Pack Hosts SMU Saturday at Lenovo Center

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NC State Game Notes | SMU Game Notes

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

The game against the Mustangs will be televised on The CW. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- NC State fell to California, 65-62, on Saturday night.
- The Pack used a 7-0 run to take a 62-61 lead with one minute to play, but Cal scored the final four points of the game to win. NC State passed out a season-low five assists and made just one three-pointer in the loss.
- 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 has made multiple three-pointers in six of the last eight games after only hitting multiple three-pointers in two of the first 10 games this season.
- Ben Middlebrooks ranks third in the ACC in blocks (27) and his 20 steals are second behind Jayden Taylor for the most on the team. Middlebrooks, Clemson's Viktor Lakhin 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 13 points against California. The senior from Rockford, Ill., has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game. Hill is shooting 50.3 percent from the field this season (fourth in the ACC), is second on the team with 39 assists and has nearly a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (39-to-20). In seven conference games, Hill has upped his average to 15.6 points per game and is shooting 51.1 percent.
- NC State had seven turnovers against California and now has had single digit turnovers in 10 games this season. NC State leads the ACC and ranks eighth in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.5). 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.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 28th in the NCAA with a +3.7 turnover margin. The Pack has had fewer turnovers than its opponent in every game but one this season. NC State forces 13.2 turnovers per game (5th in ACC/123rd in the NCAA) and only turns it over 9.5 times per game (1st in the ACC/8th in the NCAA).

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. Six of the Pack's seven 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, four of its five losses have also come down to the last possession. NC State lost to UNC by two and at Virginia, at Virginia Tech and home against Cal by three.
- SMU enters Saturday's game leading the ACC in scoring, averaging 84.2 points per game. The Pack ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring defense, averaging to hold opponents to 67.3 points per game. NC State has held every opponent under 80 points per game this season. North Carolina - which ranks second in the ACC in scoring, averaging 81.5 points per game - was held to a season-low 63 points when it played at NC State two weeks ago.
- Ben Middlebrooks ranks second in the ACC in blocks at 1.6 per game. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native has 27 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.
- 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 nine losses it averages just 11.4 points off opponent turnovers and has outscored by its opponents in points off turnovers by just 13 points (102-to-89).

NC State series with SMU
- Saturday will be the third all-time meeting between NC State and SMU. Both previous meetings were played in the 1980s with both teams winning once.
- Last Meeting (December 3, 1988): SMU upset 16th-ranked NC State, 59-57, in Dallas.

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Ben Middlebrooks

Michael O'Connell

Jayden Taylor