Pack Hosts Coastal Carolina Wednesday Night at Lenovo Center

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NC State Game Notes | Coastal Carolina Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (2-0) returns to action Wednesday evening when it hosts Coastal Carolina (1-1) at the Lenovo Center.

Tipoff against the Chanticleers is 7 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ACC Network Extra with Evan Budrovich and former NC State standout Casey Morsell on the call. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State moved to 2-0 on the young season with a wire-to-wire 81-72 win over Presbyterian on Friday night.
- The Pack never trailed to the Blue Hose, and spent the majority of the second half with a double-digit lead, but could never break open the game.
- Jayden Taylor led the Pack with 19 points and also added a career-high five steals in the victory. Also reaching double figures for the Pack was Ben Middlebrooks (16 points - all in the second half), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (11) and Michael O'Connell (11).
- NC State has showcased a balance scoring attack in the first two games of the season. Six different players have scored in double figures already this season for the Pack, while Dontrez Styles has scored nine points in each of the first two games. Heading into Wednesday's game against Coastal Carolina, NC State has six players averaging in double figures while Styles averages 9.0 per game.
- In addition to a balanced offense, the Pack has been willing to share the basketball in the first two games. NC State has passed out 40 assists in the first two contests of the season, the most in back-to-back games for the Pack since November of 2020. Michael O'Connell leads the Pack with 14 assists (against only two turnovers). His eight assists against Presbyterian tied for the most he's had in an NC State uniform. Overall, NC State has had four different players (O'Connell, Marcus Hill, Trey Parker and Breon Pass) pass out four or more assists in a game this season.
- Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Ben Middlebrooks have formed quite a low-post duo for the Pack this season. The two tallest players on the roster this season combine to average 25.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game this season while they combine to shoot 77.8% (21-of-27) from the field. Huntley-Hatfield has shot 5-for-6 from the field in each of the Pack's first two games while Middlebrooks posted his second career double-double in the Pack's season-opening win over USC Upstate and has also already reset his career-high in blocks (4) and tied his career-high in steals (3) this season.

Wednesday Storylines
- In the last two seasons, and counting the first two games of this season, NC State is 29-7 (.806) in home games, including a 15-0 mark against non-conference opponents.
- NC State has a 52-2 (.962) record against non-conference opponents in regular season home games under head coach Kevin Keatts.
- NC State held USC Upstate to 33.9% shooting in the season-opener last Monday. In the Kevin Keatts era, NC State is 54-9 (85.7%) when it holds the opponent to under 40 percent shooting from the field. That record improves to 29-3 (90.6%) when the Pack holds a non-conference opponent to under 40 percent shooting. Including last season's postseason run in the NCAA Tournament, the Pack has won 15 straight games against non-conference opponents when it holds them to under 40 percent shooting.
- NC State has been incredibly efficient on two-point field goals this season. The Pack has shot a combined 67.9 percent (53-of-78) on two-point field goals in NC State's first two games of the season. NC State has already scored 102 points in the paint this season and enters Wednesday's game averaging 51.0 points paint points per game.
- Michael O'Connell led NC State with eight assists in the win over Presbyterian on Friday night. The Pack is now 22-4 (84.6%) in O'Connell's career at NC State when he has three or more assists in a game. Dating to the start of last season's ACC Tournament, O'Connell is averaging 4.3 assists per game in the 12 contests since the start of last season's postseason run for the Pack.
- After opening the season with a 36-7 fast break point advantage over USC Upstate, the Pack added 27 more fast break points in the win over Presbyterian. The 36 fast break points against the Spartans are the most for NC State since having 37 in a win over FIU on Nov. 15, 2022. So far this season, NC State ranks fifth in the NCAA (highest ranked power conference team) with an average of 31.5 fast break points per game. The NCAA has only been tracking fast break points for two seasons. Last year, NC State ranked 76th in the NCAA with an average of 11.9 fast break points per game, but in the 2022-23 season, NC State led the ACC and ranked 13th in the NCAA with an average of 14.9 fast break points per game.

NC State series with Coastal Carolina
- Wednesday will be the fourth all-time meeting between NC State and Coastal Carolina. The Pack won all three previous meetings.
- The two programs last met on Nov. 21, 1998 with the Pack securing an 81-56 victory. This will be the first time the Chanticleers play in the Lenovo Center. The 1998-99 season was the last full season NC State played at Reynolds Coliseum.

Pack Hosts Coastal Carolina Wednesday Night at Lenovo Center

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Ben Middlebrooks

Casey Morsell

Michael O'Connell

Trey Parker

Breon Pass

Dontrez Styles

Jayden Taylor