Pack Heads to Miami for ACC Road Opener

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NC State Game Notes | Miami Game Notes

RALEIGH – The NC State men's basketball team plays its first true road contest of the season Saturday afternoon when it faces ACC foe Miami at 2 p.m. at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla.

The game is a Regional Sports Network broadcast. Residents in North Carolina can find the game on Bally Sports South. A complete list of affiliates showing the game can be found here.

NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call all the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State roared past Coppin State, 94-72, Tuesday night in its annual Heritage Game played at Reynolds Coliseum. NC State blitzed the Eagles at the beginning, hitting 10 three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game to open a 38-15 lead with 10:04 left in the first half. Coppin State would get the deficit to just 10 in the second half, but another NC State run late in the second half put the game out of reach.
- Guards Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner combined to score 62 of the Pack's 94 points on Tuesday. Smith led the team with 33 points. It's the second-highest scoring performance of Smith's career, just one point shy of his matching his career-high. It's the third 30-point performance of his career and first this season. He finished the game 12-of-21 from the field, including 6-of-12 from three-point range. Joiner shook off a disappointing performance against Pitt (0-12 FG, 0-7 3FG; 1 point) on Dec. 2, scoring a season-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three-point range.
- Smith added a career-high tying seven assists in the win over the Eagles. Smith has shown improvement in nearly every facet of his game. The Farmville, N.C., native can still score the ball (ranks third in the ACC in scoring at 17.7 ppg.) but has also shown the ability to create for other (5.4 assists per game/2nd in the ACC) and has been a pest on defense (1.9 steals per game/2nd in the ACC). The six three-pointers on Tuesday also put last season's ACC three-point leader into first place this season (30 three-pointers/3.0 per game)

Saturday Storylines
- Let's go get some ice cream! Dating back to his days as head coach at UNCW, Kevin Keatts' teams always get ice cream postgame when they win a neutral site or road game. In his five years as head coach, Keatts' has led the Pack to 20 ACC road wins.
- Watch your wallet:: Saturday's matchup pits the top-two teams in the ACC in steals. The Pack leads the ACC with an average of 9.9 steals per game (22nd in NCAA DI) while Miami is second with an average of 8.5 per game (71st in NCAA DI). In addition, six of the top-10 individuals in steals in the ACC will be playing in the game. Jack Clark leads the ACC in steals with an average of 2.2 per game. Terquavion Smith and Miami's Isaiah Wong are tied for second at 1.9 per game. Jarkel Joiner is fifth with an average of 1.7 per game and Casey Morsell and Miami's Jordan Miller are tied for 10th at 1.6 per game.
- In addition to steals - the two teams also rank 1-2 in the ACC in a few more categories: Turnovers forced per game (NC State (15.8), Miami (15.4)) and fast break points (NC State (19.6), Miami (13.8)).
- Will the loss of Dusan Mahorcic impact the Pack on the glass? NC State has outrebounded its opponent in eight of 10 games this season and the two games it was outrebounded in, it was only by one rebound both times. NC State only outrebounded its opponent in 10 of 32 games last season. The Pack ranks second in the ACC in rebounding margin at +5.2, but Saturday's game against the Hurricanes will be the Pack's first game since losing Dusan Mahorcic to a dislocated right patella in Tuesday's win. Mahorcic is second on NC State's team in rebounding, averaging 6.6 per game. Miami has Norchad Omier who has the most offensive rebounds of any player in the ACC (44) this season.
- Last Tuesday's game was the 100th of DJ Burns collegiate career. The Rock Hill, S.C. native started his collegiate career at Tennessee but transferred after redshirting his freshman year. He played the last three seasons at Winthrop and was named the Big South Player of the Year last season. He scored his 1200th career point and grabbed his 400th career rebound in Tuesday's game. He also is just two assists shy now of 100. Burns is averaging 7.6 points per game this season and has scored in double figures in three of the last five games. Saturday's game will be his first without his frontcourt mate Dusan Mahorcic. The duo has been formidable in the paint for the Pack this season. In the first 10 games, the duo combined to average 16.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while shooting a combined 58.3 percent from the field.
- Both teams are capable of putting points on the board. NC State and the Hurricanes are the only teams in the ACC that have four players on their roster that have scored 30 or more points in a game in their career. The Pack and Miami both have scored the most points in a single game this season with NC State scoring 107 against FIU on Nov. 15 and Miami scoring 107 on Wednesday night in the win over Cornell. The Pack leads the ACC in scoring at 81.8 points per game while Miami is second in the ACC in field goal percentage, connecting at a 48.6 percent clip.
- Pack's three-point prowess: Through games of Wednesday, Dec. 7 there have been 10 individual performances of six or more three-pointers in a game by an ACC player. An NC State player is responsible for four of those 10 performances. The Pack's Jarkel Joiner, Casey Morsell and Terquavion Smith have all had six three-pointer performances this season. Joiner hit six three-pointers in the win over FIU on Nov. 15, Smith hit six three-pointers in the win over Coppin State on Tuesday while Casey Morsell is the only player in the ACC to have multiple six or more three-pointer games. The senior guard hit six against FIU and hit six against William & Mary on Nov. 29.

NC State - Miami Series
- Saturday will be the 28th all-time meeting between the two programs with NC State holding a 14-13 advantage. The series is tied at 13 since the Hurricanes joined the ACC prior to the 2004-05 season. NC State has a 6-6 all-time record at the Watsco Center and head coach Kevin Keatts is 2-1 as head coach of the Pack at Miami.
- Miami has a two-game winning streak in the series, including a 91-83 win last season (12/29/21) at the Watsco Center. NC State had its largest lead of the game at eight points, 64-56, with 11:21 to play, and still led by five, 73-68, with 7:06 left, but the Hurricanes went on an 18-2 run from that point to secure the victory.

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Players Mentioned

Jack Clark

Jarkel Joiner

Dusan Mahorcic

Casey Morsell

Terquavion Smith