Pack Hosts Miami on Saturday Afternoon

The NC State men's basketball team (14-9, 3-7 ACC) hosts Miami on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at PNC Arena. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.

Justin Kutcher and Dan Bonner will call the game for the ACC Network. ACC Network affiliates showing the game in North Carolina include: WFMY (Charlotte), WFMY (Greensboro - Winston-Salem - High Point), WITN-D2 (Greenville - New Bern - Washington) WSFX (Wilmington) and WRAL (Raleigh - Durham - Fayetteville). A full list of affiliates carrying the game can be found here: http://www.theacc.com/news/acc-basketball-on-the-acc-network-miami-at-nc-state-02-04-2017.

Fans can also listen to the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes calling the action.

Saturday is Military Appreciation Day at PNC Arena. Military members and veterans can purchase tickets to the game for $10 with a valid ID. Contact the ticket office at 919-865-1510 to purchase tickets.

Fans are asked to help support military families by bringing a donation of goods or supplies to PNC Arena on Saturday. Donation boxes will be located at each PNC Arena entrance and all items collected will be given back to local North Carolina military families in need by the Support US Armed Forces organization.

List of Household items needed include: Laundry detergent, laundry dryer sheets, all-purpose cleaner, liquid dish soap, hand soap, bar soap, paper towels, zip-lock bags, trash bags, shampoo, toothbrushes, AA and AAA batteries.

Pack Tracks
- NC State dropped an overtime battle to Syracuse on Wednesday evening, 100-93. Sophomore Maverick Rowan led the Wolfpack with a career-high 31 points, while freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., registered his second career triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists. Abdul-Malik Abu (19), Terry Henderson (16) and Omer Yurtseven (10) also reached double figures as the Pack had five players in double figures scoring for the seventh time this season.
- Rowan connected on 8-of-18 three-point field goal attempts against the Orange on Wednesday to set career-highs in both categories. The eight three-point field goals tie for the second-most in a single game in NC State history, while the 18 three-point attempts are the most in a single-game in NC State history.
- Smith's triple-double on Wednesday was the second of the year for the ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year. He is the fourth player in ACC history to record two triple-doubles in a single season and is the first player in ACC history to rack up both of his triple-doubles against ACC opponents.
- In the last four games, junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu is averaging 17.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 59.6 percent from the field (31-of-52) and has shot at least 60 percent from the field in three of the four games.

            Noting NC State
- 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.
- 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 50 steals on the season, second-most by an NC State freshman (Chris Corchiani - 61). He has scored 430 points this season and is 29 points shy of moving into second place in the NC State record for most
points scored by a freshman (Brandon Costner - 605).
- After being outrebounded in five of the first seven games of the season, the Pack has outrebounded its opponents in 10 of its last 16 games.
- The Pack has had more assists than turnovers in 16 of its 23 games this season.  NC State is 124 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 9-3 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 4-8 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 nine losses, opponents are shooting 50.2 percent (287-572) and averaging 91.8 points per game.
- Freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr., has led NC State in scoring in 9 of the last 14 games, in assists 12 of the last 14 games and had led the team in steals in the 13 previous games before Maverick Rowan led the team with two steals Wednesday vs. Syracuse.
- 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).

Balanced Scoring Attack
            NC State has had five or more players reach double figures in scoring in seven 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), Wake Forest (Jan. 21) and Syracuse (Feb. 1) 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 23 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-Doubles
- Prior to this season, NC State had only one triple-double in school history. (Julius Hodge - 11pts/12reb/10ast - vs. North Carolina A&T on 12/14/02).
- Smith is the fourth player in ACC history to record multiple triple-doubles in a season, but he is the first player in ACC history to register both of his triple-doubles against ACC opponents.
- 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.
- He is the only player in NCAA DI to have multiple triple-doubles this season.

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), 68.8% of the minutes (3197 of 4650 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 1889 minutes this season, 40.6% 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 45.1 points per game. Overall, Dorn, Henderson and Smith have combined to score 1,038 points this season, which is 55.5% 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. (18.7), Terry Henderson (14.3), Malik Abu (12.1)           45.1      55.5%

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 213 assists and 95 turnovers in 1249 minutes of action this season. The two combine to average just 1 turnover every 13.1 minutes. Johnson (55 assists/24 turnovers) has a 2.29 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Smith (158 assists/71 turnovers) has a 2.23 assist-to-turnover ratio. The two players combine to have a 2.24 assist-to-turnover ratio. Through 23 games, NC State is averaging 81.3 points per game and shooting 47.8% from the field. The Pack ranks fifth in the ACC in both stat categories. The two freshmen also rank 1st (Smith - 50) and 2nd (Johnson - 22) 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 (6.87) and first in steals (2.17). 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.

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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