Pack Returns Home to Host Pitt

Sunday, February 28

Raleigh, NC

4 PM

NC State

Pitt

2/27/2021 11:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Sunday’s game is first home game in 15 days for NC State

NC State Game Notes | Live Stats | Online Stream

RALEIGH, N.C. – After three consecutive road victories, the NC State men's basketball team returns home for the first time in 15 days when it hosts Pitt inside PNC Arena on Sunday.

The game will tipoff at 4 p.m. and be televised on the ACC Network with Anish Shroff and Paul Biancardi on the call. NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

There will be no public tickets available for Sunday's game.

Pack Tracks
- During its three-game win streak, NC State hasn't trailed by more than one possession in any game. It's largest deficit was three (13-10) at Wake Forest. The Pack led for 35 minutes at Pitt, 32 minutes at Wake Forest and 36 minutes at Virginia.
- In its last game, NC State defeated No. 15 Virginia, 68-61, in Charlottesville. The win snapped UVA's 15-game home winning streak and marked the fourth consecutive ACC road win for NC State. It's the first time since the 1973-74 season that NC State has won four consecutive ACC road games in the same season.
- Cam Hayes led NC State in scoring in the win over Virginia with 16 points. The freshman guard hit three three-pointers and went 7-of-8 from the foul line, including 6-of-6 in the final 43 seconds as the Pack held off UVA. D.J. Funderburk added 14 points and Shakeel Moore posted 12 off-the-bench.
- In its last three games, NC State is shooting 51 percent from the field, including 40.4 percent from three-point range, while its holding its opponents to 42.3 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent from three-point range.

Previous Meeting
- The Pack scored five of the final seven points of the game and shot a season-best 56.9% from the field to beat Pitt, 74-73.
- NC State led for 36:02 of game time, but found itself down 68-67 after Pitt went on a 7-0 run to take the lead with 3:25 to go. The Panthers lead was 71-69 with 1:49 to go when D.J. Funderburk put the Pack back in front with a three-point play. Cam Hayes extended the lead to 74-71 with two free throws with 22 seconds to go. Justin Champagnie made two free throws to get Pitt back within one and the Panthers forced a turnover with nine seconds left, but NC State got the defensive stop to win.
- Jericole Hellems led the Pack with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Funderburk recorded 16 points and eight rebounds. Braxton Beverly added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Hayes also reached double figures with 11 points and a career-high nine assists.

Sunday Storylines
- A win on Sunday would give the Pack its first four game ACC win streak since winning four consecutive conference games from 2/14/18-2/25/18 (Kevin Keatts first season as head coach)
- Freshman Cam Hayes is playing his best basketball of the season. He scored in double figures in two of the first three games this season, but then missed three weeks due to COVID and did not score in 12 consecutive games after his return. The Greensboro native has now scored in double figures in three consecutive games. Hayes scored 11 points, passed out a career-best nine assists and had three steals in the win over Pitt on Feb. 17. He had 11 points, five assists and three steals in the win at Wake Forest on Feb. 20. In the win at UVA on Wednesday, Hayes scored 16 points, hitting three three-pointers and went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 43 seconds as the Pack held on to snap the Cavaliers 15-game home winning streak. In the last three games, Hayes is averaging 12.7 points on 45.8% shooting, including 50% (7-of-14) from three-point range, 4.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game.
- Fellow freshman Dereon Seabron is making the best of his recent opportunities. The Norfolk, Va., native is averaging 30.7 minutes per game over the last three outings. Prior to those last three games, Seabron had only played over 20 minutes in a game once this season and was averaging to play just 12.2 minutes per game. Seabron posted eight points at Pitt and then had career-highs in points (14), rebounds (9), steals (4) and tied career-high in assists (3) at Wake Forest. In the win over UVA on Wednesday, Seabron had five points, three assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block.
- Force at least 15 turnovers. When NC State forces an opponent into 15 or more turnovers this season the Pack is 9-1. When its opponent has less than 15 turnovers, NC State is 2-8. In the Pack's 11 wins this season, opponents are averaging 18.3 turnovers per game. In its nine losses, NC State's opponents average just 12.6 turnovers.
- When the Pack's defense is stealing the ball and converting it into points NC State is tough to beat. The Pack is 9-0 when it scores 19 or more points off opponent turnovers this season, but just 2-9 when it scores 18 points or less off opponent turnovers.
- Shooting percentage tells the story. In the Pack's 11 wins this season, NC State is combining to shoot 50.9% from the field and hold its opponents to 42.2% shooting. In its nine losses, the numbers are nearly reversed. The Pack is shooting 42.9% when it loses and its opponents are shooting 50%.
- In the eight games since Devon Daniels was injured, forwards Manny Bates, D.J. Funderburk and Jericole Hellems have combined to score 259 points and are shooting 109-of-204 (53.4%).
- The Pack is averaging 34.8 points in the paint in the eight games since Devon Daniels was injured. With the loss of Daniels, NC State's top-three scorers remaining are all forwards. After being outscored in points in the paint in five of its first six ACC games, the Pack had outscored its opponents in points in the paint in eight of the last nine games.
- Keep Pitt off the offensive glass. The Panthers rank second in the ACC in offensive rebounding with an average of 12.78 offensive rebounds per game. NC State ranks 14th in defensive rebounding percentage at 68.8% and is allowing opponents to have over 10 offensive rebounds per game. Pitt had 11 offensive rebounds in the first meeting.

NC State - Pitt Series
- Sunday marks the 23rd all-time meeting between the two programs.
- NC State leads the series, 20-2, and has won 11 straight games against the Panthers.
- Despite the 11-game winning streak, the last seven regular season games have all been close. The Pack's winning margin in the last six regular season wins are: 1, 4, 3, 6, 4 and 5
- NC State has an 11-1 record against Pitt since the Panthers joined the ACC, including 4-1 inside PNC Arena.