Pack Hosts Louisiana Tech Saturday at PNC Arena

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (4-1) hosts Louisiana Tech (4-1) Saturday inside PNC Arena.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be shown on ACC Network Extra. NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Louisiana Tech is the third-straight home game against a non-conference opponent that is favored to finish at or near the top of its league. The Pack defeated Colgate (preseason picked second in the Patriot League) on Nov. 13, Texas Southern (preseason favorite in the SWAC) on Nov. 21 and now will host Louisiana Tech (preseason picked second in Conference USA).

Pack Tracks
- NC State got back in the win column Sunday with a 65-57 win over Texas Southern.
- For the third consecutive game, NC State was led in scoring and rebounding by redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron. The Norfolk, Va., native posted 21 points, 11 rebounds and a game-high three steals in the win.
- Seabron has now posted double-doubles in four of five games this season. He leads all ACC players with four double-doubles this season.
- After a quiet first half, sophomore guard Cam Hayes scored all 11 of his points in the second half as the Pack overcame a three-point halftime deficit to win. Hayes has now scored in double figures four straight games, which is the most consecutive double figure scoring games of his career.
- Seabron has been excellent to start this season. He currently ranks first in the ACC in offensive rebounding (3.2), tied for first in rebounding (10.4), second in scoring (20.6), sixth in steals (2.2) and seventh in field goal percentage (58.2).
- Seabron was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase All-Tournament team. On 11/16, he reset his career-high with 24 points against Central Connecticut on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He closed the tournament with a 19-point, 10-rebound performance against Oklahoma State.

Noting Louisiana Tech
- Louisiana Tech returns four starters from last season's 24-8 team that finished in third place in the postseason NIT.
- Louisiana Tech received six first place votes (out of 14) and placed second in the preseason Conference USA poll. Isaiah Crawford and Kenneth Lofton, Jr., both were named preseason All-Conference honorees.
- The Bulldogs dropped its season-opener at #14 Alabama, but enter Saturday's game winners of four straight games since then.
- Lofton Jr., was a member of the 2021 USA Basketball U19 World Cup Team. He started in four of seven games and averaged a team-high 13.1 ppg. and 5.3 rpg. to help the USA to a 7-0 record and gold medal in Riga, Latvia. This season for Louisiana Tech, Lofton Jr., is averaging 14.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.

Saturday Storylines
- The Pack has won 26 consecutive regular season home games against non-conference opponents and has a 33-1 record against non-conference opponents in regular season home games under Kevin Keatts.
- NC State has five players (Dereon Seabron, Casey Morsell, Jericole Hellems, Cam Hayes and Terquavion Smith) that average in double figures in scoring this season through five games. Those five combine to score 86.2% of NC State's points this season. Sophomore guard Jaylon Gibson is the Pack's sixth leading scorer at the early stage of the season, but is averaging just 3.4 points per game.
- Get off to a faster start. NC State has trailed at halftime in three consecutive games. It's largest halftime lead this season is one point. This season, the Pack has shot 37.7 percent in the first half. NC State has shot 47.3 percent in the second half of ballgames this season.
- NC State has made a living at the free throw line this season. The Pack is averaging 25.6 free throw attempts per game which ranks as the second-most in the ACC. For the season, NC State has made more free throws (92) than its opponents have attempted. Louisiana Tech is averaging 23.4 free throw attempts per game this season which leads Conference USA.
- NC State is averaging 15.6 points a game off opponent turnovers and has outscored its opponents by 23 points this season in points off turnovers. The Pack has won 11 straight games when it outscores its opponents in points off turnovers.
- The Pack leads the ACC in offensive rebounding, averaging 12.6 per game.

NC State - Louisiana Tech Series
- Saturday marks the second ever meeting between the two programs.
- NC State won the only other meeting between the programs, 73-65, on Dec. 23, 2014. With 14:11 remaining in the game, the Pack trailed 50-32, but used an 18-2 run to get back into the game and held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the final 7:47 of the game.

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Players Mentioned

Jaylon Gibson

Cam Hayes

Jericole Hellems

Casey Morsell

Dereon Seabron

Terquavion Smith