Pack Heads to Chapel Hill to face UNC Saturday

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NC State Game Notes | North Carolina Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team travels west on I-40 to Chapel Hill Saturday afternoon to face ninth-ranked North Carolina.

The game against the Tar Heels tips off at 4 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 Notes
- NC State dropped a tough battle to Florida State, 90-83, on Tuesday night. The Seminoles shot 59.7 percent from the field for the game, the highest opponent field goal percentage allowed by the Pack this season.
- Jayden Taylor led the Pack with 24 points off-the-bench. The 24 points are the most in an NC State uniform for Taylor and tied his career-high (previously set when he was at Butler). The Indianapolis, Ind., native finished the game 7-of-11 from the field, including knocking down a season-high four three-pointers. It marked the first time since the win over Virginia on Jan. 6 that Taylor has led the team in scoring.
- During the second half, Taylor scored his 1,000th career point, joining teammates DJ Burns, Jr., DJ Horne and Casey Morsell in the 1,000 point club. NC State and Saturday's opponent North Carolina both have four players on their team that have scored over 1,000 career points, tied for the most in the ACC.
- Casey Morsell added 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and passed out a career-high six assists against Florida State. Morsell's 19 points tied for the most he's ever scored against an ACC opponent.
- Mohamed Diarra and Ben Middlebrooks combined for 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Pack at Florida State. Diarra is playing his best basketball of the season currently. In the last five games, he is averaging just shy of a double-double with averages of 10.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He's also blocked seven shots and registered five steals in the time frame. Diarra is shooting 19-of-32 (59.4%) from the field, including 8-of-15 (53.3%) from three-point range. Diarra has led the Pack in rebounding in four of the last five games and eight of the last 12. He ranks fifth in conference action, averaging 8.0 rebounds per game in 17 ACC contests.
- Grad guard DJ Horne scored 15 points, his ninth consecutive game in double figures. Horne has led NC State in scoring in seven of the last nine games and nine of the last 13.

Saturday Storylines
- NC State has 11 wins over ranked opponents in the Kevin Keatts era, including five wins over top-10 ranked opponents. NC State's last win over a top-10 opponent was Feb. 19, 2020 when the Pack knocked off sixth-ranked Duke, 88-66, inside PNC Arena. NC State's last win on the road over a top-10 ranked opponent was Jan. 27, 2018 when the Pack defeated 10th-ranked UNC, 95-91, in overtime in Chapel Hill.
- Saturday's game will feature four of the current top five career scoring leaders in the ACC. Armando Bacot (1st), DJ Horne (3rd), RJ Davis (4th) and DJ Burns, Jr. (5th) have all scored over 1,800 career points. NC State and UNC are two of just six teams (Alabama, Illinois, Purdue, Wright State are the other schools) in NCAA DI that currently have two players that have each scored over 1,800 career points. There are only 53 current NCAA Division I players that have scored over 1,800 career points and four of them will be on the floor together Saturday at the Smith Center.
- Saturday's game features the top-two scorers in conference action (RJ Davis - 1st at 22.1 ppg., and DJ Horne - 2nd at 19.4 ppg.) Both players scored and shot under their averages in the team's first meeting. Davis finished with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting in UNC's win over the Pack while Horne was held to just six points (his fewest in an ACC game this season) on 2-of-16 shooting. That game against the Tar Heels marks one of just two games this season that Horne has not made a three-pointer. For the season, Horne has made 85 three-pointers and enters Saturday's game having made at least three three-pointers in 10 of NC State's last 11 games.
- DJ Burns looking to bounce back: In Tuesday's game at Florida State, Burns was held scoreless for just the second time in 152 career games. The other time Burns was held scoreless in college was Jan. 28, 2021 when he was at Winthrop and scored zero points in a game vs. UNC Asheville. Burns has averaged 15.7 points per game against North Carolina in his three meetings against the Tar Heels as a member of the Pack.
- Jayden Taylor playing well off the bench: The Indianapolis, Ind., native started the first 24 games of the season, but in his final six starts he averaged just 7.1 points per game and was shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from three-point range (9-of-32). In the four games since moving to the bench, Taylor is averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from three-point range (8-of-17).
- Taylor's move out of the starting lineup has bolstered the NC State bench. The Pack's bench has scored 96 points (32.0 per game) in its last three outings. In addition to Taylor scoring in double figures every game in the last three outings, Ben Middlebrooks has had two double-digit scoring performances in the last three games off-the-bench.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 30th in the NCAA with an average of 13.8 fast break points per game. NC State is 15-4 this season when it has more fast break points than its opponent, but is just 2-7 when its opponent has more fast break points. In ACC-only games, the Pack is 9-2 when it has more fast break points than its opponent and 0-6 when the opponent has more fast break points. In the earlier meeting against UNC, the Tar Heels had double the amount of fast break points than the Pack, outscoring NC State 18-9 in transition.
- Grad guard Michael O'Connell leads the ACC in assist/turnover ratio with a 3.11 average. NC State is 13-3 this season when he passes out three or more assists. O'Connell's assist/turnover ratio is currently the fourth-highest in program history.

NC State series with North Carolina
- Saturday is the 246th meeting all-time between NC State and North Carolina. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 165-80, and have won 30 of the 37 meetings between the teams at the Smith Center.
- Last Meeting - Jan. 10, 2024: NC State shot a season-low 27.3 percent in falling to North Carolina, 67-54, inside PNC Arena. Casey Morsell led the Pack with 12 points and DJ Burns, Jr., added 11 as they were the only two NC State players to reach double figures. DJ Horne was held to just six points, but did pull down a career-high nine rebounds. NC State trailed by just two points at halftime, and was still within two, 48-46, with 10:19 to play, but only made three field goals the rest of the game as UNC went on a 19-4 run to put the game out of reach.

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Players Mentioned

DJ Burns, Jr.

Mohamed Diarra

DJ Horne

Ben Middlebrooks

Casey Morsell

Michael O'Connell

Jayden Taylor