Pack Hosts Wake Forest in Final Saturday Home Game of the Season

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NC State Game Notes | Wake Forest Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team plays its final weekend home game on Saturday afternoon, hosting Wake Forest inside the Lenovo Center.

Tipoff against the Demon Deacons is scheduled for 2 p.m. 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 Notes
- NC State dropped a road contest to North Carolina, 97-73, on Wednesday night.
- The 97 points were the most allowed by NC State this season and marked just the second time in 26 games this season an opponent has scored over 80 points on the Pack.
- NC State - which had turned it over six or less times in three of the four games leading into the UNC game - turned it over nine times in the opening 20 minutes and shot just 36 percent from the field which allowed the Tar Heels to open up a 28-point halftime advantage. The Pack shot 55 percent and turned it over only once in the final 20 minutes but could not make a major dent in its deficit.
- Jayden Taylor led NC State in scoring for the second consecutive game, finishing with 19 points. It's the second consecutive 19-point effort for the Indianapolis native which marks the most he's had against an ACC opponent this season.
- Freshman Paul McNeil has provided a scoring punch in two of the last three games for NC State. The Rockingham, N.C., native had the first double-digit scoring game of his career with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 13 minutes vs. Louisville on Feb. 12 and then had a season-best 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 14 minutes at North Carolina on Wednesday. McNeil has scored 28 points in the last three games which is 50% of the total points he's scored this season.
- NC State's bench contributed 26 points against UNC. The Pack's bench has provided a scoring boost in recent games. NC State is averaging 31.5 bench points per game in the last four outings. NC State has had six double-digit scoring efforts by four different players off the bench in the last four games (Trey Parker (twice), Paul McNeil (twice), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Breon Pass).
- NC State is now averaging 21.8 bench points per game this season which is the highest bench output for the Pack since the 2018-19 team averaged 29.0 bench points per game.

Saturday Storylines
- NC State has had six or fewer turnovers in three of its last five games. The Pack has had single digit turnovers in eight of its last 11 games and 14 overall games this season. NC State leads the ACC and ranks eighth in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.2). In 15 ACC games, the Pack lowers its turnovers to just 8.9 per game, which also leads the league. NC State is aiming for a fourth straight season ranked as one of the nation's best teams in valuing the basketball. The Pack finished 12th in the NCAA last season in turnovers, seventh in 2022-23 and 16th in 2023-24. season.
- Over the last three games, NC State has forced 44 turnovers (14.7 per game) while only turning it over themselves a total of 27 times (9.0 per game). The Pack leads the ACC in turnover margin at +3.4 per game and ranks 26th in the NCAA.
- Trey Parker has made the most of an increased role lately as he has scored 69 points in the last seven games (9.9 ppg) and is shooting 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field, including 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from three-point range. Before the last seven games, the Fayetteville, N.C., native only scored 14 points in a 12-game stretch from Dec 4 vs. Texas through Jan. 25 vs SMU. Overall, Parker has scored 58.5% of his points this season (69 of 118) in the last six games.
- Ben Middlebrooks is one of just seven players in the ACC that has combined for 60 or more blocks and steals this season The NC State senior leads the team in blocks with 36 and is third on the team with 24 steals. Middlebrooks has had 10 games this season where he's finished with three blocks or three steals. The more active Middlebrooks is the better it is for the Pack. NC State is 6-3 when Middlebrooks has multiple blocks in a game this season and is 4-2 when he has multiple steals.
- Consistency Needed from Styles: The good for Dontrez Styles - he's scored 18 or more points in four of the last seven games. The bad - in the three games he didn't reach 18 points, he scored just 13 points in those games combined. In the four games he reached at least 18 points, Styles is 14-of-21 (66.7%) from three-point range, but is just 1-of-11 in the other three games.
- Get Marcus Hill back on track. Hill has scored just 10 points in the last two games. He remains NC State's leading scorer this season and had scored in double figures in 15 of the 17 games prior to the last two outings. The Rockford, Ill., native leads the Pack in scoring at 12.2 points per game. Hill is second on the team with 46 assists and has a 1.84 assist-to-turnover ratio (46-to-25).
- Battle in the paint. Wake Forest outscored NC State, 38-20, in points in the paint in the first meeting this season back on Jan. 4. The 18-point differential was the largest NC State had been outscored in the paint until the Pack's game against Louisville on Feb. 12. NC State gave up a season-high 52 paint points to UNC on Wednesday night.
- Finish out close games. NC State has held a second half lead in 12 of 15 ACC games this season. NC State has led in the second half in nine of its 12 conference losses this season. Seven of the losses have been within one possession with under four minutes to play and NC State has led in the final four minutes in four of those losses.
- One of NC State's calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent's turnovers into points. In the Pack's 10 wins this season, it is averaging 18.9 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 114 points. In the Pack's 16 losses it averages just 11.5 points off opponent turnovers and has outscored its opponents in points off turnovers by just 13 points (184-to-171).

NC State series with Wake Forest
- Saturday will be the 258th all-time meeting between NC State and Wake Forest.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 147-110.
- The Pack has a 19-6 advantage over the Demon Deacons in games played at the Lenovo Center.
- Kevin Keatts is 10-5 against Wake Forest as head coach of NC State.
- Last Meeting (Jan. 4, 2025): Wake Forest defeated NC State, 77-59, in a matchup earlier this season in Winston-Salem. The Pack trailed by six at halftime and was within four with 15:27 to play, but the Demon Deacons went on a 12-2 run to take a 14-point lead and NC State never got closer than 12 the rest of the way. Dontrez Styles posted his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Marcus Hill led the Pack with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Michael O'Connell was the only other NC State player to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points.

Pack Hosts Wake Forest in Final Saturday Home Game of the Season

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Paul McNeil

Ben Middlebrooks

Michael O'Connell

Trey Parker

Breon Pass

Dontrez Styles

Jayden Taylor