jefferson (11.9)        46.7     54.4%
NC State - Dennis Smith, Jr. (19.0), Terry Henderson (14.3), Malik Abu (11.8)          45.2     55.7%

Freshmen Running the Show
            Freshman point guards Dennis Smith, Jr., and Markell Johnson run the show for the Wolfpack this season. The two players combined have 194 assists and 92 turnovers in 1187 minutes of action this season. The two combine to average just 1 turnover every 12.9 minutes. Johnson (51 assists/23 turnovers) has a 2.22 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Smith (143 assists/69 turnovers) has a 2.07 assist-to-turnover ratio. The two players combine to have a 2.16 assist-to-turnover ratio. Through 21 games, NC State is averaging 81.7 points per game and shooting 48.1% from the field. The points per game rank fourth in the ACC and the field goal percentage ranks fifth. The two freshmen also rank 1st (Smith - 46) and 2nd (Johnson - 21) on the team in steals.

Smith Aiming to be Second Freshman in ACC History
            Two months into the season, freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr., is on pace to become just the second freshman in ACC history to lead the league in both assists and steals. Smith currently ranks first in the ACC in assists (6.55) and first in steals (2.23). In the 2013-14 season, Tyler Ennis of Syracuse became the first freshman in ACC history to lead the league in both categories. Ennis averaged 5.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game in his rookie year for Syracuse. Since the 1972-73 season, seven freshmen have led the ACC in assists and since 1977-78 three freshmen have led the league in steals.

ACC Freshman of the Week Two Times
            Dennis Smith, Jr., has been named ACC Freshman of the Week two times this season (Dec. 19 and Jan. 9).
            He was named Freshman of the Week on Dec. 19 after averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in two Wolfpack wins the previous week. For the week, Smith was 11-for-18 (.611) from the field, including 6-for-9 (.667) from 3-point range.
            He was named Freshman of the Week on Jan. 9 after recording the first triple-double in ACC history by a freshman against an ACC opponent. Smith had 27 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and 11 assists in NC State's 104-78 win over 21st-ranked Virginia Tech. It was the second triple-double in NC State history.

Abu Climbing NC State Career Offensive Rebounding Ledger
Junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu has been a capable offensive rebounder throughout his career at NC State. This year, Abu has 52 offensive rebounds in 22 games (2.36 per game) and has 29 more offensive rebounds than the next closest player on the team. (Omer Yurtseven - 23). For his career, Abu has 238 offensive rebounds to rank tied for seventh all-time in the NC State record book for career offensive rebounds.
Smith on Pace to Stand Alone in NC State Freshman Record Book
Freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr., is on pace to finish his freshman campaign at NC State as the leader in numerous all-time freshman categories. Through 22 games, Smith is averaging 19.0 points per game, 6.5 assists per game and 2.23 steals per game.

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Players Mentioned

Abdul-Malik Abu

BeeJay Anya

Torin Dorn

Terry Henderson

Markell Johnson

Ted Kapita

Maverick Rowan

Dennis Smith, Jr.

Omer Yurtseven