North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Appalachian State
Pack Hosts Appalachian State in Thursday Night ESPNU Tilt
12/14/2016 12:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Thursday is the first of four consecutive games at PNC Arena to close the non-conference schedule
Fans can also listen to the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes calling the action.
Pack Tracks
- NC State played its first overtime game of the season Saturday in defeating Tennessee State, 67-55, in the team's annual Heritage Game played at its former home of Reynolds Coliseum. The Pack ended the game on a 14-0 run. Senior BeeJay Anya recorded his first career double-double on Saturday with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to lead NC State.
- The game versus the Mountaineers marks the first game this season all scholarship players are available for the Pack as NC State has played a majority of its first nine games this season down at least two scholarship players. Freshman Omer Yurtseven is expected to make his NC State debut after sitting out the first nine games. Sophomore Maverick Rowan returned to the lineup Saturday, appearing in his first contest since the season-opener after suffering a concussion in the win over Georgia Southern. Freshman Ted Kapita missed the season-opener and the Pack's three games at the Paradise Jam.
- NC State has relied heavily on Torin Dorn, Terry Henderson and Dennis Smith Jr., this season. The trio ranks 1st (Smith, Jr. - 36.1), 2nd (Henderson - 35.9) and 3rd (Dorn - 35.8) on the ACC's minutes played per game list. The Pack is the only ACC team to have three players in the top-10 in minutes played.
Noting NC State
- NC State held Tennessee State to 0.80 points per possession in last Saturday's win. It was the best defensive performance of the season for the Pack and the third time this season it has held an opponent to less than 1.00 points per possession. (St. Francis Brooklyn and Saint Joseph's)
- Saturday's game against Tennessee State was just the second time this season the NC State bench outscored the opponent's bench. The Pack scored 16 points off the bench versus 10 points for the Tigers. The other game where NC State outscored its opponent off-the-bench was against St. Francis Brooklyn (23-22). For the season, the Pack has 95 points (10.6) off-the-bench, while its opponents have 221 points (24.6) off-the-bench. NC State has been down two scholarship players most of the season and at some points three scholarship players. The game against Appalachian State is the first time this season NC State will have all scholarship players in uniform.
- While the Pack has been outrebounded in six of nine games this season, NC State has outscored its opponents in second chance points in three of the last four games.
- NC State has committed 11 turnovers or less in five of nine games this season.
- Dennis Smith, Jr., is the only Pack player to score in double figures in every game this season. Torin Dorn scored in double figures in the first eight games of the season before being held to eight points against Tennessee State on Saturday.
NC State vs. Appalachian State Series
This is the 13th meeting between the Pack and Appalachian State ... NC State is 11-1 all-time against the Mountaineers ... NC State won the previous meeting, 98-77, on Nov. 8, 2013 in the season-opener for both teams ... The Pack is 20-1 all-time against teams from the Sun Belt, including a 81-79 win over Georgia Southern this season on Nov. 11.
Balanced Scoring Attack
NC State had five players reach double figures in scoring in its two opening games this season. Last season in 33 games, NC State only had three games where five players reached double figures in scoring. The Pack has had four different players lead the team in scoring this season: Terry Henderson vs. Georgia Southern, Creighton, Boston University and Tennessee State, Torin Dorn vs. St. Francis and Illinois, Abdul-Malik Abu vs. Montana and Dennis Smith, Jr., vs. Saint Joseph's and Loyola (Chicago). Through nine games this season, the Pack has four players averaging in double figures.
Getting Their First Run with the Pack
Counting Terry Henderson (who only played the first six minutes of the season last year before being injured and lost for the year), 74.6% of the minutes (1362 of 1825 minutes) played for NC State this season have been by players that did not play for the Wolfpack last season. NC State will eventually add another newcomer to its lineup when five-star recruit Omer Yurtseven becomes eligible to play on Dec. 15 against Appalachian State.
Shooting Star
Sophomore guard Torin Dorn shot 50.5% from the field as a freshman at UNC-Charlotte in 2014-15 en route to being named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
Through nine games this season, Dorn is 58-of-101 (57.4%) from the field to rank 5th in the ACC in field goal percentage. He is 44-of-72 (61.1%) on two-pointers and 14-of-29 (48.3%) on three-pointers. Dorn did not miss a two-point field goal attempt in the Nov. 13 game against St. Francis. He was 8-of-8 in the game on two-pointers. He also hit his his first four field goals against Montana before missing a layup late in the first half to snap his streak of 13 consecutive 2-point field goals made.
One of Top-Scoring Trios in ACC
Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., sophomore Torin Dorn and senior Terry Henderson combine to form one of the top-scoring trios in the ACC. The three players all rank in the top-13 in the ACC in scoring as NC State is the only team in the ACC to have three players in the top-13. The trio combines to average 52.3 points per game. Overall, Dorn, Henderson and Smith have combined to score 471 points this season, which is 65.8% of the points scored by NC State this year.
Top Scoring Trios in the ACC
Pittsburgh - Michael Young (23.0), Jamel Artis (18.9), Cameron Johnson (11.9) - 53.8
Duke - Luke Kennard (20.0), Grayson Allen (17.7), Amile Jefferson (15.1) - 52.8
NC State - Dennis Smith, Jr. (18.3), Terry Henderson (17.2), Torin Dorn (16.8) - 52.3
Freshmen Running the Show
Freshman point guards Dennis Smith, Jr., and Markell Johnson run the show for the Wolfpack this season. The two players combined have 70 assists and 34 turnovers in 548 minutes of action this season. The two combine to average just 1 turnover every 16.1 minutes. Johnson (25 assists/11 turnovers) has a 2.27 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Smith (45 assists/23 turnovers) has a 1.96 assist-to-turnover ratio. Through nine games, NC State is averaging 79.6 points per game and shooting 47.9% from the field. The two freshmen also rank 1st (Smith -15) and 2nd (Johnson - 12) on the team in steals.
Mr. Double-Double
Junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu has two double-doubles this season and now has 18 for his career. The 18 double-doubles are the most of any current player in the ACC. Abu had two double-doubles as a freshman and 14 last season as a sophomore.
