Pack Closes Opening Homestand against Mercer on Saturday

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RALEIGH, NC – The NC State men's basketball team closes its season-opening six game homestand on Saturday when Mercer visits PNC Arena.

The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

The game will be shown on ACC Network Extra with Andrew Sanders and Ernie Myers calling the action. Fans can also listen to Tony Haynes and Chucky Brown with the call for the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Postgame Lay-up Line
 At the conclusion of the game, children sixth grade and younger will be given the opportunity to come onto the court at PNC Arena and participate in lay-up lines. Register for the post-game event here.

Pack Tracks
 NC State improved to 5-0 with an 85-57 win over Saint Peter's on Tuesday night. The Pack rode a balanced offensive attack to the win, as four players scored in double figures and eight of the 10 players on the roster finished with seven or more points. Senior guard Torin Dorn led the Pack in scoring with 12 points, the fourth time in five games the Charlotte native has led NC State in scoring.
 NC State is averaging 38.4 points per game from its bench this season. It has outscored the opponents bench by over 100 points through five games. The Pack is +135 (192-57) in points off-the-bench this season.
 NC State's 51-point victory over UNC Asheville on 11/13 was historic for the Pack. With the win the Pack became the first team in ACC history to win each of its first three games of the season by 46 points or more.
Through games of Nov. 21, NC State ranks 10th out of 351 NCAA Division l teams in scoring offense (93.4) and scoring defense (54.6). NC State's scoring margin of 38.8 points per game ranks second in the NCAA.
 The Pack's defense limited four of its first five opponents this season to field goal percentages lower than any team shot against NC State last season: Saint Peter's (33.3%), UNC Asheville (33.3%), Maryland Eastern Shore (31.5%) and Mount St. Mary's (32.8%). Last season the lowest FG% for an NC State opponent was 34.8 percent by Robert Morris. For the season, NC State's opponents are shooting 36.7% from the field against the Pack, a stat that ranks third in the ACC and 31st in the NCAA.

NC State - Mercer Series
 Saturday marks the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs, but only the second in the modern era.
 Mercer leads the all-time series 3-1, but all three of its wins in the series came in the 1920s. NC State won the last meeting between the two programs, 73-48, on Dec. 14, 1963. The 1963-64 season was the last season legendary NC State coach Everett Case was the head coach of the program.
 The Pack has a 105-20 all-time record against teams currently in the Southern Conference.

Saturday Storylines
 NC State has won 26 of its last 27 non-conference games at PNC Arena.
 Forcing turnovers: Both teams have turned their opponents over in the first five games of the season. The Pack has forced 90 opponent turnovers while Mercer has forced 86 turnovers. NC State ranks 24th in the country in turnover margin, while the Bears rank 54th.
 Delivering a knockout punch early: NC State has ended its opponents hope of a win in PNC Arena early in the past four outings. The Pack jumped out to a 22-4 lead on Maryland Eastern Shore on 11/10. They led UNC Asheville 24-4 on 11/13 and in last Saturday's game against Maine, NC State led 15-0, four minutes into the game. On Tuesday, NC State went on a 40-6 run against Saint Peter's in the first half, holding the Peacocks without a field goal for over 12 minutes. The Pack's average halftime lead this season is 24.8 points.
 NC State has outscored its opponents by more than 20 points in six of the 10 halves this season. The Pack outscored Mount St. Mary's by 40 points in the second half, outscored Maryland Eastern Shore by 36 points in the first half, outscoured UNC Asheville by 22 points in the first half and 29 points in the second half and outscored Maine by 24 points in the first half last Saturday. In its last outing, NC State took a 32 point lead into halftime against Saint Peter's.
 Balanced scoring attack for the Pack: Torin Dorn is the only Pack player to score in double figures in all five games this season. In NC State's five games there have been 21 double-digit performances by nine different players. Only Blake Harris (scored 8 points against Mount St. Mary's and UNC Asheville) has not reached double figures yet for the Pack.

Pack Closes Opening Homestand against Mercer on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Torin Dorn

Blake Harris