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NC State Game Notes | California Game Notes

 

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team is back in action Saturday evening when it hosts ACC newcomer California at the Lenovo Center.

Tipoff against the Golden Bears is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

 

Pack Tracks

– NC State dropped a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech, 79-76, on Wednesday night

– The Pack led by as many as 15 points in the second half and had a 72-60 lead with 6:38 to play, but the Hokies ended the game on a 19-4 run to win.

– NC State gave up season-highs in points (79) and three-pointers made (11) to the Hokies. The loss also snapped the Pack’s 15-game winning streak when it scored at least 70 points.

– Jayden Taylor led the Pack with 17 points. He has now scored in double figures in three consecutive games and in five of the last six outings. The Indianapolis, Ind., native made three three-pointers against the Hokies and has now made multiple three-pointers in six of the last seven games after only hitting multiple three-pointers in two of the first 10 games this season.

– Ben Middlebrooks finished with 13 points and a career-high tying three steals. He ranks second in the ACC in blocks (26) and his 20 steals are one behind Jayden Taylor for the most on the team. Middlebrooks and Florida State’s Taylor Bol Bowen are the only ACC players that have at least 25 blocks and 20 steals this season.

– Marcus Hill added 12 points against Virginia Tech. The senior from Rockford, Ill., has scored in double figures in 10straight games and leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game. Hill is shooting 50 percent from the field this season (seventh in the ACC), is second on the team with 37 assists and has nearly a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (37-to-19). In six conference games, Hill has upped his average to 16.0 points per game and is shooting 50.6 percent.

– NC State had eight turnovers against Virginia Tech and now has had single digit turnovers in nine games this season. NC State leads the ACC and ranks 12th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.6). NC State is aiming for a fourth straight 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 the 2023-24 season.

 

Saturday Storylines

– Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season (two seasons and counting), NC State is 36-9 (.800) in

home games, including a 15-8 mark against conference opponents.

– Pack is getting used to playing close ones in conference play. Five of the Pack’s first six ACC games have gone down to the wire. NC State started league play off by beating Florida State in overtime, its other win is a one-point win over Notre Dame, three of its four losses have also come down to the last possession. NC State lost to UNC by two and at Virginia and at Virginia Tech by three.

– NC State has to keep Cal off the offensive glass. The Golden Bears rank second in the ACC, averaging 12.8 offensive boards a game. In the last two games, NC State has allowed UNC and Virginia Tech to grab a combined 28 offensive rebounds. The Hokies finished the game with 22 second chance points, including the game-winning free throws to give Virginia Tech a 77-76 lead with two seconds to play. The 22 second chance points are the most allowed by the Pack this season.

– Ben  Middlebrooks ranks second in the ACC in blocks at 1.6 per game. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native has 26 blocks this season which already mark the most he’s ever had in a single season. Coming into this season, Middlebrooks had multiple blocked shots in nine of 101 career games, but has already had seven multiple block games this season. The more active Middlebrooks is, the better it is for the Pack. NC State is 6-1 this season when the senior has two or more blocks.

– Pack’s frontline depth starting to show up: The loss of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield the last two games has provided some opportunity for Ismaël Diouf and Dennis Parker, Jr., and both have shown flashes in their increased roles. Parker, Jr., had a career-high three blocks against UNC last Saturday and followed that up with eight points at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, the second-most points he’s scored in a game this season. Diouf, a junior playing his first season in the NCAA after two years in Canada, scored a career-high seven points against the Hokies on 3-of-4 shooting.

– Michael O’Connell ranks second in the ACC and eighth in the NCAA with a 3.82 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. O’Connell finished last season third in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54). His career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.15 is the 13th best active assist-to-turnover ratio in DI. His assist-to-turnover ratio at NC State is 2.87 (195-to-68) and that is the third best career assist-to-turnover ratio in program history. O’Connell has had one or fewer turnovers in 14 of 17 games this season. In six ACC games this season, O’Connell is averaging one turnover for every 31.8 minutes played.

– One of NC State’s calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent’s turnovers into points. In the Pack’s nine wins this season, it is averaging 19.3 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 102 points. In the Pack’s eight losses it averages just 10.4 points off opponent turnovers and has outscored by its opponents in points off turnovers by just three points (83-to-80).

 

NC State series with California

– Saturday will be the third all-time meeting between NC State and California. Both previous meetings were in NCAA Tournament games. This is the first regular season meeting between the two programs.

– Last Meeting (March 17, 2006): Tenth-seeded NC State beat No. 7 seed Cal, 58-52, in an NCAA Tournament first round game played at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Cameron Bennerman led the Pack with 18 points while Cedric Simmons added 12. The game was tied at 52 with under 45 seconds to play when Bennerman made a game-winning three-pointer.