Pack Closes Regular Season at Duke

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NC State Game Notes | Duke Game Notes

RALEIGH – The NC State men's basketball team closes the regular season on Tuesday evening when it travels to Durham to take on Duke.

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

Pack Tracks
- NC State suffered just its second home loss of the season, falling to Clemson, 96-71, on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers set season-highs for NC State opponents in points (96), field goals made (34), field goal percentage (57.1%) and three-point field goal percentage (52.6%).
- DJ Burns led NC State with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting. He also tied for team-high honors with six rebounds and added a team-best two blocks. Over the last nine games, Burns is averaging 19.4 points and shooting 60.9 percent (78-of-128) from the field. Burns leads the ACC in field goal percentage in conference games, shooting 57.7 percent shooting.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner - who was named Co-ACC Player of the Week on Monday - scored 16 points and added five rebounds and four assists. Over the last five games, Joiner is averaging 23.0 points on 48.3 percent shooting, 5.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
- Pick your poison with the Pack's scoring trio: Terquavion Smith (17.2 ppg.), Jarkel Joiner (16.8 ppg.) and DJ Burns (16.2) combine to score 50 points per game for NC State in ACC play. In the Pack's 19 ACC games, one of the three players has led NC State in scoring in every game. Smith has led the team in scoring eight times and Joiner and Burns have led the in scoring six times (Burns & Joiner tied for team-high scoring honors at Syracuse). The Pack is 11-3 in league play when all three players score in double figures.

Tuesday Storylines
- The Pack's 22 wins are the most regular season wins for NC State since the 1987-88 team entered the ACC Tournament with a 23-6 record.
- NC State's 12 ACC wins this season are tied for the most in a single season in program history. The Pack has previously won 12 ACC games four times. The 1972-73 and 1973-74 teams went 12-0 in ACC action while the 1954-55 and 1958-59 teams went 12-2 in ACC play. A win on Tuesday would give NC State its most ACC wins ever in a single season, and the Pack finish at least six games over .500 in league play. The last time NC State finished six games over .500 in ACC action was when the 2003-04 team went 11-5.
- Big Four Winner: With a win on Tuesday night NC State would finish with a 5-1 record against the Big Four (Duke, North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest). NC State is 4-1 against the Big Four this season, while Duke is 2-2, North Carolina is 2-3 and Wake Forest is 2-4. Home teams are 9-1 against their counterpart in the Big Four this season with NC State's win at Wake Forest marking the only time a member of the Big Four has gone on the road and won at another ACC in-state opponent. NC State hasn't won five conference regular season games against its Big Four counterparts since the 1974-75 team went 5-1 against Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
- Keatts Looking for Better First Half Defense: In the last two games, NC State's defense has allowed the opposing offense to get off to hot starts. Wake Forest scored 46 points on Wednesday night and shot 65.4 percent in the opening 20 minutes. On Saturday, Clemson scored 54 points in the first half (the most points allowed in a half by NC State this season) and shot 62.1 percent from the field. In the first 28 games of the season, NC State only allowed one team (Notre Dame - 42 points on 1/24/23) to score 40 or more points in the first half. NC State is 19-1 this season when it has the halftime lead, but just 3-7 if it is behind.
- Tuesday is a battle of the ACC's second-ranked scoring offense vs. the ACC's second-ranked scoring defense. NC State is second in the ACC in scoring, averaging 78.7 points per game while Duke is averaging to allow only 63.9 points per game. NC State has allowed only scored fewer than 70 points four times this season and is 0-4 in those games. The Pack is 22-4 this season if it scores 70 or more points.
- NC State continues to lead the ACC in turnover margin (+3.9), forcing turnovers (13.5) and steals (8.2). In the first meeting between the two teams, NC State forced Duke into 22 turnovers (tied for the most by an NC State opponent this season) and finished +16 in turnover margin. The Pack finished with a 31-2 advantage in points off turnovers. In the Pack's wins this season it averages a little more than double the amount of points off turnovers than in losses. In NC State's 22 wins, it averages to turn opponent's turnovers into 18.4 points. In its eight losses, it only averages 9.1 points off turnovers. NC State is 13-0 this season when it has at least 18 points off of opponent turnovers.
- Tuesday is a battle of the top-two teams in the ACC in offensive rebounding. Duke leads the ACC with an average of 12.7 offensive rebounds per game while the Pack is second with an average of 11.6.
- Scoring in the Paint. Clemson outscored NC State in the paint, 40-30, on Saturday in the Pack's loss to the Tigers. NC State is 14-0 this season when it has more paint points than its opponent but is 8-8 when its opponent scores more points in the paint.
- Jarkel Joiner has made 45 of his last 46 free throws. For the season, Joiner is shooting 84.9 percent from the foul line and has improved that mark to 91.2% (62-of-68) 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 91.7% (44-of-48) from the foul line.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks fifth in NCAA DI in fast break points, averaging 15.6 per game. In the earlier meeting this season against Duke, NC State outscored the Blue Devils, 29-7, in fast break points. The Pack is 19-4 this season if it has double-digit fast break points, but just 3-4 if it has less than 10 fast break points.
- NC State continues to rank among the nation's leaders in fewest turnovers per game. The Pack averages just 9.6 turnovers per game to rank sixth in NCAA DI. Twice this season NC State has had just two turnovers in a game. NC State is 21-3 this season when it has the same number or fewer turnovers than its opponent.
- The Pack ranks second in the ACC and 25th in NCAA DI in blocked shots per game despite not having a single player rank in the top-15 in the ACC in blocks. Ernest Ross leads the team with 27 blocks, but DJ Burns (26), Casey Morsell (22) and Ebenezer Dowuona (21) are right behind him.

NC State - Duke Series
- Tuesday will be the 264th meeting between the two programs. Duke leads the all-time series, 150-103.
- Kevin Keatts has a 3-4 record against Duke as head coach of NC State, but is 0-3 against the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- Last meeting (Jan. 4, 2023): NC State started the game on a 15-0 run and never looked back in beating Duke, 84-60. It was the largest margin of victory for an unranked ACC team over a ranked Duke team in Blue Devil history. Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack in scoring with 24 points, while Jarkel Joiner added 21 and DJ Burns provided a spark off the bench, tying his then season-high of 18 points. The Pack's strong offensive effort was aided by a career high in rebounds from Casey Morsell with nine and a then career high in assists from Joiner with nine.

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Players Mentioned

Ebenezer Dowuona

Jarkel Joiner

Casey Morsell

Ernest Ross

Terquavion Smith