Pack Heads to Atlantic City to Face Penn State

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (8-1) returns to action Saturday when it travels to Atlantic City, N.J., to play Penn State as part of the inaugural Air Force Reserve Boardwalk Classic presented by Citi.

The game will tipoff at 2 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU. NC State fans can also tune in to the Wolfpack Sports Network to hear Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action.

Pack Tracks
- NC State forced 33 Western Carolina turnovers on Dec. 5 to defeat the Catamounts, 100-67. The 33 turnovers are the most for an NC State opponent dating back to the 1997-98 season. Devon Daniels led the Pack with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
- Jericole Hellems (16 points) and Blake Harris (15 points) both came off the bench and scored career-highs in Wednesday's win over WCU. The Pack's bench is averaging 33.8 points per game this season and has had 10 individual double-digit scoring performances. The Pack scored 44 points off the bench against WCU and has scored 40+ points in four games this season. It has outscored the opponents bench by 168 points (304-136).
- In the Pack's eight wins it has held its opponents to 23% three-point shooting (34-of-148). For the season, NC State ranks 10th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding its opponents to 26.6% shooting.
- Through games of Dec. 12, NC State ranks 9th out of 351 NCAA Division l teams in scoring offense (88.9) and 26th in scoring defense (62.0). They are the only team in the country to rank in the top 30 of both categories. NC State's scoring margin of 269 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%).

NC State - Penn State Series
- Saturday marks the 21st meeting in program history.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 17-3
- The two teams met last season on Nov. 29 in Raleigh in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. NC State won the game, 85-78.

Saturday Storylines
- A win on Saturday would give NC State an 9-1 record for the first time since the 2005-06 team started the season with a 12-1 record.
- Turnovers: The Pack leads the ACC and ranks in the top-10 in the NCAA in turnovers forced (18.78 per game; 9th in the NCAA) and turnover margin (+6.8; 4th in the NCAA). Penn State averages 12.9 turnovers per game, NC State has forced 15 or more turnovers in seven of nine games this season.
- Three-Point Shooting: Penn State is only shooting 31.3% from three-point range this season and the Pack's defense ranks 10th in the NCAA in opponent three-point field goal percentage at 26.6%.
- Balanced scoring attack for the Pack: Torin Dorn is the only Pack player to score in double figures in all nine games this season. In NC State's nine games there have been 34 double-digit scoring performances by 10 different players as every single player on the NC State roster has had a double-digit scoring performance this season.
- Balanced scoring attack for the Pack: Torin Dorn is the only Pack player to score in double figures in all nine games this season. In NC State's nine games there have been 34 double-digit scoring performances by 10 different players as every single player on the NC State roster has had a double-digit scoring performance this season.

Players Mentioned

Devon Daniels

Torin Dorn

Blake Harris

Jericole Hellems

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