Pack Hosts North Carolina to Open ACC Play

RALEIGH, NC – The NC State men's basketball team (4-1) will open ACC play Tuesday evening when it hosts No. 17 North Carolina (5-2) inside PNC Arena.

Tipoff has been moved up to 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network. The game was moved up after the Notre Dame at Syracuse game that was previously being played at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network was postponed.

Wes Durham and Jordan Cornette will call the game on the ACC Network. NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State opens ACC play Tuesday when it hosts North Carolina. This is the earliest in the season the two programs have met since they played each other in the Big Four Tournament in Greensboro on Nov. 30, 1979.
- Since late in the evening on Nov. 29 - when the Pack's game against William & Mary was canceled - the Pack had five games canceled or postponed in a 17 day span. After playing only one game in a span of 18 days, Tuesday marks NC State's third game in the last six days.
- The Pack defeated overcame a slow start to defeat Campbell on Saturday evening, 69-50. NC State had a two-point halftime lead, but opened the second half on a 26-8 run. Jericole Hellems led the Pack with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
- After becoming the first freshman to lead the ACC in blocks in over a decade last season, sophomore Manny Bates registered his 100th career block in just his 34th career game Saturday in the win over Campbell. He is the fastest player in program history to 100 blocks and is the fastest ACC player to 100 career blocks in over 20 seasons. Since 1985-86, Wake Forest's Tim Duncan and Georgia's Tech Alvin Jones are the only ACC players to get to 100 blocks in less games than Bates. The Fayetteville, N.C. native is currently averaging 3.6 blocks per game to lead the ACC and rank fourth in the NCAA.
- NC State leads the nation in turnover margin at +11.0 per game. The Pack has won the turnover battle in all five games this season. The Pack ranks fourth in the NCAA in forcing turnovers, averaging to force its opponents into 22.2 per game this season.

Tuesday Storylines
- Tuesday's game is the 239th all-time meeting between the two programs, but just the ninth time the two teams have played in the month of December. In the 1950s, the programs played four times as part of the Dixie Classic held at Reynolds Coliseum. In the 1970s, they met four times at Greensboro Coliseum as part of the Big Four Tournament. The last December meeting between the two programs was Dec. 3, 1977 and the Tar Heels won, 87-82. NC State has a 5-3 advantage over UNC in games played in December.
- NC State has only had nine players available in the past two games. In the first three games of the season, when NC State had its full allotment of players, the Pack played at least 11 players in the first half of all three games.
- The Pack's available bench players have been all freshmen the last two games. In the first three games of the season, NC State averaged 34.7 bench points per game. In the last two games, the bench has combined to score 25 points.
- Coming in at #17 in the Associated Press poll, the Tar Heels are the first ranked team NC State has played this season. In his first three seasons, Kevin Keatts has guided the Pack to seven wins over opponents ranked in the Associated Poll with five of those wins coming at PNC Arena.
- Against the norms: In the Kevin Keatts era, NC State is 56-22 (72.0%) when it has the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent. With Keatts as head coach, NC State has had fewer turnovers than UNC in every meeting and overall is +33 in turnover margin against the Tar Heels, but UNC has won five of the six games.
- In six career games against the Tar Heels, senior guard Braxton Beverly is 17-of-29 (58.6%) from three-point range.
- In the last three meetings between the teams, UNC and NC State have had the exact same number of points in the paint. Both teams had 50 paint points on 2/5/19 and in last year's series, both games ended with each team finishing with 40 points in the paint.
- In the last four meetings combined, North Carolina has made 31 more free throws than NC State has attempted. The Tar Heels are 92-of-119 from the foul line in the last four meetings while the Pack is 41-of-61.

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Players Mentioned

Manny Bates

Braxton Beverly

Jericole Hellems