Pack Travels to 10th-ranked Kansas for First Road Test of the Season

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NC State Game Notes | Kansas Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (7-3, 1-0 ACC) plays its first true road game of the season Saturday afternoon when it takes on 10^th-ranked Kansas (7-2) at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

Tipoff against the Jayhawks is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ESPN. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State hosted its annual Heritage Game on Tuesday night - the program's yearly return to Reynolds Coliseum its home from 1949-to-1999 - and defeated Coppin State, 66-56.
- For the third consecutive game, Marcus Hill and Dontrez Styles led the NC State offensive attack. Hill scored a game-high 16 points while Styles chipped in 15. Hill and Styles were also the top two scorers for NC State in its win over Florida State last Saturday and the top two scorers against Texas.
- Over the last three games, Hill has scored 56 points (18.7 ppg) on 19-of-34 shooting (55.9%) while Styles has scored 53 points (17.7 ppg.) on 20-of-40 shooting (50%). Styles has made three three-pointers in all three games. After shooting just 5-of-20 (25%) from three-point range in the first seven games of the season, Styles is 9-of-17 (52.9%) in the last three outings and now leads the team with 14 three-pointers this season.
- Mr. Second Half: In the last three games, Dontrez Styles has dominated after halftime. The Kinston, N.C., native has scored 41 of his 53 points in the last three games after halftime. He's shooting 15-of-24 (62.5%), including 7-of-10 (70%) from three-point range after the half.
- Marcus Hill has been an efficient scorer this season. He has shot 50 percent or better in seven of 10 games. His 53.3 percent field goal percentage would rank second the ACC but he is one field goal short of qualifying for the list (have to average five made field goals per game to qualify for the FG% chart. He has 49 made field goals in 10 games).
- Michael O'Connell leads the ACC and ranks 14^th in the NCAA with a 4.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. O'Connell finished last season third in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54).
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 25^th in the NCAA with a +4.6 turnover margin. The Pack has had fewer turnovers than its opponent in every game but one this season. NC State forces 14.7 turnovers per game (4^th in ACC/68^th in the NCAA) and only turns it over 10.1 times per game (3^rd in the ACC/33^rd in the NCAA).

Saturday Storylines
- Saturday is the Pack's second game this season against a ranked opponent. NC State previously played Purdue (then ranked 13^th in the Associated Press poll) in the Rady Children's Invitational in San Diego, falling to the Boilermakers, 71-61.
- Since Kevin Keatts came to NC State, the Pack has 16 wins over ranked opponents, including seven wins over teams ranked in the top-10 of the AP poll. During last season's nine-game win streak in the postseason, NC State defeated two top-10 ranked opponents on neutral courts, beating #4 North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game and knocking off 8^th-ranked Marquette in the Sweet 16. The last time NC State beat a top-10 team on the road was Jan. 27, 2018 when Keatts and the Pack defeated 10^th-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 95-91, in overtime.
- Connections: NC State's Marcus Hill and Kansas' AJ Storr both grew up in Rockford, Ill. They attended rival high schools in Rockford (Rockford Christian for Hill and Rockford Lutheran for Storr) before Storr's family moved out of Rockford after his freshman season. Kansas guard Shakeel Moore is from Greensboro, N.C., and signed with NC State out of high school. He played one season with the Pack (2020-21 season) averaging 6.8 points, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He was named ACC Freshman of the Week on 12/28/20 after scoring 17 points to help NC State beat 17^th-ranked North Carolina, 79-76.
- NC State has been efficient on two-point field goals this season. The Pack has shot a combined 53.9 percent (212-of-393) on two-point field goals in NC State's first 10 games of the season.
- The Pack ranks fourth in the NCAA in fast break points, averaging 19.4 fast break points per game this season, and for the season is +106 over its opponents in fast break points. NC State is 7-0 this season if it scores 14 or more fast break points in a game.
- One of NC State's calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponents turnovers into points. In the Pack's seven wins this season, it is averaging 21 points per game in off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 88 points. In the Pack's three losses it averages just 9.0 points off opponent turnovers and has been outscored by the opponents in points off turnovers (33-to-27).
- Dennis Parker, Jr. is finally getting healthy. It has been a frustrating 2024 for Parker, Jr. The only freshman on last season's team, he missed the entire ACC and NCAA Tournaments while dealing with an illness. This season, Parker, Jr., has sprained both ankles in separate incidents, including two separate sprains on the same ankle. The Richmond, Va., native is starting to feel healthy again and he had his best game on Tuesday vs. Coppin State scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and added four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
- Get Brandon Huntley-Hatfield back on track. Through the first six games of the season, Huntley-Hatfield was the only NC State player to score in double figures in every game and was averaging 11.8 points per game on 59.1 percent shooting. In the last four outings, Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 4.0 points per game on 33.3 percent shooting. Last year at Louisville, Huntley-Hatfield averaged 12.9 points per game on 56.7 percent shooting as he was an Honorable Mention All-ACC selection.

NC State series with Kansas
- Saturday will be the 14th all-time meeting between NC State and Kansas. Kansas has a 12-1 advantage all-time against the Pack and have won the last 12 games between the two programs.
- Last Meeting (Nov. 23, 2022): NC State gave the reigning national champs all they could handle, but Kansas pulled away late for an 80-74 win over the Pack in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Kansas had a 39-31 lead at the half, but NC State scored the first eight points of the second half to tie the game. The Jayhawks built back their lead to nine, but a 12-3 NC State run tied the game at 61 with 7:42 to play. Kansas led 71-68 with 3:30 to play when it went on a 6-0 run to push its advantage back to nine and NC State never got within six the rest of the way. The Pack's trio of Jarkel Joiner, Casey Morsell and Terquavion Smith combined to score 57 of NC State's 74 points.
- Despite the game only being two seasons ago only three players that played in that game are still on the team's rosters for this meeting:. NC State's Breon Pass and Kansas' KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris, Jr.

Pack Travels to 10th-ranked Kansas for First Road Test of the Season

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Casey Morsell

Michael O'Connell

Dennis Parker, Jr.

Breon Pass

Dontrez Styles

North Carolina State University Athletics