North Carolina State University Athletics
Tuesday, December 31
Charlottesville, VA
12 PM
NC State
at
Virginia
Pack Closes Year with Trip to Virginia on New Year’s Eve
12/29/2024 5:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ESPN2 | Stream | Live Stats
NC State Game Notes | Virginia Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (8-4, 1-0 ACC) plays its final game of 2024 on Tuesday when it travels north for a New Year's Eve clash at Virginia (7-5, 0-1 ACC).
Tipoff in Charlottesville is scheduled for noon and the game will be televised on ESPN2. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Tracks
- NC State closed the non-conference portion of its schedule on Dec. 22 with a comfortable 89-63 win over Rider. The Pack held a 52-23 lead at halftime and cruised to its second-largest margin of victory this season.
- Jayden Taylor led the Pack with 16 points as 13 of the 14 players that played for NC State scored against the Broncs. Also reaching double figures for NC State was Ben Middlebrooks (12), Breon Pass (12) and Marcus Hill (11).
- NC State passed out 21 assists in the win as Marcus Hill had a season-high six and Michael O'Connell had five with zero turnovers.
- Michael O'Connell now ranks second in the ACC and eighth in the NCAA with a 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. O'Connell finished last season third in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54).
- The Pack had a season-low seven turnovers against Rider and now has had 10 or fewer turnovers in six consecutive games. NC State leads the ACC and ranks 19th in the NCAA with an average of 9.7 turnovers per game. Kevin Keatts last three NC State teams have finished have all finished 16th or better in the final NCAA rankings in fewest turnovers per game.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 19th in the NCAA with a +4.8 turnover margin. The Pack has had fewer turnovers than its opponent in every game but one this season. NC State forces 14.5 turnovers per game (4th in ACC/70th in the NCAA) and only turns it over 9.7 times per game (1st in the ACC/19th in the NCAA).
- NC State's bench outscored Rider's bench 40-19 as the Pack's bench has now outscored the opponent's bench in nine of 12 games this season. NC State is averaging 23.8 bench points per game this season. It's the highest bench points average for NC State since the 2018-19 team averaged 29.0 bench points an outing.
- Senior Ben Middlebrooks is one of just two players in the ACC to lead his team in both blocks and steals (Miami's A.J. Staton-McCray). Middlebrooks ranks second in the ACC with 20 blocks and is tied for the team-lead with 15 steals.
Tuesday Storylines
- Both of last year's games between NC State and Virginia went to overtime and Michael O'Connell scored the last second basket in both games to force the extra period. In the regular season contest in Charlottesville on Jan. 24, O'Connell tipped in a DJ Burns miss with 9.8 seconds left to tie the game at 47. In the ACC Tournament semifinals, O'Connell banked in a three-pointer as time expired to keep NC State's season alive - a season that one night later would become the program's first ACC Championship since 1987 and three weeks later the program's first Final Four appearance since 1983.
- A win on Tuesday would give the Pack a 2-0 start in ACC play for the second consecutive season (Last year's team started ACC play 3-0). NC State hasn't started 2-0 in back-to-back ACC seasons since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.
- Ben Middlebrooks = Stat Stuffer: The NC State senior ranks second in the ACC in blocks, averaging 1.7 per game. He has 20 in 12 games this season after only having 24 in 41 games last season. He also is tied for the team-lead with 15 steals and leads the team with a 54.2% field goal percentage. Middlebrooks is the only player in the ACC that has 20 blocks and 15 steals.
- Win the Paint, Win the Game? NC State is 8-1 this season when it scores more points in the paint than its opponent, but 0-3 when it is outscored in the paint. The Pack is averaging 41.8 points in the paint in its eight wins, but just 25.3 points in the paint in its three losses.
- One of NC State's calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent's turnovers into points. In the Pack's eight wins this season, it is averaging 20.6 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 98 points. In the Pack's four losses it averages just 8.8 points off opponent turnovers and is tied with its opponents in points off turnovers (35-to-35).
- The Pack leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the NCAA in fast break points, averaging 17.9 fast break points per game this season, and for the season is +111 over its opponents in fast break points. NC State is 8-0 this season if it scores 14 or more fast break points in a game and is averaging 23.5 fast break points in its wins, but in the Pack's losses it averages just 6.8 fast break points per game. Virginia enters Tuesday's game ranked 355th in the NCAA in fast breaks, averaging 2.8 per game.
- Shoot more, Breon: Senior guard Breon Pass leads the team in three-point percentage, connecting on 57.1 percent of his three-pointers this season, but he's only attempted 21 threes this season (making 12 of them). The Reidsville, N.C., native has made his last four three-point attempts and is 7-of-10 from three-point range in NC State's last four outings.
NC State Series with Virginia
- Tuesday will be the 158th all-time meeting between NC State and Virginia. NC State leads the all-time series, 87-70.
- Kevin Keatts is 5-6 against Virginia as head coach of NC State, including a 2-3 record in games played at John Paul Jones Arena.
- Last Meeting (March 15, 2024): NC State kept its postseason dream alive and earned one of the most memorable wins in program history with a 73-65 overtime win over Virginia in the semifinals of last season's ACC Tournament. NC State scored the final nine points of overtime to win the game as the Pack finished the extra period 5-of-7 from the field and made all five of its free throw attempts. D.J. Burns, Jr., led four NC State players in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Ben Middlebrooks and O'Connell each chipped in 12 while Casey Morsell finished with 11.
NC State Game Notes | Virginia Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (8-4, 1-0 ACC) plays its final game of 2024 on Tuesday when it travels north for a New Year's Eve clash at Virginia (7-5, 0-1 ACC).
Tipoff in Charlottesville is scheduled for noon and the game will be televised on ESPN2. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Tracks
- NC State closed the non-conference portion of its schedule on Dec. 22 with a comfortable 89-63 win over Rider. The Pack held a 52-23 lead at halftime and cruised to its second-largest margin of victory this season.
- Jayden Taylor led the Pack with 16 points as 13 of the 14 players that played for NC State scored against the Broncs. Also reaching double figures for NC State was Ben Middlebrooks (12), Breon Pass (12) and Marcus Hill (11).
- NC State passed out 21 assists in the win as Marcus Hill had a season-high six and Michael O'Connell had five with zero turnovers.
- Michael O'Connell now ranks second in the ACC and eighth in the NCAA with a 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. O'Connell finished last season third in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54).
- The Pack had a season-low seven turnovers against Rider and now has had 10 or fewer turnovers in six consecutive games. NC State leads the ACC and ranks 19th in the NCAA with an average of 9.7 turnovers per game. Kevin Keatts last three NC State teams have finished have all finished 16th or better in the final NCAA rankings in fewest turnovers per game.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 19th in the NCAA with a +4.8 turnover margin. The Pack has had fewer turnovers than its opponent in every game but one this season. NC State forces 14.5 turnovers per game (4th in ACC/70th in the NCAA) and only turns it over 9.7 times per game (1st in the ACC/19th in the NCAA).
- NC State's bench outscored Rider's bench 40-19 as the Pack's bench has now outscored the opponent's bench in nine of 12 games this season. NC State is averaging 23.8 bench points per game this season. It's the highest bench points average for NC State since the 2018-19 team averaged 29.0 bench points an outing.
- Senior Ben Middlebrooks is one of just two players in the ACC to lead his team in both blocks and steals (Miami's A.J. Staton-McCray). Middlebrooks ranks second in the ACC with 20 blocks and is tied for the team-lead with 15 steals.
Tuesday Storylines
- Both of last year's games between NC State and Virginia went to overtime and Michael O'Connell scored the last second basket in both games to force the extra period. In the regular season contest in Charlottesville on Jan. 24, O'Connell tipped in a DJ Burns miss with 9.8 seconds left to tie the game at 47. In the ACC Tournament semifinals, O'Connell banked in a three-pointer as time expired to keep NC State's season alive - a season that one night later would become the program's first ACC Championship since 1987 and three weeks later the program's first Final Four appearance since 1983.
- A win on Tuesday would give the Pack a 2-0 start in ACC play for the second consecutive season (Last year's team started ACC play 3-0). NC State hasn't started 2-0 in back-to-back ACC seasons since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.
- Ben Middlebrooks = Stat Stuffer: The NC State senior ranks second in the ACC in blocks, averaging 1.7 per game. He has 20 in 12 games this season after only having 24 in 41 games last season. He also is tied for the team-lead with 15 steals and leads the team with a 54.2% field goal percentage. Middlebrooks is the only player in the ACC that has 20 blocks and 15 steals.
- Win the Paint, Win the Game? NC State is 8-1 this season when it scores more points in the paint than its opponent, but 0-3 when it is outscored in the paint. The Pack is averaging 41.8 points in the paint in its eight wins, but just 25.3 points in the paint in its three losses.
- One of NC State's calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent's turnovers into points. In the Pack's eight wins this season, it is averaging 20.6 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 98 points. In the Pack's four losses it averages just 8.8 points off opponent turnovers and is tied with its opponents in points off turnovers (35-to-35).
- The Pack leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the NCAA in fast break points, averaging 17.9 fast break points per game this season, and for the season is +111 over its opponents in fast break points. NC State is 8-0 this season if it scores 14 or more fast break points in a game and is averaging 23.5 fast break points in its wins, but in the Pack's losses it averages just 6.8 fast break points per game. Virginia enters Tuesday's game ranked 355th in the NCAA in fast breaks, averaging 2.8 per game.
- Shoot more, Breon: Senior guard Breon Pass leads the team in three-point percentage, connecting on 57.1 percent of his three-pointers this season, but he's only attempted 21 threes this season (making 12 of them). The Reidsville, N.C., native has made his last four three-point attempts and is 7-of-10 from three-point range in NC State's last four outings.
NC State Series with Virginia
- Tuesday will be the 158th all-time meeting between NC State and Virginia. NC State leads the all-time series, 87-70.
- Kevin Keatts is 5-6 against Virginia as head coach of NC State, including a 2-3 record in games played at John Paul Jones Arena.
- Last Meeting (March 15, 2024): NC State kept its postseason dream alive and earned one of the most memorable wins in program history with a 73-65 overtime win over Virginia in the semifinals of last season's ACC Tournament. NC State scored the final nine points of overtime to win the game as the Pack finished the extra period 5-of-7 from the field and made all five of its free throw attempts. D.J. Burns, Jr., led four NC State players in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Ben Middlebrooks and O'Connell each chipped in 12 while Casey Morsell finished with 11.
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