Pack Visits Demon Deacons Saturday Afternoon

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NC State Game Notes | Wake Forest Game Notes

RALEIGH – The NC State men's basketball team (16-5, 6-4 ACC), winners of eight of their last 10 games, travels west on I-40 to take on Wake Forest (14-7, 6-4 ACC) Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The game will be televised on the ACC Network. NC State fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State overcame a halftime deficit to beat Notre Dame Tuesday evening, 85-82. The win was the Pack's fourth-straight ACC home win. It's the longest home win streak in a single over ACC opponents since the 2013-14 season.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner led NC State with 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 8-of-8 from the foul line. It was one point off his season-high. After being held to just six points in the loss to Clemson on Dec. 30, Joiner has rattled off six straight double-digits games, including scoring more than 20 points in three of the six contests. Joiner has gone from outside the top-10 to now rank sixth in the ACC in scoring at 16.8 points per game.
- Sophomore guard Terquavion Smith returned from a scary fall that caused him to miss the final 10 minutes of the North Carolina game on Saturday to score 17 points against Notre Dame. He tied his career-high with 11 made free throws against the Fighting Irish. Smith continues to lead the ACC in scoring with an average of 18.6 points per game. He has been named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List and was recently named a Midseason Third-Team All-American by The Sporting News.
- NC State only committed two turnovers in the win over Notre Dame on Saturday, tying a school-record for fewest turnovers in a game. The Pack previously had two turnovers in a 90-83 win over Georgia Tech on 1/13/91. The Pack's two turnovers are tied for the fewest by a NCAA Division I team this season.

Saturday Storylines
- Successful January: Saturday's matchup with Wake Forest will be the final game in the month of January for NC State. This year the Pack has put together one of its best January's in recent memory. NC State is 5-1 this month, it's most wins in the month of January since 2018. If the Pack wins on Saturday, it's six wins in January will be the most wins for the Pack in January since 2002 and would be the best winning percentage in the month of January for NC State since the 1988-89 NC State team went 8-1 (.889) in January 1989. Even with a loss on Saturday, the Pack's 5-2 record (.714) would give NC State its best winning percentage in the month of January since the 2001-02 team went 6-2 (.750) in January 2002.
- The Pack's 16-5 record is NC State's best record through 21 games since the 2018-19 team was 16-5. A win on Saturday would give the Pack its best record through 22 games since the 2005-06 team was 18-4.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner is averaging 19.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game over the last six games.
- Joiner enters Saturday having made 26 consecutive free throws. He last missed a free throw in the second half of the Pack's win at Virginia Tech on Jan. 7. For the season, Joiner is shooting 83 percent from the foul line and has improved that mark to 89.6% (43-of-48) in ACC games. The Oxford, Miss., native has been even better this season in clutch moments. In the final four minutes of regulation or in overtime, Joiner is shooting 90.5% (38-of-42) from the foul line.
- Ross Stepping Up: Sophomore forward Ernest Ross has scored 38 points in the last four games after only scoring 37 points in the first 17 games of the season. Ross set career-highs in points (17) and rebounds (9) in the win over Miami on Jan. 14. In the win over Georgia Tech on Jan. 17, Ross set career-highs in assists (3) and steals (2). Against North Carolina last Saturday, Ross had seven points, four rebounds and one assist, steal and block. Overall in the last four games, Ross is averaging 9.5 points on 69.6 percent shooting (16-of-23), 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
- Graduate forward D.J. Burns scored has scored in double figures in six consecutive games and nine of the last 11 entering Saturday's contest. He only scored in double figures four times in the first 10 games of the season. In the first 10 games of the season, Burns averaged 7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.4 blocks while playing 16.6 minutes per game. After Dusan Mahorcic was injured in the Coppin State game on Dec. 6, Burns has seen his role increase. Over the last 11 games since Mahorcic went out, Burns is averaging 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds (including 2.3 offensive rebounds), 2.1 assists and 1.2 blocks while playing 25.7 minutes per game. Burns is shooting 56.5 percent from the field (65-of-115) over the last 11 games.
- The Pack has not committed more than one turnover in any of its last three halves of basketball. NC State had one turnover in the second half at North Carolina last Saturday, it had one turnover in the first half against Notre Dame on Tuesday and one turnover in the second half against the Fighting Irish. NC State only committed two turnovers in the win over Notre Dame on Tuesday, tying a school record and also tying for the fewest turnovers by an NCAA DI team this season. It's the eighth time in the last 11 games that NC State has had single digit turnovers. The Pack leads the ACC in conference games in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 8.2 an outing. Wake Forest has forced the most opponent turnovers in conference play - edging out NC State by two - as the Demon Deacons force almost 13 turnovers per game in ACC action.
- NC State leads the ACC in turnover margin (+4.2), steals (8.6 per game) and forcing turnovers (14.3 per game). The Pack is 10-0 this season when it forces its opponent into 15 or more turnovers and 11-0 when it has at least 18 points off of opponent turnovers.
- Saturday is a matchup of the only two players in the ACC to rank in the top-six in points, assists and steals. The Pack's Terquavion Smith leads the ACC in scoring (18.6) while ranking third in steals (1.81) and sixth in assists (4.6). Wake Forest's Tyree Appleby leads the ACC in assists (6.1) while ranking fourth in the conference in scoring (17.7) and steals (1.76). Both players also rank in the top-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio and both rank among league leaders in three-pointers made per game.
- Last season Wake Forest outscored NC State by 39 points in the second half, turning two close games at halftime (The Demon Deacons had a three-point at halftime in Raleigh and a one-point advantage at halftime in Winston-Salem) into two double-digit wins. This season, NC State has outscored its opponent in the second half in 14 of 21 games and has a 13-1 when it outscores its opponent in the second half.

NC State - Wake Forest Series
- Saturday will be the 255th all-time meeting between the two programs.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 146-108, but Wake Forest has won 24 of the 32 meetings between the teams at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
- Kevin Keatts has a 7-3 record against Wake Forest as head coach of NC State, including a 3-2 mark against the Demon Deacons at LJVM Coliseum.
- Last Season: Wake Forest swept the season series with NC State, defeating the Pack, 69-51, at PNC Arena on Feb. 9, and won at LJVM Coliseum, 101-76, on March 2.

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Players Mentioned

Jarkel Joiner

Dusan Mahorcic

Ernest Ross

Terquavion Smith