Pack travels to Syracuse for Sunday Night Contest

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (7-5, 3-4 ACC) closes the month of January with a Sunday night game at Syracuse (9-5, 3-4 ACC).

The game will tipoff at 6 p.m. and be televised on the ACC Network with Wes Durham and Jordan Cornette on 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 got back on the winning track with a 72-67 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday evening. The win proved costly though as the team's leading scorer, Devon Daniels tore the ACL in his left knee with 9:01 remaining in the game. Daniels still led the team in scoring and rebounding in the win over the Demon Deacons, finishing with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. Jericole Hellems added 17 points, scoring 7 of his 17 after Daniels went down with an injury.
- The Pack's defense was flying around on Wednesday. NC State forced Wake Forest into 20 turnovers and had 10 steals and eight blocked shots in the win.
- NC State leads the ACC in steals (9.42), turnovers forced (17.58) and turnover margin (+4.75). The Pack has had 10 or more steals in five 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 and has three players in the top-10 of the ACC in steals.
- Senior guard Braxton Beverly reached two milestones in the game against North Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 23 . In the second half against the Tar Heels, he connected on his 200th career three-pointer, becoming only the fifth player in program history to hit 200 three-pointers in their career. He also had a career-high five steals against UNC with the fifth steal being the 100th of his career. Beverly is now just the third-player in program history - joining Rodney Monroe (1987-91) and Engin Atsur (2003-07) - to hit 200 three-pointers, pass out 250 assists and record 100 steals in their career.
- As a freshman, Manny Bates became the first freshman to lead the ACC in blocks in over a decade. As a sophomore this year, Bates continues to be a defensive menace, leading the ACC and ranking third in the NCAA with an average of 3.34 blocks per game, but he is also showcasing an improved offensive game. He has nearly doubled his scoring output from last season and in six ACC games is shooting 65.6% (21-of-32) from the field, the best percentage of any ACC player (min 3FGs/game).

Devon Daniels Tears ACL - Out for the Rest of the season
- Sunday's game at Syracuse will be the first this season for NC State without senior guard Devon Daniels. Daniels tore the ACL in his left knee with 9:01 remaining in NC State's 72-67 win over Wake Forest on Jan. 27.
- Daniels was the team leader in points (16.5), assists (3.1) and steals (1.7). He was also tied for the team-lead with 19 three-pointers this season. His field goal percentage of 48.1 ranks ninth in the ACC and he ranked third in the team in rebounding at 5.1 per game.

Sunday Storylines
- Who takes Devon Daniels minutes? Daniels was averaging 35 minutes per game in NC State's seven ACC games. Over NC State's last six games, Daniels had played 216 of the 236 (91.5%) minutes he was eligible to play (missed last nine minutes of the Wake Forest game). On the season, only Daniels was averaging to play over 30 minutes per game.
- Searching for the right lineup. It may be the end of January on the calendar, but NC State is still trying to find the right combination of players this season, in large part due to two program stops that have led to a total of seven canceled or postponed games. Once Sunday's game tips off, NC State will only have had three (Thomas Allen, Jericole Hellems, Shakeel Moore) of its 14-player roster appear in every game this season. The Pack has had seven different starting lineup combinations in 12 games this season. In the 2018-19 season, the Pack played 36 games and only had seven different starting lineup combinations the entire season. Last season in 32 games, NC State had 10 different starting lineup combinations in 32 games.
- In the Kevin Keatts era, NC State is 59-24 (71.1%) when it has the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent and just 13-17 when it has more turnovers than its opponent, but against Syracuse the Pack is 3-0 with Keatts as head coach and has never won the turnover battle. In three games against Syracuse under Keatts, the Pack averages 19.3 turnovers per game and is a combined -16 in turnover margin against the Orange.
- Force at least 15 turnovers. When NC State forces an opponent into 15 or more turnovers this season the Pack is 7-1. When its opponent has less than 15 turnovers, NC State is 0-4.
- Over the last three games, junior forward Jericole Hellems is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He is shooting 48.4% (15-of-31) from the field, including 50% (4-of-8) from three-point range. He also has five steals and three blocks in his last three outings.
- As a sophomore, Braxton Beverly scored 21 points, hitting four three-pointers and going 9-for-9 from the foul line in a 73-58 win for NC State on 2/13/19. The 21 points remains Beverly's career-high for points against an ACC opponent.
- The Pack has shot well in its last two trips to the Carrier Dome. In its two wins under Kevin Keatts at the Dome, NC State has shot a combined 52-of-97 (53.6%) from the field, including 43.8% (21-of-48) from three-point range.
- Watch your pockets. These are two of the top teams in the ACC in steals. NC State leads the ACC in steals (9.42/game) while Syracuse ranks third (8.71). Six of the top-11 steals leaders on the ACC individual leaderboard are either NC State or Syracuse players.

NC State - Syracuse Series
- Sunday marks the 14th all-time meeting between the two programs.
- Syracuse leads the all-time series, 7-6. The Pack has a 3-4 inside the Carrier Dome all-time, but has won its last two games at Syracuse, including a 79-74 victory last season.
- Kevin Keatts is 3-0 against Syracuse as head coach of the Pack, including 2-0 at the Carrier Dome.
- Last season in the Pack's 79-74 win over the Orange in the Carrier Dome, Devon Daniels scored 23 points and added three steals and two blocks. Jericole Hellems added 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Pack travels to Syracuse for Sunday Night Contest

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Players Mentioned

Thomas Allen

Manny Bates

Braxton Beverly

Devon Daniels

Jericole Hellems

Shakeel Moore