#23/22 Pack Heads to Syracuse for Tuesday Night Tilt

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NC State Game Notes | Syracuse Game Notes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The 23^rd-ranked NC State men's basketball (20-6, 10-5 ACC) completes its three-game road stretch Tuesday evening when it plays at Syracuse (15-10, 8-6 ACC).

Tipoff at the JWA Wireless Dome 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 dominated Boston College Saturday afternoon, registering its third-largest margin of victory in an ACC road game in program history with a 30-point win over the Eagles.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner stuffed the stat sheet for NC State in the win. The Oxford, Miss., native scored a game-high 26 points, tying his season-high with five three-pointers made. He added six rebounds, six assists and a season-high five steals in the win.
- Sophomore guard Terquavion Smith scored 17 points in the victory. His 17th and final point in the game was the 1000th of his career. The sophomore reached 1,000 career points in his 58th career game, becoming the 56th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
- DJ Burns posted his second double-double of the season - and his first since the season-opener - with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Since seeing his role increase when Dusan Mahorcic was injured in the Dec. 6 win over Coppin State, Burns is averaging 15.1 points per game on 57.1% shooting and 6.0 rebounds per game, including an average 2.4 offensive rebounds an outing in the 16 games played without Mahorcic.
- Casey Morsell added 16 points, hitting five three-pointers in the win over the Eagles. The Ft. Washington, Md., native is averaging 17.0 points on 58.6 percent shooting (17-of-29) in the last three games, including 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from three-point range. Morsell is shooting 45.0 percent from three-point range this season to rank third in the ACC and is fifth in the conference in three-pointers made per game (2.58)

Tuesday Storylines
- The Pack's 20-6 record is NC State's best record through 25 games since the 2005-06 team was 21-5. NC State's 10-5 ACC record is the Pack's best conference record through 15 games since the 2005-06 team was 10-5. A win on Tuesday for NC State would give the Pack its best ACC record through 16 games since the 2003-04 team went 11-5 in conference action.
- Get a Road Win, Get Some Ice Cream: Since before he became head coach at NC State, Kevin Keatts has had a tradition of treating his team to some postgame ice cream if they win a neutral site or road contest. Since he became head coach of the Pack prior to the 2017-18 season, Keatts has led NC State to 24 ACC road wins. In that span of time only Virginia (40), Duke (32) and North Carolina (27) have more ACC road wins than the Pack's 24. (Syracuse is tied with NC State with 24 road wins in that span.)
- Jack's Back: Graduate guard Jack Clark made his return to the lineup on Saturday against Boston College. Clark was injured late in the Pack's game at Clemson on Dec. 30 and missed 10 games until returning against the Eagles. Clark was leading NC State in rebounding (10th in the ACC) and steals (2nd in the ACC) when he was injured. In 10 minutes against Boston College, Clark knocked down both of his three-point attempts to finish with six points and added four rebounds and an assist in 10 minutes of action.
- Jarkel Joiner has made 32 of his last 33 free throws. For the season, Joiner is shooting 83.2 percent from the foul line and has improved that mark to 89.1% (49-of-55) 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 91.3% (42-of-46) from the foul line.
- Since becoming head coach of NC State, Kevin Keatts' teams have been excellent at winning the turnover battle against its opponents. In 184 games at NC State, his teams have had fewer turnovers than its opponent in 136 of them (73.9% of games). But in seven games against Syracuse as head coach of the Pack, NC State has had more turnovers than Syracuse in six of the seven contests. Heading into Tuesday's matchup, NC State leads the ACC in turnover margin at +3.88 and Syracuse is third at +1.68. The Pack is 19-2 this season when it has the same number or fewer turnovers than its opponent and 1-4 when it commits more turnovers than its opponent. NC State is 12-0 this season when it forces its opponent into 15 or more turnovers
- NC State continues to rank in the top-10 nationally in fewest turnovers per game. The Pack averages just 9.9 turnovers per game to rank seventh in NCAA DI. NC State has only committed 55 turnovers in the last seven games combined, including a school-tying record (and fewest by an NCAA DI team this season) two vs. Notre Dame on Jan. 24. The Pack is second in the ACC in conference games in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 8.47 per outing.
- Tuesday is a battle of the top-two shot blocking teams in the ACC. Syracuse averages 5.4 per game while NC State averages 4.9 an outing. While Syracuse is paced by Jesse Edwards who averages an ACC-best 2.8 per game, NC State does not have an individual shot blocker rank in the top-15 in the ACC. DJ Burns and Ernest Ross each have 22 blocks this season to lead NC State, but Ebenezer Dowuona (19) and Casey Morsell (19) are right behind him. Dowuona's five blocks in the game at Virginia last Tuesday were the most by an NC State individual this season.
- NC State shot 55.2 percent from the field in Saturday's win over Boston College. It's the second-best shooting percentage of the season for the Pack with only the season-opening win over Austin Peay back on Nov. 7 (61.5%) being better. The Pack also tied its season-high with 15 three-pointers against the Eagles, shooting 50 percent from behind the arc. NC State is 20-2 this season if it shoots 40 percent or better from the field and is 16-2 if it shoots 30 percent or better from three-point range.
- NC State scored 25 points off turnovers and had 19 fast break points in the win over Boston College. Both of those marks are the best for the Pack since its win over Duke on Jan. 4. NC State leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the NCAA in fast break points, averaging 15.4 per game. In the Pack's wins this season it averages almost the double amount of points off turnovers than in losses. In NC State's 19 wins, it averages to turn opponent's turnovers into 18.6 points. In its six losses, it only averages 9.5 points off turnovers. NC State is 13-0 this season when it has at least 18 points off of opponent turnovers.

NC State - Syracuse Series
- Tuesday will be the 18th all-time meeting between the two programs.
- Syracuse leads the all-time series, 11-6, and has a 5-3 advantage in games played in Syracuse.
- The Orange have won four consecutive games against the Pack. The four-game losing streak is currently tied for the longest-losing streak to an ACC opponent for NC State.
- Kevin Keatts has a 3-4 record against the Orange, including a 2-1 mark at Syracuse.
- Last Meeting (2/2/22): NC State hit a season-best 16 three-pointers, but Syracuse shot 59.3 percent from the field to get past the Pack, 89-82, inside PNC Arena. NC State hit 10 three-pointers in the first half and made six more in the second to finish with 16. The 16 three-pointers are the second-most by NC State in the Kevin Keatts era. Terquavion Smith hit a career-best seven three-pointers in the loss and finished with 25 points. Syracuse hit its first 11 shots of the second half. Jesse Edwards and Cole Swider led Syracuse with 19 points.

#23/22 Pack Heads to Syracuse for Tuesday Night Tilt

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Players Mentioned

Jack Clark

Ebenezer Dowuona

Jarkel Joiner

Dusan Mahorcic

Casey Morsell

Ernest Ross

Terquavion Smith