Saturday, February 17
Winston-Salem, NC
4:00 PM
NC State
at
Wake Forest
Pack Visits Wake Forest on Saturday
2/16/2018 4:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Against Demon Deacons Ends Part of Schedule Where Pack Played Five of Seven on the Road
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (17-9, 7-6 ACC) aims to move to 4-4 in ACC road games this season when it visits Wake Forest on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip.
The game will be televised on the ACC Network with Evan Lepler and Jason Capel calling the action. The game will be televised in the Raleigh area on WRAZ (Fox 50). A complete list of affiliates showing the game can be found here: http://theacc.com/sports/2017/12/9/acc-network-mbb-180217b.aspx
Wolfpack fans can also tune into the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes calling the action.
Pack Tracks
- NC State snapped its two-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 74-70 win at Syracuse. Allerik Freeman led the Pack with 17 points, while Markell Johnson added 16 points and five assists and Sam Hunt came off-the-bench to connect on four three-pointers in the final 10 minutes of the game, finishing with 14 points in the win.
- In last five games, sophomore guard Markell Johnson is averaging 13.6 points, 9.0 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, while shooting 54.5% from the field, including 50% (9-of-18) from three-point range.
- The Pack enters Saturday's game coming off its best two shooting performances of the ACC season. NC State shot 55.1% from the field in the win over Syracuse on Wednesday, its best shooting percentage in an ACC game this season. The Pack shot 54.7% last Saturday in its loss to UNC-Chapel Hill.
- The Pack has won three of its last four ACC road games. A win Saturday at Wake Forest would mark the first time since the 2011-12 season, NC State won four of five road games in the ACC.
- The NCAA revealed the current Top-16 Seeds in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 11. NC State has 4 wins over Top-16 teams (Duke - 7, Clemson - 9, UNC-CH - 12, Arizona - 15). The Pack is tied with UNC-CH for the most wins over teams in the selection committee's Top-16.
Winning the Turnover Battle
- The Pack is +76 in turnover margin. Pack has forced 385 turnovers and only turned it over themselves 305 times. +76 turnover margin is the second-best in the ACC. Major turnaround from last year. Last season, NC State finished the season -67 in turnover margin.
70 is the Magic Number
When the Pack scores 70 or more points this season, NC State is 17-4. When the Pack scores 69 or fewer points, NC State is 0-5.
Winning the Rebounding Battle
- NC State enters Saturday's contests at Wake Forest having outrebounded eight of its 13 ACC opponents this season.
- Last season, the Pack was outrebounded in ACC play in 10 of 18 games.
- The Pack ranks third in the ACC, averaging 12.92 offensive rebounds per game (336 in 26 games). The Pack has had double-digit offensive rebounds in every ACC game except for three this season (9 vs. Miami on 1/21, 7 vs. UNC on 2/10 and 9 vs. Syracuse on 2/14).
Yurtseven Finding Comfort Level in Sophomore Season
NC State sophomore center Omer Yurtseven came to college last season as a consensus five-star player, but the Istanbul, Turkey native had an up-and-down season as a freshman. Now, as a sophomore a confident Yurtseven is becoming the No. 1 priority on opposing team's scouting reports.
- On the season, ranks second on the team in scoring (13.5) and leads in rebounding (6.8), field goal percentage (59.5%) and blocks (44). In 13 ACC games, leading the team in scoring (15.1), rebounding (6.9), blocks (24) and field goal percentage (55.3%).
- In six ACC home games, Yurtseven is averaging 19.2 points on 59.2% shooting (50-of-84), including 46.7% (7-of-15) from three-point range. Also averaging 7.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
- Yurtseven had a career-high 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range in win over #19 Clemson on 1/11.
- Named Co-ACC Player of the Week on Jan. 22 after averaging 25 points on 65.7 percent shooting in a win over Wake Forest (Jan. 18) and a loss to No. 25 Miami (Jan. 21)
- One of 20 student-athletes to the preseason watch list for this year's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.
Another Sophomore making impact for the Pack
Omer Yurtseven's fellow sophomore teammate Markell Johnson has also seen his impact on this year's Pack team increase as well.
- Johnson leads the Pack in assists (146 / 7.68 per game) and steals (37 / 1.95 per game) this season. He's currently on pace to finish with the highest assist per game average at NC State since Chris Corchiani averaged 9.6 assists per game in the 1990-91 season. His steals per game average would be the best mark at NC State since Clifford Crawford average 2.13 (66 in 31 games) in the 2002-03 season.
- Johnson has not played in the required 75% of games to rank in ACC stats yet (he missed 7 games for a violation of the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct), but his current stats would lead the ACC in assists and steals if he were eligible. His 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio in ACC play would rank second in the league.
- Has had three or more steals in seven of 19 games and seven or more assists in 12 of 19 games.
- Johnson had a career-high 20 points in the win at No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill on 1/27. He added 11 assists for his second career double-double. He scored or assisted on 15 straight NC State points from the 2:58 mark of regulation through the 2:25 mark of overtime. He clinched the win with two free throws with :04 seconds remaining in overtime.
- Johnson has had double-digit assists in five straight games from 1/21 to 2/7. He's the first player in NC State history to have five straight games of double-digit assists.
- In the last seven games with Johnson back in the starting lineup, NC State has assisted on 152 of its 232 field goals (65.5%). In the seven games Johnson missed, NC State had 108 assists on 199 made field goals (54.3%).
Constant Defensive Pressure leading to Opponent Turnovers
- The Pack has forced 12 of 26 opponents this season into 16+-turnovers. Four times, the Pack has forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers in a single game. The last NC State team to force opponents into 20 or more turnovers four times in a season was the 2009-10 team. The last seven NC State teams (2010-11 team through 2016-17 team) only twice forced opponents into 20 turnovers. In Keatts first four games at NC State, his teams forced opponents into 21 (VMI), 24 (Charleston Southern), 27 (Bryant) and 22 (Presbyterian) turnovers.
- The 27 turnovers NC State forced Bryant into on Nov. 14 are the most turnovers the Pack has forced an opponent to commit since Mount St. Mary's had 27 on Nov. 22, 2002.
- In 26 games, the Pack has forced 400 turnovers. The 15.4 turnovers forced per game ranks 36th in NCAA Dl and are the most forced turnovers by a team from the ACC.
- The Pack has a +2.92 turnover margin this season which ranks second in the ACC.
- In ACC play, the Pack is 6-1 when it has less turnovers than its opponents and 1-5 when it has more turnovers than its opponents.
Pack Already Have Most Steals Since 2012-13 Team
- With 202 steals in 26 games, the Pack has already surpassed last season's total steals total of 162, as well as the 2015-16 (149), 2014-15 (138) and 2013-14 (173) NC State teams. The Pack is currently on pace to finish in the top-10 in season steals in program history.
- NC State ranked second in the ACC and 40th overall in NCAA DI with 202 steals.
- NC State recorded 14 steals in the win over Bryant on Nov. 14. It's the most steals in a game for NC State since the Pack had 16 steals in a win over Boston College on Jan. 19, 2012. It was a 192 game span between 14+-steal games for the Pack.
Eight Games Against Top-16 RPI Teams
- Through games of Feb. 15, NC State has played eight games against teams currently ranked in the top-16 in the RPI. That is the most in the country. The Pack is 4-4 in those game.
Bench Production
- NC State's bench is averaging to score 22.8 points per game this season. The Pack's bench has outscored the opponents bench, 592-415 this year.
- NC State's bench has outscored the opponents bench in 18 of 26 games this season.
- The Pack's bench has outscored the opponents bench in nine of 13 games in ACC play and has tied the opponents bench in scoring in two other games. Only Clemson (19-13) on 1/11 and Miami (33-30) on 1/21 have outscored NC State's bench in conference play.
- In the win over No. 2 Arizona at the Battle 4 Atlantis, NC State's bench outscored Arizona's, 39-6. Braxton Beverly had 20 points off-the-bench for the Pack in the win, while Omer Yurtseven had 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
- Against Penn State, NC State's bench outscored the Nittany Lions, 39-9. The Pack's bench consisting of Yurtseven, Sam Hunt and Lavar Batts, Jr., combined to shoot 12-for-15 from the field (80 percent), including 9-for-10 from three-point range.
- In the win at No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill, Allerik Freeman came off-the-bench and scored a career-high 29 points, tying an ACC record for most threes with a miss, connecting on 7-of-7 from three-point range.
Freshman Braxton Beverly Shining in Freshman Season
- Freshman guard Braxton Beverly wasn't cleared to play for NC State this season until Tuesday, Nov. 14 after initially being declared ineligible by the NCAA.
- Beverly currently ranks second in the ACC with a 2.91 assist-to-turnover ratio. The freshman guard has had only two games this season with more turnovers than assists and has had one turnover or fewer in 15 of the 24 games he's played in this season.
- Beverly has been Mr. Clutch at the foul line late in close games this season. The Hazard, Ky., native is 27-of-31 (87.1%) from the foul line with less than four minutes left in the second half.
- In the win over No. 2 Arizona, Beverly went 7-for-9 from the foul line in the closing minutes. He knocked down two free throws with 3:21 left to give the Pack an 80-75 lead, made two more with 2:02 left to go up 84-76 and knocked down two more free throws with 1:48 to play to give NC State an 86-76 lead.
- In the win over Penn State, Beverly made two free throws with :52 seconds left to give the Pack a 79-74 lead. He made two more with :30 seconds left to give NC State an 82-76 lead.
- In the win over No. 19 Clemson, Beverly made two free throws with :09 seconds remaining to give NC State a 78-73 lead. The Pack won the game 78-77 when Clemson missed a free throw with :01 second left.
- In the win over No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill, Beverly made two free throws with :13 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Pack a 93-88 lead on its way to a 95-91 victory.
- For the season, Beverly is shooting 86% (37-of-43) from the foul line.
The game will be televised on the ACC Network with Evan Lepler and Jason Capel calling the action. The game will be televised in the Raleigh area on WRAZ (Fox 50). A complete list of affiliates showing the game can be found here: http://theacc.com/sports/2017/
Wolfpack fans can also tune into the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes calling the action.
Pack Tracks
- NC State snapped its two-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 74-70 win at Syracuse. Allerik Freeman led the Pack with 17 points, while Markell Johnson added 16 points and five assists and Sam Hunt came off-the-bench to connect on four three-pointers in the final 10 minutes of the game, finishing with 14 points in the win.
- In last five games, sophomore guard Markell Johnson is averaging 13.6 points, 9.0 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, while shooting 54.5% from the field, including 50% (9-of-18) from three-point range.
- The Pack enters Saturday's game coming off its best two shooting performances of the ACC season. NC State shot 55.1% from the field in the win over Syracuse on Wednesday, its best shooting percentage in an ACC game this season. The Pack shot 54.7% last Saturday in its loss to UNC-Chapel Hill.
- The Pack has won three of its last four ACC road games. A win Saturday at Wake Forest would mark the first time since the 2011-12 season, NC State won four of five road games in the ACC.
- The NCAA revealed the current Top-16 Seeds in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 11. NC State has 4 wins over Top-16 teams (Duke - 7, Clemson - 9, UNC-CH - 12, Arizona - 15). The Pack is tied with UNC-CH for the most wins over teams in the selection committee's Top-16.
Winning the Turnover Battle
- The Pack is +76 in turnover margin. Pack has forced 385 turnovers and only turned it over themselves 305 times. +76 turnover margin is the second-best in the ACC. Major turnaround from last year. Last season, NC State finished the season -67 in turnover margin.
70 is the Magic Number
When the Pack scores 70 or more points this season, NC State is 17-4. When the Pack scores 69 or fewer points, NC State is 0-5.
Winning the Rebounding Battle
- NC State enters Saturday's contests at Wake Forest having outrebounded eight of its 13 ACC opponents this season.
- Last season, the Pack was outrebounded in ACC play in 10 of 18 games.
- The Pack ranks third in the ACC, averaging 12.92 offensive rebounds per game (336 in 26 games). The Pack has had double-digit offensive rebounds in every ACC game except for three this season (9 vs. Miami on 1/21, 7 vs. UNC on 2/10 and 9 vs. Syracuse on 2/14).
Yurtseven Finding Comfort Level in Sophomore Season
NC State sophomore center Omer Yurtseven came to college last season as a consensus five-star player, but the Istanbul, Turkey native had an up-and-down season as a freshman. Now, as a sophomore a confident Yurtseven is becoming the No. 1 priority on opposing team's scouting reports.
- On the season, ranks second on the team in scoring (13.5) and leads in rebounding (6.8), field goal percentage (59.5%) and blocks (44). In 13 ACC games, leading the team in scoring (15.1), rebounding (6.9), blocks (24) and field goal percentage (55.3%).
- In six ACC home games, Yurtseven is averaging 19.2 points on 59.2% shooting (50-of-84), including 46.7% (7-of-15) from three-point range. Also averaging 7.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
- Yurtseven had a career-high 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range in win over #19 Clemson on 1/11.
- Named Co-ACC Player of the Week on Jan. 22 after averaging 25 points on 65.7 percent shooting in a win over Wake Forest (Jan. 18) and a loss to No. 25 Miami (Jan. 21)
- One of 20 student-athletes to the preseason watch list for this year's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.
Another Sophomore making impact for the Pack
Omer Yurtseven's fellow sophomore teammate Markell Johnson has also seen his impact on this year's Pack team increase as well.
- Johnson leads the Pack in assists (146 / 7.68 per game) and steals (37 / 1.95 per game) this season. He's currently on pace to finish with the highest assist per game average at NC State since Chris Corchiani averaged 9.6 assists per game in the 1990-91 season. His steals per game average would be the best mark at NC State since Clifford Crawford average 2.13 (66 in 31 games) in the 2002-03 season.
- Johnson has not played in the required 75% of games to rank in ACC stats yet (he missed 7 games for a violation of the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct), but his current stats would lead the ACC in assists and steals if he were eligible. His 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio in ACC play would rank second in the league.
- Has had three or more steals in seven of 19 games and seven or more assists in 12 of 19 games.
- Johnson had a career-high 20 points in the win at No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill on 1/27. He added 11 assists for his second career double-double. He scored or assisted on 15 straight NC State points from the 2:58 mark of regulation through the 2:25 mark of overtime. He clinched the win with two free throws with :04 seconds remaining in overtime.
- Johnson has had double-digit assists in five straight games from 1/21 to 2/7. He's the first player in NC State history to have five straight games of double-digit assists.
- In the last seven games with Johnson back in the starting lineup, NC State has assisted on 152 of its 232 field goals (65.5%). In the seven games Johnson missed, NC State had 108 assists on 199 made field goals (54.3%).
Constant Defensive Pressure leading to Opponent Turnovers
- The Pack has forced 12 of 26 opponents this season into 16+-turnovers. Four times, the Pack has forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers in a single game. The last NC State team to force opponents into 20 or more turnovers four times in a season was the 2009-10 team. The last seven NC State teams (2010-11 team through 2016-17 team) only twice forced opponents into 20 turnovers. In Keatts first four games at NC State, his teams forced opponents into 21 (VMI), 24 (Charleston Southern), 27 (Bryant) and 22 (Presbyterian) turnovers.
- The 27 turnovers NC State forced Bryant into on Nov. 14 are the most turnovers the Pack has forced an opponent to commit since Mount St. Mary's had 27 on Nov. 22, 2002.
- In 26 games, the Pack has forced 400 turnovers. The 15.4 turnovers forced per game ranks 36th in NCAA Dl and are the most forced turnovers by a team from the ACC.
- The Pack has a +2.92 turnover margin this season which ranks second in the ACC.
- In ACC play, the Pack is 6-1 when it has less turnovers than its opponents and 1-5 when it has more turnovers than its opponents.
Pack Already Have Most Steals Since 2012-13 Team
- With 202 steals in 26 games, the Pack has already surpassed last season's total steals total of 162, as well as the 2015-16 (149), 2014-15 (138) and 2013-14 (173) NC State teams. The Pack is currently on pace to finish in the top-10 in season steals in program history.
- NC State ranked second in the ACC and 40th overall in NCAA DI with 202 steals.
- NC State recorded 14 steals in the win over Bryant on Nov. 14. It's the most steals in a game for NC State since the Pack had 16 steals in a win over Boston College on Jan. 19, 2012. It was a 192 game span between 14+-steal games for the Pack.
Eight Games Against Top-16 RPI Teams
- Through games of Feb. 15, NC State has played eight games against teams currently ranked in the top-16 in the RPI. That is the most in the country. The Pack is 4-4 in those game.
Bench Production
- NC State's bench is averaging to score 22.8 points per game this season. The Pack's bench has outscored the opponents bench, 592-415 this year.
- NC State's bench has outscored the opponents bench in 18 of 26 games this season.
- The Pack's bench has outscored the opponents bench in nine of 13 games in ACC play and has tied the opponents bench in scoring in two other games. Only Clemson (19-13) on 1/11 and Miami (33-30) on 1/21 have outscored NC State's bench in conference play.
- In the win over No. 2 Arizona at the Battle 4 Atlantis, NC State's bench outscored Arizona's, 39-6. Braxton Beverly had 20 points off-the-bench for the Pack in the win, while Omer Yurtseven had 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
- Against Penn State, NC State's bench outscored the Nittany Lions, 39-9. The Pack's bench consisting of Yurtseven, Sam Hunt and Lavar Batts, Jr., combined to shoot 12-for-15 from the field (80 percent), including 9-for-10 from three-point range.
- In the win at No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill, Allerik Freeman came off-the-bench and scored a career-high 29 points, tying an ACC record for most threes with a miss, connecting on 7-of-7 from three-point range.
Freshman Braxton Beverly Shining in Freshman Season
- Freshman guard Braxton Beverly wasn't cleared to play for NC State this season until Tuesday, Nov. 14 after initially being declared ineligible by the NCAA.
- Beverly currently ranks second in the ACC with a 2.91 assist-to-turnover ratio. The freshman guard has had only two games this season with more turnovers than assists and has had one turnover or fewer in 15 of the 24 games he's played in this season.
- Beverly has been Mr. Clutch at the foul line late in close games this season. The Hazard, Ky., native is 27-of-31 (87.1%) from the foul line with less than four minutes left in the second half.
- In the win over No. 2 Arizona, Beverly went 7-for-9 from the foul line in the closing minutes. He knocked down two free throws with 3:21 left to give the Pack an 80-75 lead, made two more with 2:02 left to go up 84-76 and knocked down two more free throws with 1:48 to play to give NC State an 86-76 lead.
- In the win over Penn State, Beverly made two free throws with :52 seconds left to give the Pack a 79-74 lead. He made two more with :30 seconds left to give NC State an 82-76 lead.
- In the win over No. 19 Clemson, Beverly made two free throws with :09 seconds remaining to give NC State a 78-73 lead. The Pack won the game 78-77 when Clemson missed a free throw with :01 second left.
- In the win over No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill, Beverly made two free throws with :13 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Pack a 93-88 lead on its way to a 95-91 victory.
- For the season, Beverly is shooting 86% (37-of-43) from the foul line.
Players Mentioned
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