Pack Starts Three-Game Road Stretch at Miami

RALEIGH, NC – The NC State men's basketball team (14-8, 5-6 ACC) returns to action Wednesday evening when it travels to Coral Gables, Fla., to take on Miami (11-10, 3-8 ACC).

The game will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network with Chris Cotter and Chris Spatola on the call.

NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State fell to No. 6 Louisville, 77-57, on Saturday afternoon to drop its third consecutive game
- Senior guard C.J. Bryce led the Pack with 15 points. He scored 13 of 15 points in the second half. Bryce is averaging a team-best 13.2 points per game this season, but was averaging 16.1 points per game prior to missing four games because of a concussion. Prior to his 15 points against the Cardinals, Bryce hadn't scored in the last two games for NC State.
- Devon Daniels (12 points) and D.J. Funderburk (11 points) also reached double figures for the Pack. Markell Johnson added a team-high five assists and tied his career-high with four steals in the loss.
- Senior guard Markell Johnson has nine steals in his last three games and now has 146 for his career. He needs three more steals to tie former Pack great - and current Indiana Pacers head coach - Nate McMillan for 13th on the program's all-time steals chart. Johnson ranks third in the ACC in steals this season, averaging 1.95 a game.
- Junior guard Devon Daniels has scored in double figures in five of the last six games and is averaging 12.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game over the last six outings.
- Freshman forward Manny Bates leads the ACC and ranks 9th in the NCAA with an average of 2.95 blocks per game. Bates broke the program record for most blocked shots by a freshman in just 15 games.

Wednesday Storylines
- In his first two seasons at NC State, head coach Kevin Keatts' teams averaged over 80 points both seasons. Prior to Keatts arrival, NC State hadn't averaged over 80 points per game in a season since the 1995-96 team averaged 81.2 points per game. In the first 84 games of the Kevin Keatts era, NC State only scored less than 60 points five times. In the last seven games, NC State has failed to reach 60 points four times. The highest point total for NC State in the last seven games was an 80-point effort in the win over Miami on Jan. 15.
- The Pack is shooting 44.3% to rank fifth in the ACC this season, but is shooting just 38.7% in the last seven games, including just 25.7% from three-point range.
- After Blake Harris left the team in October and sophomore forward A.J. Taylor aggravated a previous knee injury in the season-opener, NC State only has nine scholarship players available this season. For most of ACC play, the Pack has had fewer than nine scholarship players dressed in uniform as NC State has only had all nine scholarship players available for three of its 11 conference games. The lack of depth has hurt the Pack's bench scoring. Last season, NC State had the most prolific scoring bench in the ACC, averaging to score 29.0 points per game and outscored the opponent's bench by 469 points. This season, NC State's bench was averaging 27.9 points per game through the first 17 games of the season and had outscored the opponent's bench 15 times in 17 games. Over the last five games, NC State's bench is only averaging 7.4 points per game and has been outscored in five consecutive outings, including Saturday's loss to Louisville where the Cardinals bench outscored NC State's bench, 43-5.
- Junior forward D.J. Funderburk has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 12 games. The Cleveland, Ohio native is the team's leading scorer (14.2) and rebounder (7.4) in conference play. He has shot over 50 percent in 15 of 2- games this season. Funderburk needs just six more made field goals to qualify for NC State's single-season field goal percentage list. His current shooting percentage of 61.8% would rank as the second-best single-season shooting percentage in program history.
- NC State held the Hurricanes offense to just three assists in the win earlier this season. The three assists are the lowest for an opponent in the Kevin Keatts era.
- NC State only committed seven turnovers in the win over Miami on Jan. 15 and forced the Hurricanes into 15 turnovers. The Pack is 11-4 this season when it wins the turnover battle and 3-4 when it has more turnovers than its opponent.

NC State - Miami Series
- NC State leads the all-time series with Miami, 13-11. The Pack has a 12-11 record since the Hurricanes joined the ACC prior to the 2004-05 season.
- NC State has a 5-5 record against the Hurricanes in Coral Gables.
- Last time Out: The Pack defeated Miami, 80-63, on Jan. 15. D.J. Funderburk led four NC State players in double figures with 19 points.
- Last time in the Watsco Center: NC State battled back to win at Miami, 87-82, on 1/3/19. The Pack trailed by 10 points with under 10 minutes to go, but went on a 13-0 run to take the lead and never trailed again.

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Players Mentioned

Manny Bates

C.J. Bryce

Devon Daniels

D.J. Funderburk

Blake Harris

Markell Johnson

A.J. Taylor