Pack Visits Chapel Hill to Take on UNC

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team returns to action Saturday afternoon when it plays at North Carolina.

The game will tipoff at 2 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN with Doug Sherman and Cory Alexander 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
- Saturday is the Pack's first game in 10 days. NC State has now had seven games canceled or postponed this season, including three ACC contests (at Louisville, Georgia Tech, at Virginia).
- Junior guard Thomas Allen has led NC State in scoring in back-to-back games. He scored 14 points vs. Miami and 16 points at Florida State. The Raleigh native hit 4-of-5 three-pointers in both games game and is now shooting 51.4% (19-of-37) from long-range this season.
- Senior forward D.J. Funderburk and sophomore forward Manny Bates rank 1st and 2nd in ACC-only games in field goal percentage (min 3 made FGs game). Funderburk is shooting 65.5% (19-of-29) and Bates is shooting 65.2% (15-of-23). Funderburk is also shooting 95.5% (21-of-22) from the free throw line in conference play.
- Senior guard Devon Daniels has stuffed the stat sheet this season. Daniels leads the team in scoring and assists, is second in steals and third in rebounding. Daniels has scored in double figures in 9 of 10 games, has had 3+ rebounds in eight games, 3+ assists in eight games and multiple steals in five games.
- NC State leads the ACC in steals (9.3), turnovers forced (17.8) and turnover margin (+5.2). The Pack has had 10 or more steals in four games this season, including 18 against Charleston Southern, which was the most under Kevin Keatts. The Pack has six players averaging at least one steal per game. Freshman Shakeel Moore leads NC State with 19 steals, ranking fifth in the ACC with an average of 1.9 steals per game. Devon Daniels has 18 steals and ranks sixth in the ACC at 1.8 steals per game.

Earlier meeting against the Tar Heels
- North Carolina scored the first basket of the game, but never led again after its 2-0 advantage as NC State led for 37:48 in the 79-76 win.
- The Pack led by 17 points, 46-29, in the first half, but UNC closed the half on a 13-3 run to cut NC State's halftime advantage to 7, 49-42.
- In the second half, the Tar Heels cut NC State's lead to a single possession six times in the first 12 minutes of the final period, but the Pack never allowed UNC to get even.
- A three-point play by Andrew Platek brought UNC within one point, 63-62, with 8:36 remaining. NC State responded with a 14-2 run as NC State pushed its lead to 77-64 with 5:13 remaining.
- UNC made one final run, holding NC State scoreless for the next four minutes to go on a 9-0 spurt to get within 77-73 with 2:45 to play. The Pack's defense stiffened for the final 2:45 as Carolina would not hit a field goal the rest of the game.
- Devon Daniels led the Pack with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added five rebounds while Manny Bates added 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while also blocking five shots.
- Shakeel Moore came off-the-bench and scored 17 points. It was his first career double-figure scoring game. He earned ACC Freshman of the Week for his efforts in the win over the Tar Heels.

Saturday Storylines
- A win would give NC State its first season sweep of North Carolina since the 2002-03 season.
- NC State enters Saturday's game leading the ACC - and ranking 10th in the NCAA - in turnover margin at +5.2, but during its current three-game losing streak the Pack is -8 combined in turnover margin. The Pack had eight steals and forced 18 UNC turnovers, finishing +4 in turnover margin in the meeting in December. In the Kevin Keatts era, NC State is 58-23 (71.6%) when it has the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent and just 13-17 (43.3%) when it has more turnovers than its opponent.
- North Carolina has won the rebounding battle in the last seven games. This season, UNC enters the game ranked fourth in the NCAA in rebounding margin (+11.4) and second in offensive rebounding (15.9 per game). The Pack has been outrebounded in six of its 10 games and is 13th in the ACC in rebounding margin. UNC had 18 offensive rebounds and was +11 in rebounds in the Pack's win in December.
- In seven career games against the Tar Heels, senior guard Braxton Beverly is 19-of-34 (55.9%) from three-point range.
- In the Pack's win in December, NC State attempted three more free throws than the Tar Heels. In the previous four meetings prior to this season, North Carolina made 31 more free throws than NC State attempted. The Tar Heels were 92-of-119 from the foul line during the four-game stretch while the Pack was 41-of-61.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Thomas Allen

Manny Bates

Braxton Beverly

Devon Daniels

D.J. Funderburk

Shakeel Moore