Pack Returns Home to Face Georgia Tech Saturday

Saturday, January 17

Raleigh, NC

12 PM

NC State

Georgia Tech

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1/16/2026 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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NC State Game Notes | Georgia Tech Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball (12-5, 3-1 ACC) returns to action Saturday when it hosts Georgia Tech (10-8, 1-4 ACC) inside the Lenovo Center.

Tipoff against the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for noon and the game will be televised on The CW. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Notes
- NC State set a program record for margin of victory in an ACC road game with a 113-69 win at Florida State last Saturday. The Pack jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back. NC State led by 25 at halftime and after FSU opened the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the Pack's lead to 17, NC State responded with a 26-6 run to put the game out of reach.
- The 44-point win broke NC State's previous record for victory margin in an ACC road game that had stood since Dec. 14, 1954 when NC State won at Clemson, 112-72.
- NC State tied the program record with 19 made three-pointers in the win over the Seminoles. It also tied an ACC record for most three-pointers by a single team in an ACC game. It's the third time in program history that NC State has made 19 three-pointers in a game and the second time this season (NC State also hit 19 three-pointers in the season-opening win over NC Central.) The Pack started the game 1-for-9 from long range, but then made seven straight three-pointers as it made 18 of its final 26 three-point attempts in the win at FSU.
- NC State has now had double-digit three-pointers in nine of 18 games this season. The Pack has had two games with 19 made three-pointers, a game with 17 made threes and another game with 16 made threes. The Pack currently ranks third in the ACC and 14th in the NCAA with an average of 11.1 three-pointers made per game.
- Over the last two games, NC State has shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from three-point range. For the season, NC State leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the NCAA in three-point percentage, shooting 40.1% from long range.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., led NC State with 21 points in the win over Florida State. McNeil, Jr., made 5-of-10 three-pointers in the win. The Rockingham, N.C., native has made 28 three-pointers in the last six games and is shooting 50% from long range in those contests.
- Darrion Williams had a double-double in the win against FSU, posting 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. It's his third double-double of the season. Williams leads the Pack in at 14.6 points per game and has shooting splits of 45/42.5/76.9 while maintaining a 2.4 (53 assists/22 turnovers) assist-to-turnover ratio.

Saturday Storylines
- NC State is off to a 3–1 start in ACC play, and a win Saturday would give the Pack its first 4–1 conference start since the 2023–24 season and just the second 4–1 ACC start in the past 13 seasons.
- Darrion Williams and Georgia Tech's Lamar Washington were teammates at Texas Tech in the 2023-24 season. Ironically, their final game together at Texas Tech was March 21, 2024 when the sixth-seeded Red Raiders lost to 11th-seed NC State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as the Pack continued its winning streak on the way to the Final Four. Williams had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Red Raiders in that game while Washington did not play.
- Win the Boards, win the game? NC State outrebounded Florida State, 44-25 on Saturday. The Pack is 10-0 when it outrebounds its opponent and 2-5 when it is outrebounded this season.
- Quadir Copeland continues to stuff the stat sheet. Copeland scored 10 points in the win over Florida State while also leading the team with six assists and three steals. Over the last 11 games, Copeland is averaging 14.8 points, 6.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 56.8 percent (58-of-102) from the field. The Philadelphia, Pa., has led the Pack in scoring in five of the last 11 games, in assists in 10 of the last 11 games and in steals in six of the last 11 games.
- Last Saturday's win at FSU marked the fourth time this season NC State has gone over the century mark. It's the most 100 point games in a single season for NC State since the 1995-96 team had four. For the season, NC State averages 86.5 points per game which is fourth in the ACC and 31st in the NCAA. The Pack is currently on pace to average its most points since Fire & Ice (Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe) led the Pack to an average of 89.3 points per game in the 1990-91 season.
- In the Pack's two road wins last week, NC State passed out 38 assists and had just 13 turnovers. It now leads the ACC and ranks 18th in the NCAA with a 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.
- The Pack had a +16 turnover margin in its two wins last week and leads the ACC and ranks 16th in the NCAA with a +4.2 turnover margin. NC State has had fewer turnovers than its opponent in 14 of 17 games this season, its tied in turnovers once and twice (VCU and Ole Miss) it has had more turnovers than its opponent.
- Terrance Arceneaux coming on. Over the first 15 games of the season, Arceneaux had only one double-digit performance and four games where he didn't even play, but last week Arceneaux had double figures in both games. At Boston College, he scored a then season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting (3-of-3 from three-point range). On Saturday, he upped his season-high with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting (2-of-4 from long range) and tied his career-high with four steals.
- NC State ranks 29th in the most recent NET rankings through games of Jan. 14. NC State's average opponent NET rank though 17 games is 127 which ranks as the third-toughest of any ACC team and 27th toughest schedule in the NCAA. Seven of the Pack's 13 non-conference games this season are currently Q1 or Q2 games. The seven Q1/Q2 games are the most of any ACC team in non-con play and the Pack's four Q1 games are second only to Duke for the most of any ACC team in non-conference. As of the current NET rankings, NC State will have nine Q1 and three Q2 opportunities in ACC action.
- Ven has been unstoppable in the second half of games this season: A missed shot midway through the second half against Liberty on Dec. 10 snapped a streak of 24 consecutive made second half field goals for Ven-Allen Lubin. In 17 games this season, Lubin is shooting 78.6 percent (55-of-70) from the field in the second half.

NC State series with Georgia Tech
- Saturday will be the 106th all-time meeting between NC State and Georgia Tech.
- The Pack leads the series, 61-44, and has a 33-14 record against the Yellow Jackets in games played in Raleigh, including a 13-6 mark against GT in the Lenovo Center.
- Last Meeting (March 1, 2025): The Yellow Jackets beat NC State, 87-62, in McCamish Pavilion. Ben Middlebrooks and Dontrez Styles led the Pack with 13 points apiece. NC State led 23-21 with five minutes left in the first half, but GT made nine of its final 11 field goal attempts to close the half to open up an 11-point halftime lead. NC State trailed by 10, 65-55, with 8:15 to go, but the Yellow Jackets went on a 15-1 run to put the game away.