Pack Starts Three-Game Road Stretch with trip to No. 8 Virginia

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NC State Game Notes | Virginia Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The 22^nd-ranked NC State men's basketball team (19-5, 9-4 ACC) starts a three game road stretch in its schedule with a trip to eighth-ranked Virginia (17-4, 9-3 ACC) Tuesday evening.

Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville is scheduled for 9 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 fourth straight game - and eighth in its last nine outings - with a 72-64 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon. The Pack trailed by three, 61-58, with 4:10 remaining in the game, but held the Yellow Jackets scoreless for almost four minutes, going on an 11-0 run before Georgia Tech hit a three with 25 seconds remaining to stop the NC State run.
- Graduate forward DJ Burns led NC State in points (24) and rebounds (8) in the win. Burns is averaging 23.3 points on 56.6 percent shooting and also pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game over the last three outings. Burns was averaging 9.1 points per game after the Pack's final game of 2022 on 12/30 at Clemson, but in the nine games NC State has played in 2023, the Rock Hill, S.C., native is averaging 17.0 points per game.
- Senior guard Casey Morsell scored 17 points - the most in his career against an ACC opponent. He shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. Morsell is 43.9 percent from three-point range this season to rank second in the ACC.
- Sophomore guard Terquavion Smith passed out a career-high 10 assists in the win over Georgia Tech. The Farmville, N.C., native ranks fifth in the ACC in assists per game and still leads the ACC in scoring with an average of 18.5 points per game, despite scoring just five points - his first single digit scoring game of the season - against the Yellow Jackets.
- NC State is ranked 22nd in the Associated Press poll released on Monday, Feb. 6. Its the first time NC State has been ranked in the AP poll since the Jan. 28, 2019 ranking where the Pack was ranked 23rd.

Tuesday Storylines
- The Pack's 19-5 record is NC State's best record through 24 games since the 2005-06 team was 19-5.
- NC State has won eight of its last nine ACC games. The last time the Pack had that much success in a nine-game conference stretch was when the 1973-74 team went 12-0 in the ACC on its way to a 30-1 record and the National Championship.
- Five Games over .500 in ACC Play: The Pack's 9-4 conference record marks the first time since March 6, 2013 that the Pack has been five games over .500 in ACC play. NC State defeated Wake Forest, 81-66, on March 6, 2013 to improve to 11-6 in the ACC standings before falling at Florida State in the regular season finale. A win over Virginia on Tuesday would put NC State six games over .500 in conference play for the first time since the 2005-06 team had a 10-4 ACC record with two games left in the regular season.
- Tuesday's game will be the Pack's fourth this season against a ranked opponent. NC State is 2-1 against ranked opponents (beat #16 Duke and #16 Miami at PNC Arena and lost to #3 Kansas, 80-74, in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas). Now in his sixth season with NC State, head coach Kevin Keatts has led the Pack to 11 wins over ranked opponents. NC State's last win on the road over a ranked opponent was Feb. 24, 2021 in Charlottesville. NC State defeated 21st-ranked Virginia, 68-61.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner has made 31 of his last 32 free throws. For the season, Joiner is shooting 83.0 percent from the foul line and has improved that mark to 88.9% (48-of-54) 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.
- Tuesday marks the return to Charlottesville for NC State senior guard Casey Morsell. Morsell played at Virginia for two seasons, averaging 4.2 points per game in 53 career games playing for the Cavaliers. In his second season at NC State, Morsell is averaging a career-best 12.6 points per game this season. The Ft. Washington, Md. native has shown off a much improved three-point shot this season, ranking second in the conference in three-point percentage at 43.9 percent and eighth in the ACC in three-pointers made per game at 2.42 per game. In 53 career games at UVA, Morsell only had three games with multiple three-pointers made. Has now played in 54 games in an NC State uniform and has made multiple three-pointers in 28 of 54 games with the Pack. Morsell has made 57 three-pointers this season in 24 games. He made a combined 60 three-pointers in his first three years of college basketball (83 games).
- Tuesday is a battle of the top scoring offense in the ACC against the top scoring defense in the ACC. NC State leads the ACC in scoring with an average of 79.6 points per game. The Pack is 19-2 when it scores at least 70 points this season. Virginia leads the ACC in scoring defense at 60.9 points allowed per game and has only allowed two of its 24 opponents this season to score 70+ points.
- Graduate forward D.J. Burns has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games and 12 of the last 14 entering Tuesday'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 0.6 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 14 games since Mahorcic went out, Burns is averaging 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds (including 2.3 offensive rebounds), 2.1 assists and 1.1 blocks while playing 26.1 minutes per game. Burns is shooting 56.5 percent from the field (95-of-168) over the last 14 games.
- NC State has only committed 32 turnovers in the last five 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 leads the ACC in conference games in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 8.0 per outing. The Pack has had single digit turnovers in 11 of its last 14 games.
- NC State leads the ACC in turnover margin (+4.25), steals (8.3 per game) and forcing turnovers (14.0 per game). The Pack is 11-0 this season when it forces its opponent into 15 or more turnovers and 12-0 when it has at least 18 points off of opponent turnovers.
- Two Random Stats for Tuesday's 9 PM game (that have absolutely no bearing on what will take place in the game) ... NC State is 14-1 this season in games played at night (6 PM or later) and is 6-0 this season playing on a Tuesday.

NC State - Virginia Series
- Tuesday will be the 154th all-time meeting between the two programs.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 85-68, but UVA has a 41-25 record in games played in Charlottesville.
- The Pack is 2-8 all-time at John Paul Jones Arena, but has won its last two games at JPJ Arena.
- Kevin Keatts has a 3-4 record against the Cavaliers as head coach of the Pack, including a 2-1 mark in Charlottesville. NC State has won three of its last four games against Virginia.
- Last Meeting (1/22/22): NC State shot a season-best 60 percent to beat Virginia, 77-63, at PNC Arena. The Pack's 77 points were the most allowed by Virginia last season and NC State's 60 percent shooting for the game was only the second time in 417 games as head coach of Virginia that Tony Bennett's squad has given up a 60 percent shooting performance to an opponent. Jericole Hellems led the Pack with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. Terquavion Smith added 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and shot 4-of-7 from three-point range. Former Virginia player Casey Morsell added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and had a team-high seven rebounds.

Pack Starts Three-Game Road Stretch with trip to No. 8 Virginia

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Players Mentioned

Jericole Hellems

Jarkel Joiner

Dusan Mahorcic

Casey Morsell

Terquavion Smith