Pack to Face Pitt in ACC Tournament Second Round

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (19-12, 10-10) will open its ACC Tournament Wednesday in the second round when it faces 13^th-seed Pitt (16-16, 6-14) in Greensboro Coliseum.

Tipoff will be 25 minutes after the conclusion of the afternoon session's first game between ninth-seed Miami and eighth-seed Clemson that starts at noon. Dave O'Brien, Jordan Cornette and Allison Williams will be on the call for the NC State game that will air on ESPN.

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

Pack Tracks
- NC State closed the regular season with an 84-64 win over Wake Forest on Senior Night. The Pack shot a season-best 56.7% (34-of-60) from the field and had six players score in double figures in the win.
- Junior forward D.J. Funderburk led the Pack with 19 pints and seven rebounds against the Demon Deacons. Funderburk led NC State in scoring and rebounding in ACC competition, averaging 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He also shot 57.4% from the field in league games which would have led the ACC, but he fell short of the 5.0 FG made per game average to qualify (He averaged 4.89 FGs per game).
- Also reaching double figures in scoring for NC State was Braxton Beverly (16), Markell Johnson (13), C.J. Bryce (11), Devon Daniels (10) and Danny Dixon (10). Dixon's 10 points were a season-high for the grad transfer.
- NC State has had a balanced scoring attack all season with its top four scorers separated by less than one point. C.J. Bryce finished the regular season leading the Pack in scoring with a 13.3 points per game average. Markell Johnson averages 13.0 points per game, D.J. Funderburk averages 12.9 points and Devon Daniels is fourth on the team with a 12.4 points per game average. Over the last four games, NC State has had five different players either lead or tie for the team-lead in scoring.
- Senior guard Markell Johnson was named to the All-ACC Second Team on Monday. The Cleveland, Ohio native leads the ACC in assists (6.63 per game) and ranks third in steals (1.93 per game).

NC State NCAA Tournament Resume
- Thru games of Monday, March 9 - NC State has a 4-5 record against Quad 1 opponents and a 4-5 record against Quad 2 opponents.
- Two of the Pack's four Quad 1 wins are on the road. Overall, NC State has 4 Quad 1 and Quad 2 road wins.
- The Pack currently has an 8-10 record against Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents.
- NC State's win over NET #6 Duke (by 22 points) is the best win of the 16 teams listed in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology from the Last Four Byes to the Next Four Out.
- NC State also has one of the best non-conference wins of the 16 teams. The Pack defeated NET #24 Wisconsin by 15 points in December. Only Texas Tech (over #8 Louisville), Indiana (over #10 Florida State) and UNI (#23 Colorado) have higher ranked non-conference wins
- NC State has five road wins this season. Tied for third-most in the ACC behind Duke (7) and Louisville (6). Of the 16 teams in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology From Last Four Byes to Next Four Out, the only Power-5 programs with more are Arizona State (6) and Texas (6). All of Texas' are Q1 or Q2 wins as are all five of NC State's. Arizona State has two Q3 road wins.
- On NC State's team sheet created by the NCAA, the Pack's NET ranking of 53 is its lowest ranking. Sagarin ratings (45), KPI Sports (48), ESPN's BPI (45) and KenPom (51) all rank the Pack higher.
- NC State has had significant personnel issues in in seven of its 11 losses. Markell Johnson and D.J. Funderburk did not play in the Pack's loss to Georgia Tech on 11/5/19. C.J. Bryce missed the Pack's losses at Clemson (1/4/20) and at Virginia Tech (1/11/20). Manny Bates and Pat Andree did not play in the Pack's loss at Georgia Tech (1/25/20). Pat Andree also missed NC State's losses to North Carolina (1/27/20), at Boston College (2/16/20) and Florida State (2/22/20)
- The Pack is 13-5 this season when it has its top-eight scorers available for the game. It's 6-7 when it is missing one or more of its key players.

NC State in the ACC Tournament
- This marks NC State's 67th appearance in the ACC Tournament. The Pack has an all-time record of 72-56 in the tournament and has won 10 ACC Tournament Championships with the last one coming in 1987. The last time NC State won an ACC Tournament in Greensboro was 1974 when the Pack outlasted Maryland, 103-100 in overtime in a game routinely identified as the greatest game in ACC history.
- The Pack has an all-time record of 26-24 in ACC Tournament games played in Greensboro.
- NC State has an all-time record of 7-8 in the ACC Tournament as the #5 seed. In Kevin Keatts first season at NC State, the Pack was the #5 seed in the 2018 tournament and dropped a 91-87 decision to 12th-seed Boston College.
- NC State is 1-0 against Pitt in the ACC Tournament. Seventh-seed NC State defeated 10th-seed Pitt, 81-70, in Greensboro on March 11, 2015.
- If the Pack advances, it would face #4 seed Duke in the quarterfinals. The Pack has faced the Blue Devils the most of any team in the ACC Tournament and has a 9-17 record against Duke in the tourney.
- Last season, the Pack advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament before falling to eventual National Champion Virginia. NC State opened the tournament by posting the second-largest halftime deficit comeback (16 points) in ACC Tournament history as it outscored Clemson 33-16 in the second half to win, 59-58. NC State trailed by as many as 18 points before going on a 20-2 run to reclaim the lead with 5:38 to play. Markell Johnson led the Pack with 23 points, including two free throws with 2.6 seconds to play in the win.

NC State vs. Pitt
- NC State leads the all-time series, 18-2. The Pack has won the last nine meetings in the series.
- The Pack enters Wednesday with a nine-game winning streak over Pitt, but NC State's margin of victory in the last five meetings with the Panthers is: 4, 3, 6, 4 and 5 points.
- In the only meeting this season, NC State closed on a 17-6 run to beat Pitt, 77-73, in PNC Arena on Feb. 29. Manny Bates posted career-highs in points (13) and rebounds (10) for his first career double-double. He also had five blocks. C.J. Bryce and Jericole Hellems (6-6 FGs) led the Pack with 16 points apiece.

Pack to Face Pitt in ACC Tournament Second Round

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Players Mentioned

Pat Andree

Manny Bates

Braxton Beverly

C.J. Bryce

Devon Daniels

Danny Dixon

D.J. Funderburk

Jericole Hellems

Markell Johnson