The UNC Tar Heels and NC State Wolfpack are scheduled to meet for an earlier than usual second time this season Saturday afternoon inside the Dean E. Smith Center. Tipoff is slated for 2 pm.
NC State will return to action for the first time in 10 days since falling on the road to Florida State 105-73 on Jan 13. The Wolfpack have now dropped three straight ACC contests after starting conference action 2-0.
Devon Daniels continues to pace the Wolfpack on offense averaging 15.7 ppg. DJ Funderburk follows with just over 12 ppg. Cole Hellems is chipping in 11 ppg. Manny Bates mans the paint collecting 5.7 rebounds per outing and also protecting the rim with three blocks per contest.
UNC continues their upward trend after returning to the win column, defeating Wake Forest 80-73 Tuesday evening in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have now won 4 of their last 5 games.
Armando Bacot, who would be a leading candidate for most improved player in the ACC, leads the Tar Heels with 11.6 ppg and 7.6 rebounds. Freshman Caleb Love has been a bright spot for the Tar Heels most recently scoring a career-high 20 points against Wake Forest. UNC continues to dominate on the glass as a team averaging 45 rebounds per contest – ranked second in the country.
Keys To Victory:
UNC – Continue to control the boards. Limit turnovers. Perimeter defense
NC State – Force turnovers. Knockdown open shots. Slow down the UNC frontcourt.
Game Notes:
- Carolina plays its first ACC opponent for a second time this season when it hosts NC State on Saturday, January 23, at 2 p.m.
- The Tar Heels are 9-5 overall, 4-3 in the ACC. UNC defeated Wake Forest, 80-73, at home on January 20.
- NC State is 6-4, including 2-3 in league play. The Wolfpack has been idle due to Covid-19 safety protocols since a 105-73 loss at Florida State on January 13.
- NC State beat UNC, 79-76, in Raleigh on December 22.
- UNC is 78-23 vs. the Pack in Chapel Hill, including 27-7 at the Smith Center.
- The Tar Heels have won two in a row and 15 of 17 at home against NC State.
- Armando Bacot leads UNC in scoring at 11.6 points per game. The last time a Tar Heel led the team in scoring with less than 12 points a game was 1946-47 (Jim Hamilton 11.4 ppg).
- Carolina is 5-0 at home this season, with non-conference wins over Charleston and NC Central and league victories over Notre Dame, Syracuse and Wake Forest.
- Junior guard Thomas Allen has led NC State in scoring in back-to-back games. He scored 14 points vs. Miami and 16 points at Florida State. The Raleigh native hit 4-of-5 three-pointers in both games game and is now shooting 51.4% (19-of-37) from long-range this season.
- NC State senior forward D.J. Funderburk and sophomore forward Manny Bates rank 1st and 2nd in ACC-only games in field goal percentage (min 3 made FGs game). Funderburk is shooting 65.5% (19-of-29) and Bates is shooting 65.2% (15-of-23). Funderburk is also shooting 95.5% (21-of-22) from the free throw line in conference play.
- Wolfpack senior guard Devon Daniels has stuffed the stat sheet this season. Daniels leads the team in scoring and assists, is second in steals and third in rebounding. Daniels has scored in double figures in 9 of 10 games, has had 3+ rebounds in eight games, 3+ assists in eight games and multiple steals in five games.
- NC State leads the ACC in steals (9.3), turnovers forced (17.8) and turnover margin (+5.2). The Pack has had 10 or more steals in four games this season, including 18 against Charleston Southern, which was the most under Kevin Keatts. The Pack has six players averaging at least one steal per game. Freshman Shakeel Moore leads NC State with 19 steals, ranking fifth in the ACC with an average of 1.9 steals per game. Devon Daniels has 18 steals and ranks sixth in the ACC at 1.8 steals per game.
How to Watch:
Time: 2:00pm
TV: ESPN (Doug Sherman, Cory Alexander)
Stream: Watch ESPN
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Properties (Jones Angell, Eric Montross, Adam Lucas, Dave Nathan)
