Pack Opens Maui Invitational Monday against Seton Hall

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NC State Game Notes | Seton Hall Game Notes

LAHAINA, HI – The 25^th-ranked NC State men's basketball team plays in the Maui Invitational for the first time in program history Monday when it faces Seton Hall.

Tipoff against the Pirates is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ESPN2. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Notes
- NC State stayed undefeated on the season with a hard-fought 85-79 win over VCU on Monday night. The Pack only trailed once in the game (1-0), but NC State never was able to break away from the Rams. VCU tied the game at 65 with 9:20 to play, but the Pack scored the next six points and the Rams never were able to catch up again.
- Darrion Williams led NC State in scoring with 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Williams has now led the Pack in scoring in three of four games this season. He's shot 50 percent or better in all four games and has shot 60 percent or better in three of them. Williams shooting splits through four games are 61.1% FG/61.9% 3FG/87.5% FT.
- Darrion Williams 93 points through the first four games of the season are the most for an NC State player since Rodney Monroe (the program's all-time leading scorer) had 104 points in the first four games of NC State's 1990-91 season.
- Prior to this season it had been almost three years since NC State had had two players each score over 25 points in the same game. This year's NC State team has done it the last two games. In the win over UNCG, Darrion Williams scored a career-high 32 points and Paul McNeil, Jr., scored a career-best 27 points. In Monday's win over VCU, Williams had 28 points and Tre Holloman had a career-high 25 points.
- Offense humming through four games: NC State is averaging 100.8 points per game and shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from three-point range this season. Its second in the ACC in scoring (4th in the NCAA), and leads the ACC in three-pointers per game (13.3) and three-point field goal percentage. It also leads the ACC in field goal percentage. The Pack's effective field goal percentage leads the ACC and is fifth in the NCAA. An effective field goal percentage between 50-54% is considered very good and anything over 55% is considered elite. Through four games, the Pack's effective FG percent is 64.6%.
- The Pack's three-point prowess has been well chronicled, fourth in the NCAA with an average of 13.3 threes per game and 14th in NCAA with a three-point shooting percentage of 43.1%, but NC State's effectiveness on the "easy ones" is what helps the offense hum. Through four games, the Pack is shooting 64.5 percent (80-of-124) on two-point field goals.

Monday Storylines
- It might be NC State's first trip to the Maui Invitational, but head coach Will Wade, as well as players Tre Holloman and Ven-Allen Lubin have been there before. Wade coached LSU in the 2017 Maui Invitational. The Tigers beat Michigan (a Wolverine team that would eventually reach the National Championship game at the end of that season) before falling to Notre Dame and Marquette. Holloman and Lubin were both in the Maui Invitational last season. Holloman's Michigan State team faced Lubin's UNC team in the third place game. Holloman scored a then career-high 19 points and passed out seven assists as the Spartans edged the Tar Heels, 94-91, in overtime.
- Seton Hall sophomore guard Trey Parker signed with NC State out of high school and was on last year's Pack team. He averaged 4.6 points per game for the season, but had a couple of standout performances including 15 points in NC State's game at Duke and led the team with 19 points in its game at Stanford. Parker's roommate at NC State last season was Paul McNeil, Jr.
- NC State is off to a 4-0 start for the fourth consecutive season. A win on Monday over Seton Hall would give NC State a 5-0 start for the second consecutive season.
- MTE Title Drought: NC State has not won a title at an MTE since winning the Glenn Wilkes Classic held in Dayton Beach, Fla., in 2009.
- Second Half Pack: NC State's offense hasn't exactly been bad in the first half this season - The Pack has scored 181 points in the first half of its four games this season (average of 45.3 points) - but NC State has gone to another level in the final 20 minutes. So far in the second half this season, NC State has scored 222 points (55.5 second half points average) and is shooting 59.8 percent, including 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from three-point range. NC State is shooting 70.4 percent (38-of-54) on two-point field goals in the second half this season. Darrion Williams, in particular, has been excellent in the second half. He is shooting 68.4 percent (13-of-19), including 80 percent (8-of-10 from three-point range and is 9-for-9 at the foul line in the second half of the Pack's four games this season.
- Pack's starting unit is giving NC State a lethal offensive punch through the first four games. NC State's starting lineup (Quadir Copeland, Tre Holloman, Ven-Allen Lubin Paul McNeil., Jr., and Darrion Williams) are combining to average 74 points per game and shooting an efficient 57.8 percent (96-of166) from the field, including 51.3 percent (39-of-76) from three-point range. Four of the Pack's starters are shooting 55 percent or better from the field.
- Tre Holloman breaking out as a senior: Holloman has started all four games this season for NC State, but missed the final 36 minutes of the Pack's win over UNCG after being ejected. Holloman had not taken a shot when his time in the game against UNCG ended. If you take that game out of his averages, the Minneapolis, Minn., native is averaging 18.0 points per game this season.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 16th in the NCAA in fast break points, averaging 21.5 transition points per game.
- VCU attempted 42 three-pointers in the Pack's win on Monday night. It's tied for the second-most three-pointers ever attempted against NC State. So far this season, NC State's opponents are averaging 27.8 three-point attempts per game against the Pack's defense and shooting just 27.0 percent from long range.

NC State series with Seton Hall
- Monday marks the seventh game between the two programs and the all-time series is even at three games apiece.
- Last Meeting (March 15, 2018): Seton Hall beat NC State, 94-83, in Wichita in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Allerik Freeman, playing in the final game of his collegiate career, scored a career-best 36 points to lead NC State.

Pack Opens Maui Invitational Monday against Seton Hall

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Players Mentioned

Quadir Copeland

Tre Holloman

Ven-Allen Lubin

Paul McNeil, Jr.

Trey Parker

Darrion Williams

North Carolina State University Athletics