The NC State men’s basketball team returns to action Wednesday night when it hosts Wake Forest at PNC Arena.
The Pack will celebrate the 1983 National Championship team at Wednesday’s game. This game was chosen by the 1983 team as it allowed the most former players the ability to attend the reunion.
Tip-off against the Demon Deacons is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised on regional sports networks. Bally Sports South will air the game in North Carolina. A complete list of affiliates showing the game can be found here.
NC State fans can also listen to Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Last Time Out:
- NC State closed the game on a 29-15 run to beat North Carolina 77-69 on Sunday afternoon. The Pack made 12 of its final 13 field goal attempts in the run that spanned the last 10 minutes of the game. The only missed field goal in the run was a dunk. The win improved the Pack to 10-3 since the calendar turned to 2013.
- Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner scored a game-high 29 points to lead NC State to the win. Joiner scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half and made his final seven final field goal attempts. He scored 18 of the Pack’s 29 points in the game-ending 29-15 run.
- Joiner was named Co-ACC Player of the Week on Monday. His second ACC Player of the Week honor this season. He started the week with a triple-double in the loss at Syracuse on Tuesday. It was the first triple-double of this career and fifth in NC State history. The Oxford, Miss., native finished with 15 points, a career-high 11 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the second triple-double by an ACC player this season and the 38th triple-double in ACC history. It was the 14th triple-double to happen in a league game.
- Joiner is averaging 23.3 points, 6.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals over the Pack’s last three games.
- DJ Burns added 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting against the Tar Heels. Over the last four games, Burns is shooting 63.0% (29-of-46) from the field. Burns is second in the ACC in league games, shooting 56.6 percent from the field.
What to Look For:
- NC State will honor the 1983 National Championship Team at Wednesday’s game. All living members of the ’83 team will be in attendance and introduced to the crowd at halftime. The Pack will wear ’83 throwback uniforms in the game.
- NC State enters Wednesday night with a 14-1 home record. Since the inception of the ACC (1953-54 season), the Pack has only had seven seasons with one home loss or less. The last team to only lose one home game was the 2012-13 team that went 16-1.
- The Pack has won seven consecutive ACC home wins this season. It’s the longest ACC home win streak in the same season in program history. The 1972-73 and 1973-74 NC State teams both went undefeated in home ACC games but there were only six home games in the league schedule in those seasons. Most recently, the 2012-13 team went 8-1 in ACC home games. That NC State team won its first four ACC home games, dropped a one-point contest, 79-78, to 14th-ranked Miami on 2/2/13 and then won its remaining four home games. NC State’s 7-1 home record in ACC play this season is the best for NC State since head coach Kevin Keatts’ 2017-18 team went 7-2 in home ACC games.
- A win on Wednesday night would give NC State 22 wins in the regular season. That would mark the most regular season wins for NC State since the 1987-88 season team entered the ACC Tournament with a 23-6 record.
- Wake Forest leads the ACC in three-pointers made with an average of 9.26 per game and is second in three-point field goal percentage at 36.9 percent. NC State has allowed just 158 three-pointers this season (5.64 per game), the fewest of all ACC teams. It is limiting ACC opponents to just 30.5 percent shooting from three-point range, the top defensive mark in the ACC.
- NC State continues to rank among the nation’s leaders in fewest turnovers per game. The Pack averages just 9.7 turnovers per game to rank sixth in NCAA DI. The Pack only had two turnovers in its win over North Carolina on Sunday. It’s the second time in the last month that NC State has had just two turnovers in a game (Jan.24 vs. Notre Dame). NC State is 20-2 this season when it has the same number or fewer turnovers than its opponent.
NC State vs Wake Forest:
- Wednesday will be the 256th all-time meeting between the two programs.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 147-108, and has a 17-6 record against the Demon Deacons at PNC Arena.
- Kevin Keatts has an 8-3 record against Wake Forest as head coach of NC State, including a 4-1 mark against the Demon Deacons at PNC Arena
- Last Meeting (1/28/23): D.J. Burns scored a career-high 31 points to lead NC State back from a double-digit second half deficit to beat Wake Forest, 79-77. Burns shot 10-of-15 from the field and scored 23 of his 31 points in the second half. After shooting just 33.3 percent in the first half, the Pack shot 63.3 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Per Release