Pack Opens Battle 4 Atlantis Wednesday Against Third-Ranked Jayhawks

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Pack Tracks
- NC State moved to 4-0 on the season by outlasting Elon, 74-63, on Saturday afternoon. The Pack led for the final 35 minutes of the game, but could never put the Phoenix away as NC State's lead was never larger than 13 points.
- Jack Clark posted the second double-double of the season with a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Dusan Mahorcic fell one point short of a double-double with nine points and a season-best 13 rebounds. Terquavion Smith added 16 points while Casey Morsell chipped in 15.
- Senior guard Casey Morsell was on fire offensively last week. The Ft. Washington, Md., native scored a career-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-7 from three in Tuesday's win over FIU. He followed up with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 3-of-6 from downtown, in the win over Elon. In the last two games, Morsell is averaging 20.5 points on 66.7% (16-of-24) shooting and 69.2% (9-of-13) from three-point range.
- Two weeks into the season, the Pack has jumped to the top of the ACC in multiple offensive categories. NC State leads the conference in scoring offense (88.3), field goal percentage (51.0%), three-pointers made per game (10.3) and assists (17.5 per game)
n Defensively, the Pack leads the ACC in forcing turnovers (17.0 per game) and steals (11.3). Terquavion Smith leads the ACC in steals at 3.0 per game while Jack Clark is tied for second at 2.5 per game.

Wednesday Storylines
- Wednesday's game will be the Pack's first this season against a ranked opponent. Now in his sixth season with NC State, head coach Kevin Keatts has led the Pack to nine wins over ranked opponents. NC State's last win over a ranked opponent was Feb. 24, 2021 when it defeated #21 Virginia, 68-61, in Charlottesville. Keatts has a 5-9 record with the Pack against teams ranked in the top-10. Last season, the Pack had top-ranked Purdue on the ropes in December before falling to the Boilermakers in overtime. NC State's last win over a top-10 opponent was an 88-66 win over sixth-ranked Duke on Feb. 19, 2020 in Raleigh. Keatts' first win over a ranked opponent was in the first round of the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis when unranked NC State shocked No. 2 Arizona, 90-84.
- Spread the Wealth: Four games into the season, NC State already has four different players that have scored 20+ points in a game this season. Terquavion Smith opened the season with 26 points in the win over Austin Peay. Jarkel Joiner and Casey Morsell each scored 26 points in the win over FIU and Jack Clark had 21 points in the win over Elon.
- NC State guards Breon Pass and Terquavion Smith are very familiar with Kansas guard Bobby Pettiford. The trio all are Class of 2021 graduates from the state of North Carolina and are friends off the court and train with each other in the offseason. In 247Sports' final Class Rankings for the state of North Carolina, Pettiford was the fourth-ranked prospect in the state while Smith was ranked fifth and Pass was sixth. Smith's Farmville Central team ended Pettiford's high school career with a 99-81 defeat of South Granville. Smith's high school actually ended Pettiford's junior season too as Farmville Central won three straight championships to close Smith's career.
- Offense will be featured: NC State and Kansas both average over 80 points per game in the young season and both programs lead their respective conferences in assists per game.
- Get Out and Run: Wednesday's match will feature two of the top teams in fastbreak points this season. NC State is averaging 25.4 fastbreak points per game this season to rank fifth in NCAA Division I while Kansas is averaging 17.8 fast break points per game to rank 29th.
- Casey Morsell - shooting star: NC State senior guard Casey Morsell has a reputation as the Pack's top defensive player, and while the Ft. Washington, Md., native does shine on the defensive end, he has put a lot of work in on his jumper. After hitting only 25 three-pointers and shooting 20.3% from behind the arc in two seasons at Virginia, Morsell has been a weapon for NC State offensively. Morsell hit 35 three-pointers last season, shooting 35% from long-range and this season has hit 11 three-pointers in four games and is shooting 52.4% from downtown. In 53 career games at UVA, he only had three games with multiple three-pointers made. Has now played in 34 games in an NC State uniform and has made multiple three-pointers in 16 of 34 games with the Pack

NC State - Kansas Series
- Kansas leads the all-time series with NC State, 11-1.
- The Pack won the first game in the series on Dec. 20, 1958 as the fourth-ranked NC State team went to Lawrence, Kansas and defeated the Jayhawks, 66-63.
- The last time the teams met was in the Sweet 16 in the 2012 NCAA Tournament in St. Louis. The second-seed Jayhawks held on for a 60-57 win over 11th-seed NC State. CJ Leslie led NC State with 18 points and Scott Wood added 12.
- NC State has a 17-31 record all-time against current members of Big 12 Conference.

Pack Opens Battle 4 Atlantis Wednesday Against Third-Ranked Jayhawks

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Players Mentioned

Jack Clark

Jarkel Joiner

Dusan Mahorcic

Casey Morsell

Breon Pass

Terquavion Smith