Pack Hosts Wake Forest Wednesday Night

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NC State Game Notes | Wake Forest Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team closes a three-game homestand Wednesday evening when it hosts Wake Forest inside PNC Arena.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network. NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- Freshman guard Terquavion Smith led NC State in scoring for the third consecutive game, finishing with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting against the Fighting Irish. The Greenville native has scored 78 points in the Pack's last three games (26.0 ppg.) and is now tied for second (with Wake Forest's Alondes Williams) in ACC-only games with an average of 17.9 points per game. He is the top scoring freshman in the conference in ACC-only games and leads the conference in three-pointers made in overall games (69; 2.88 per game) and ACC-only games (46; 3.54 per game).
- Redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron added 14 points and had team-highs in rebounds (9), assists (3) and steals (3). Seabron has now led NC State in scoring 10 times this season, in rebounding 21 times, assists 16 times and steals eight times. He leads the Pack in all four statistical categories. Seabron is one of only just five DI players and three Power-five players (Wisconsin's Johnny Davis and USC's Isaiah Mobley) to lead his team in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals.

Wednesday Storylines
- Wednesday is a matchup of the top-two scoring trios in the ACC. Wake Forest's Alondes Williams (19.8), Jake LaRavia (15.1) & Daivien Williamson (12.9) combined to average 47.8 points per game. The Demon Deacons trio has scored 57.2 percent of Wake Forest's points this season. NC State's trio of Dereon Seabron (18.0), Terquavion Smith (15.8) and Jericole Hellems (13.8) are just behind in second place at 47.6 points per game. The trio is responsible for 64.4 percent of NC State's points this season. The trio has been even more lethal in ACC play. They are combining to average 48.0 points per game in 13 league games this season and they are scoring 66.7 percent of the Pack's points in conference play.
- Wake Forest's Alondes Williams and NC State's Dereon Seabron are the only players in the ACC, and just two of 16 players in Division I, to lead their teams in points, rebounds and assists. Seabron also leads NC State in steals, and he is just one of just five Division I players to lead his team in all four categories.
- Casey Morsell continues to rewrite the narrative on his shooting. The Virginia transfer came to NC State after two seasons with the Cavaliers where he made 25 three-pointers in 53 career games and shot just 20 percent from long-range. Morsell has already made 30 three-pointers in 22 games with NC State and is shooting 42.3 percent from long-range this season. In the last six games, Morsell has made 14 three-pointers and is making 58.3 percent (14-of-24) of his three-pointers in that stretch.
- Get Jericole Hellems back on track: From Jan. 12- Jan. 29 (six game stretch), Hellems averaged 16.8 points per game on 53.6 percent shooting, including hitting 19-of-38 three-pointers. In the first two games of February, Hellems has scored just three points, shooting 1-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-6 from three-point range. The Saint Louis, Mo., native was scoreless in Saturday's game vs. Notre Dame. It was only the seventh time in his 116 game career that Hellems didn't score and the first time he was held without a point since NC State's win over Wake Forest on March 6, 2020.
- NC State has won the turnover battle in ACC play. The Pack has committed less turnovers than its opponents in every game except for one in ACC play. NC State ranks second in conference-play with a +2.92 turnover margin. Wake Forest is last in the ACC in turnover margin at -3.69 and commits the most turnovers in the ACC at 14.5 in conference play.
- Wake Forest more than makes up for its turnover numbers, by leading the ACC in conference games in both field goal percentage (49.7%) and field goal percentage defense (39.7%). The Pack ranks 10th in ACC-only games in field goal percentage and 15th in field goal percentage defense. NC State shot a season-low 29.9 game in the loss to Notre Dame on Saturday. It was the first time since Feb. 2, 2019 (95 games) that NC State shot below 30 percent in a game.

NC State - Wake Forest Series
- Saturday is the 253rd meeting between the two programs. NC State leads the all-time series, 146-106.
- NC State is 17-5 all-time against the Demon Deacons at PNC Arena and has won four straight over Wake Forest inside PNC Arena.
- Kevin Keatts is 7-1 against Wake Forest as head coach of NC State, including a 4-0 mark against the Demon Deacons inside PNC Arena.
- Last season: NC State swept the season-series with the Demon Deacons for the third time in four seasons under Keatts. The Pack's win at home over Wake Forest on Jan. 27 proved costly as leading scorer Devon Daniels (16.5 ppg.) tore his ACL in the second half and missed the rest of the season. Dereon Seabron and Jericole Hellems each scored 14 points to lead five NC State players in double figures in an 80-62 win at Lawrence-Joel Coliseum on Feb. 20 to complete the season sweep.

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Players Mentioned

Devon Daniels

Jericole Hellems

Casey Morsell

Dereon Seabron

Terquavion Smith