Pack Hosts Liberty Wednesday Night in Lenovo

ACC Network | Live Stats | Tickets

NC State Game Notes | Liberty Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (6-3) hosts Liberty (6-2) Wednesday night inside the Lenovo Center.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Notes
- NC State got back into the win column with 75-63 win over UNC Asheville on Saturday. NC State owned the paint, outscoring the Bulldogs 40-14 in points in the paint and recorded an assist on 21 of their 28 made field goals.
- Ven-Allen Lubin led the Pack with a double-double, scoring 23 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the win over the Bulldogs. He was two points shy of tying his career-high and one rebound short of tying his career-high. After scoring in double figures just once in the Pack's first three games this season, Lubin has now scored in double figures in six consecutive games.
Lubin was a perfect 9-for-9 from the field in the second half on Saturday as he scored 19 of his 23 points in the final 20 minutes. Lubin has shot over 50 percent from the field in every game this season and leads the ACC and ranks 11th in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 67.6 percent.
- In the last three games, Lubin is averaging 19.3 points per game and is shooting 74.2 percent (23-of-31) from the field.
- NC State ranks near the top in the ACC in scoring (3rd - 89.2 ppg), field goal percentage (2nd - 50%), 3-point percentage (1st - 39.8%) and free throw percentage (3rd - 77.0%).
- Pick Your Poison: NC State has had five different players score 20-plus points in a game this season, tied with Pitt for the most in the ACC. Four Wolfpack players have reached the 20-point mark in multiple games—more than any other team in the conference.
- Quadir Copeland dished out a season-high eight assists in the win over UNC Asheville. He entered the game having scored 50 points in the Pack's previous two contests —22 at Auburn and a career-high 28 against Texas — and added 13 more against the Bulldogs on Saturday. Over his last three games, Copeland is averaging 21 points, 5.7 assists, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 62.9 percent (22-of-35) from the field.
- Tre Holloman made two of his three three-point attempt on Saturday and is now shooting 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from three-point range this season. Holloman's three-point percentage is the best in the ACC counting for any players averaging 1.5+ three-pointers made per game.

Wednesday Storylines
- NC State is 42nd in the NET rankings through games of Dec. 8. NC State's average opponent NET rank though nine games is 133 which ranks as the second-best opponent NET ranking of any ACC team. Five of the Pack's first nine games this season are currently Q1 or Q2 games. NC State still has four non-conference games remaining and as of the current NET rankings will play one more Q1 game (Dec. 13 vs. Kansas) and one more Q2 game (neutral site game vs. Ole Miss on Dec. 21). While it's currently a Q3 game, the Pack faces Liberty, the preseason Conference USA favorite, on Wednesday. The Flames are currently 104 in the NET.
- Dating back to the 2016-17 season, NC State has a 71-3 (.959) record against non-conference
opponents in regular season home games.
- Pack's starting unit is giving NC State a lethal offensive punch through the first eight games. NC State's normal starting lineup (Quadir Copeland, Tre Holloman, Ven-Allen Lubin Paul McNeil, Jr., and Darrion Williams) are combining to average 69.7 points per game and shooting an efficient 53.9 percent (207-of-384) from the field, including 45.5 percent (71-of-156) from three-point range. Four of the Pack's starters are shooting 50 percent or better from the field.
- On the flip side, the Pack's bench has been struggling the last two games. After averaging 25.8 bench points per game in the first six games of the season, NC State's bench has only scored 16 points total in the last two outings. NC State's bench is shooting a combined 5-of-26 from the field (19.2%), including 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from three-point range.
- Watch the foul trouble - NC State is last in the ACC and 317th in the NCAA in fouls, averaging to be called for 20.1 fouls per game. In the last five games, NC State has committed 25 more fouls than its opponents. That foul differential has led to 27 more free throw attempts for NC State's opponents in the last five games. In its three losses this season, NC State has been outscored by a total of 26 points. The Pack is -20 to its opponents at the foul line in its three losses.
- After being outrebounded in its last four games prior to UNC Asheville, the Pack outrebounded the Bulldogs on Saturday. NC State is now 5-0 when it outrebounds its opponent and just 1-3 when it doesn't.
- NC State scored 40 paint points on Saturday and has now scored 40 or more paint points in four of its nine games this season. For the season, NC State is averaging 34.9 paint points per game and only once this season (vs. Seton Hall) has the Pack been outscored in the paint. Overall through nine games, the Pack is +94 over its opponents in paint points.
- Second Half Pack: NC State is averaging 49.8 points and shooting 55.9 percent from the field in the second half of its nine games this season. Ven-Allen Lubin has been especially effective in the final 20 minutes. The Orlando, Fla., native is shooting 84.8 percent (28-of-33) from the field in the second half and is 93.3 percent (14-of-15) from the foul line. Overall the Pack's top four scorers in the second half (Quadir Copeland, Darrion Williams, Ven-Allen Lubin and Tre Holloman) combine to shoot 65.5 percent from the field in the second half, including 58 percent (29-of-50) from three-point range.
- Liberty enters Wednesday night ranking fourth in the nation in three-point percentage at 43.1 percent and fifth in the nation in three-pointers per game at 12.5 an outing. The Flames' Brett Decker Jr., leads the nation with an average of 4.63 three-pointers per game. In the last four games, all four opponents have hit double-digit three-pointers and overall the Pack is giving up 12.3 three-pointers per game in its last four games. During this four-game stretch each opponent has had at least one player (Auburn had two) hit five or more three-pointers.
- Get Darrion Williams back on track. Williams averaged 23.3 points per game and shot 61.1 percent from the field, including 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from three-point range in NC State's first four games of the season. In the last five games, Williams is averaging 11.4 points per game and is shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from three-point range.

NC State series with Liberty
- Wednesday will be the third all-time meeting between NC State and Liberty. NC State has won the previous two meetings.
- Last Meeting (December 11, 2004): Julius Hodge scored 27 points, grabbed nine rebounds and passed out nine assists to lead the 12th-ranked Pack to a 94-60 win over Liberty in a game played at Reynolds Coliseum.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Quadir Copeland

Tre Holloman

Ven-Allen Lubin

Paul McNeil, Jr.

Darrion Williams

North Carolina State University Athletics