Pack Opens ACC Tournament Wednesday against Clemson

ESPN or WRAL | Free Raycom Stream

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team opens play in the ACC Tournament Wednesday at noon when it faces ninth-seed Clemson.

The game will be televised on ESPN and Raycom. The game will be televised by Raycom in the Raleigh area on WRAL (NBC). A complete list of Raycom affiliates showing the game can be found here.

Pack Tracks
- NC State closed the regular season in strong fashion, going on the road to defeat Boston College, 73-47, The 47 points tie for the fewest NC State has allowed this season and the Eagles' 26.7% field goal percentage is the lowest for an opponent in the Kevin Keatts era. The Pack finished the game +20 in rebounding. Every NC State player scored with CJ Bryce leading the team with 14 points. It's the Pack's largest margin of victory away from home since winning at Wake Forest 76-40 on Jan. 14, 2012.
- Torin Dorn led the Pack in scoring in ACC play at 12.8 points per game and ranked 25th in the ACC in scoring in conference play. NC State relies on a balanced scoring attack as six different players led the team in scoring in conference play and only once (Markell Johnson vs. Clemson and Virginia) in conference play did the Pack have the same leading scorer in consecutive games.
- The Pack's bench is averaging 30.6 points per game and has outscored the opponent's bench by 448 points this season. NC State's bench has had 41 individual double-digit scoring performances this season and had at least one player score in double figures in 14 of 18 ACC games. The Pack has scored 40+ points off the bench in eight games this season, including a school-record 62-point performance in the win over USC Upstate on Dec. 22. The Pack is 20-5 when its bench scores over 20 points and 1-5 when it scores less than 20 points.
- In ACC games, the Pack shot better on the road than at home. NC State shot 43.7% from the field and 38% from three-point range in conference road games. In ACC home games, NC State shot 39.1% and 28.2% from three-point range.

NC State - Clemson Series
- The Pack leads the all-time series, 102-53.
- NC State won the regular season meeting between the two teams, 69-67, on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Braxton Beverly. It was the only three-pointer Beverly hit in the contest as he finished with 12 points. Markell Johnson came off-the-bench to lead the Pack with 16 points (it was his first game back after missing the previous three games with a back injury) and CJ Bryce added 15 points. NC State was up by six at halftime and led by as many as nine points in the second half, but the Tigers battled back and had a six-point lead with 35 seconds in the game before missed free throws doomed Clemson.

NC State in the ACC Tournament
- NC State has an all-time record of 71-55 in the ACC Tournament and has won 10 ACC Tournament titles.
- The Pack is 10-11 all-time in ACC Tournament games in Charlotte and won the 1970 ACC Tournament when it was held in Charlotte.
- As an eight-seed, NC State has a 4-5 record in the ACC Tournament.
- The Pack enters this week with a combined four games of ACC Tournament experience on their roster. Torin Dorn has played in two ACC Tournament games, and Braxton Beverly and Markell Johnson have each played in one ACC Tournament game. The rest of the team will be making its first appearance in the ACC Tournament.
- NC State has a 6-3 record against Clemson in the ACC Tournament. The Tigers won the last meeting in the ACC Tournament, 75-61, in the 12 vs. 13 game in the 2017 Tournament played in Brooklyn. Torin Dorn is the only current NC State player to play in that game. Markell Johnson was on that year's team, but missed the game due to an injury.
- NC State has been one-and-done in the last two ACC Tournaments. If the Pack loses on Wednesday it will be the first time since 1992-94 that the Pack went three consecutive ACC Tournaments without winning a game. The 1992-94 period is NC State's longest stretch (three years) without a win in the conference's annual season-ending tournament that dates to 1954.

Wednesday Storylines
- Closing strong: Since becoming a head coach at UNCW in the 2014-15 season, Kevin Keatts teams have a record of 28-15 (.651) in regular season games in the months of February and March. His first team at NC State last season won five of its last six regular season games on its way to an 11-7 conference record. This year's team enters the ACC Tournament having won five of its last eight games.
- As a head coach, Kevin Keatts has a 7-2 record in conference tournament games. He twice won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament while head coach at UNCW and advanced to the semifinals in his other year as head coach. Last season the Pack lost to Boston College, 91-87, in the NC State's opening ACC Tournament game.
- Kevin Keatts has had back-to-back 20-win seasons in his first two years at NC State. It's the first time since the 2011-12 & 2012-13 teams that the Pack has had back-to-back 20-plus win regular seasons. Keatts is just the 11th coach in ACC history to have back-to-back 20-win seasons in his first two seasons as a head coach in the league.
- Senior guard Torin Dorn has stepped up his play in the last eight games. The Charlotte native is averaging 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during that stretch and has shot over 50 percent from the field in six of eight outings. He is averaging 3.1 offensive rebounds per game in that stretch, including 18 offensive boards in the last five games.
- Dorn has scored 37 of his 49 points in the last four games in the second half.
- Junior guard CJ Bryce averaged 15 points and 5.0 rebounds per game away from PNC Arena in ACC action. The Charlotte native shot 54.1% from three-point range away from home in league play and enters the ACC Tournament having hit 19 of his last 29 three-point attempts when not playing in PNC Arena.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 17th in the NCAA in forcing opponents into turnovers this season (16.23 per game). In the first meeting, Clemson finished with 15 turnovers and had only five assists.
- The Pack ranks 9th in the NCAA in opponent's three-point field goal percentage, holding its opponents to 29.4% shooting from long range this season. In the first meeting, Clemson did not make a three-point attempt. The Tigers were 0-7 from three-point range.
- Win the boards, win the game? NC State was 7-2 in ACC play this season when it finished the game even or ahead in rebounding margin. In ACC play when the Pack was outrebounded it was 2-7.
- Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly has connected on 131 three-pointers in his first two seasons at NC State and needs just five more to have the most in program-history after a player's sophomore season. Currently, Scott Wood has the most three-pointers with 135, while Rodney Monroe and Maverick Rowan each had 134 after their sophomore seasons.
- Heading into the ACC Tournament the Pack's opponents have made more free throws than NC State has attempted in 10 of the last 14 games. NC State only attempted more free throws than its opponent five times in 18 ACC games. Through 18 conference games, NC State's opponents attempted 128 more free throws (433-to-305) than the Pack and outscored NC State by 93 points at the free throw line.
- Sophomore forward DJ Funderburk has made 36 of his last 41 free throw attempts. He is shooting 79.2% from the foul line for the season and has risen to 6th in the ACC in free throw percentage. Funderburk leads the Pack in free throw percentage and would be the first non-guard since Brandon Costner (82.2% in 2007-08 season) to lead the team in free throw percentage.
- When the Pack shoots 35% or better from three-point range this season it is 17-5. NC State was 7-3 in conference play when it shot at least 35% from three-point range, but 2-6 when it did not.

Pack Opens ACC Tournament Wednesday against Clemson

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Braxton Beverly

Torin Dorn

D.J. Funderburk

Markell Johnson

Maverick Rowan