Pack Takes Win Streak to Atlanta For Tuesday Night Tilt with Georgia Tech

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NC State Game Notes | Georgia Tech Game Notes

RALEIGH – The NC State men's basketball team (14-4, 4-3 ACC) travels to Atlanta for the first of two road games this week as the Pack plays at Georgia Tech Tuesday evening.

Tipoff at McCamish Pavilion 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
- NC State won its third consecutive game with an 83-81 overtime win over 16th-ranked Miami on Saturday afternoon. It was the Pack's second win over a ranked opponent in its last three outings.
- Sophomore forward Ernest Ross posted career-highs in points (17) and rebounds (9) to help lead the Pack to victory. It was the first career double-digit scoring performance of Ross' career. He scored the final five points of the game to turn an 81-78 deficit into an 83-81 win.
- For the fourth consecutive game, sophomore guard Terquavion Smith led the Pack in scoring. The Greenville, N.C., native finished with 20 points, his seventh 20+-point performance of the season and his fourth consecutive. Smith leads the ACC in scoring with an average of 18.7 points per game.
- Saturday was the 50th game in an NC State uniform for Terquavion Smith. In 50 career games, he is averaging 17.1 points for his career which ranks as the eighth-highest career scoring average in program history. In 50 career games, Smith has scored in double figures 41 times, including 20 games of 20 or more points. He has led NC State in scoring 21times in his career. Smith has also led the Pack in steals 21 times and assists 20 times in his career. Smith is leading this year's NC State team in scoring, assists and steals, and is the only player in the ACC to rank in the top-five in the conference in all of those categories.
- Graduate forward DJ Burns stuffed the stat sheet against Miami, finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-best seven assists. He had eight of his nine rebounds and five of seven assists in the second half and overtime.

Tuesday Storylines
- Strong Starts Keying the Pack: A common element in NC State's last three wins? A double-digit halftime lead. NC State led #16 Duke by 22 at the half on Jan. 4, they opened up a 14-point lead at Virginia Tech on Jan.7 and the Pack went on a 14-4 run to end the half on Saturday to take a 42-32 advantage into the half over Miami.
- Terquavion Smith enters Tuesday having scored at least 20 points in four consecutive games. His longest 20+-point game streak of his career is five, accomplished last season from 2/15/22 (at Georgia Tech) to 3/5/22 (at Florida State). Smith has seven 20+-point performances this season, one behind the most by an ACC player (North Carolina's Armando Bacot and Louisville's El Ellis each have eight). Smith leads the ACC in scoring at 18.7 points per game.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner has not committed a turnover in NC State's last four games. He last committed a turnover with 4:31 left in the game on 12/22 against Louisville. Over the last four games, Joiner has played 143 minutes (35.8 minute per game average) and has passed out 17 assists while committing zero turnovers. The Oxford, Miss., native ranks third in the ACC with a 2.42 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- The Pack only committed four turnovers in the win over Miami on Saturday. The four turnovers tied for the fewest in the Kevin Keatts era and are the fourth-fewest in a single game in program history. The Pack had double-digit turnovers in nine of the first 12 games of the season, but has only turned the ball over more than 10 times once in the last six outings. Over the last games, NC State is averaging only 7.3 turnovers per game.
- Over the last six games, NC State is +41 in turnover margin. The Pack had a +13 turnover margin in the win over Miami on Saturday. The Hurricanes shot 56.9 percent from the field, the highest shooting percentage allowed by the Pack this season, and NC State shot just 44 percent against the Hurricanes, but NC State attempted 24 more field goals (75-to-51) than Miami, in large part due to the Pack forcing 17 Miami turnovers while committing just four. NC State is 14-2 this season when it has the same or less turnovers than its opponent. For the season, NC State has a +4.5 turnover margin a mark that leads the ACC and ranks 16th in NCAA DI.
- NC State winning the battle on the boards. The Pack has been a strong rebounding team this season, outrebounding its opponent in 13 of 18 games. NC State ranks third in the ACC in rebounding margin at +3.8. The Pack is 13-1 this season when it outrebounds or ties its opponent in rebounding and just 1-3 if it is outrebounded. NC State has been great at limiting its opponents second chances. The Pack leads the ACC in defensive rebounding percentage, averaging to rebound 75.2 percent of its opponent misses. NC State only allowed Miami four offensive rebounds on Saturday. The Hurricanes got three offensive rebounds on its first possession of the second half, but did not get another offensive rebound the rest of the second half and overtime. Georgia Tech ranks third in the ACC in offensive rebounding with an average of 11.2 offensive boards an outing.
- Turning turnovers into points: In Saturday's win over Miami, the Pack outscored the Canes 23-7 in points off turnovers. In 14 wins this season, NC State is averaging 19.8 points off turnovers per game and has outscored its opponents by 128 points in points off turnovers. In its four losses, NC State is averaging just 10.5 points off turnovers and has been outscored by 13 points in points off turnovers.
- NC State leads the ACC in turnover margin (+4.5), steals (8.9 per game) and forcing turnovers (14.9 per game). The Pack is 9-0 this season when it forces its opponent into 15 or more turnovers and 10-0 when it has at least 18 points off of opponent turnovers.
- DJ Burns stepping in Mahorcic's absence: In the eight games since Dusan Mahorcic was injured, graduate forward DJ Burns is averaging 13.0 points per game, 5.8 rebounds (including 2.8 offensive rebounds) per game, 2.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. Burns is shooting 58.4 percent from the field (45-of-77).
- NC State is 14-2 this season if it scores 70 or more points, but 0-2 if it scores under 70.
- Smith and Joiner Having Career Years in Sharing the Ball: The Pack's two lead guards - Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith - have both already passed out more assists this season than either had last season. Smith ranks fourth in the ACC with an average of 4.7 assists per game. Smith already has 84 assists this season in 18 games. Last season, he had 67 assists in 32 games. Joiner has 63 assists in 18 games to rank 14th in the ACC in assists at 3.5 per game. Joiner is playing in his fifth collegiate season, but this 60 assists this season are already the most he's ever had in a single season.

NC State - Georgia Tech Series
- Tuesday will be the 102nd all-time meeting between the two programs.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 58-43, and is 18-22 all-time in McCamish Pavilion.
- Last Meeting: NC State started the first 10 points of the game and never looked back in defeating the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, 76-61. NC State shot 59.4 percent in the first half and hit eight three-pointers to take a 51-25 lead into the break. Terquavion Smith led the Pack with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The Greenville native scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half.

Pack Takes Win Streak to Atlanta For Tuesday Night Tilt with Georgia Tech

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Players Mentioned

Jarkel Joiner

Dusan Mahorcic

Ernest Ross

Terquavion Smith

North Carolina State University Athletics