Pack Wraps Up Season at Miami on Saturday

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NC State Game Notes | Miami Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team closes the 2024-25 season on Saturday when it takes on Miami at the Watsco Center.

Tipoff in Coral Gables is scheduled for noon and the game 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 Notes
NC State celebrated Senior Day on Wednesday night with a 71-63 win over Pitt. The Pack closed the regular season by winning its final three home games.
All 71 of the Pack's points in the win were scored by members of the seven-man senior class.
A Ben Middlebrooks free throw with 10:24 left in the first half broke a 17-17 tie and the Pack would never trail again. NC State would build a lead as large as 11 points, but a 9-2 Pitt run got the Panthers within one, 55-54, with 4:56 left. A Middlebrooks three-point play on the next possession pushed the lead back to four and NC State made all eight of its free throw attempts in the final 2:18 of the game to end any Panthers threat.
Michael O'Connell led NC State with 15 points and a game-high eight assists. It was the first time O'Connell has reached double figures in points since he had 10 points in the game at Wake Forest on Jan. 4 and the first time O'Connell has led the team in scoring since he had 16 points against BYU back on Nov. 29.
O'Connell ranks fourth in the NCAA with a 3.57 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has had one or fewer turnovers in 23 games this season. His current assist-to-turnover ratio ranks as the best single-season ratio in program history and his assist-to-turnover ratio in his two years at NC State is 2.93 which currently is the third-best career assist-to-turnover ratio in program history.
Breon Pass made his first career start – in his 115th career appearance in an NC State uniform – and tied his career-high with 14 points. Pass knocked down a career-best four three-pointers and added three assists, one steal and one block.
NC State continues to rank among the nation's best in valuing the basketball this season. NC State is second in the ACC and ranks 14th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.5).The Pack has had single digit turnovers in nine of its last 15 games and 15 total games this season. NC State is aiming for a fourth straight season 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 2021-22 season.

Saturday Storylines
- This year's NC State team is averaging 69.6 points per game and is trending to be the lowest scoring team in the eight years of the Kevin Keatts era and the lowest scoring Pack team since the 2009-10 team averaged 66.6 points per game. The previous low for the Keatts era was 72.8 points per game in the 2020-21 season. Marcus Hill is leading this year's team in scoring with an average of 11.6 points per game. If the season ended today he'd be the lowest leading scorer for NC State since Adam Harrington led the Pack in scoring in the 1998-99 season with an 11.6 points per game average.
- NC State is averaging 25.9 bench points per game in the last seven outings. NC State has had seven double-digit scoring efforts by five different players off the bench during this stretch (Trey Parker (twice), Paul McNeil (twice), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Marcus Hill and Breon Pass). NC State is now averaging 21.6 bench points per game this season which is the highest bench output for the Pack since the 2018-19 team averaged 29.0 bench points per game.
- NC State finding the range from long-distance. The Pack is averaging just 6.7 made three-pointers per game this season but has now made 62 three-pointers in the last seven games (8.9 per game).
- Michael O'Connell enters Saturday's season-finale (and final game of his collegiate career) just 17 points shy of 1,000. O'Connell's scoring high in two years with NC State is 16 points which he's done three times. In 160 career games, O'Connell has scored 17 or more points in a game three times.
- Jayden Taylor is just 34 points shy of 1,500 career points, but has only scored 14 points in the last four games. Taylor is shooting just 5-of-20 (25%) from the field in the last four outings.
- Ben Middlebrooks is one of just seven players in the ACC that has combined for 65 or more blocks and steals this season The NC State senior leads the team in blocks with 39 and is third on the team with 27 steals. Middlebrooks has had 11 games this season where he's finished with three blocks or three steals. The more active Middlebrooks is, the better it is for the Pack. NC State is 7-3 when Middlebrooks has multiple blocks in a game this season and is 5-2 when he has multiple steals.
- Finish out close games. NC State has held a second half lead in 14 of 19 ACC games this season. NC State has led in the second half in nine of its 14 conference losses this season. Seven of the losses have been within one possession with under four minutes to play and NC State has led in the final four minutes in four of those losses.
- One of NC State's calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent's turnovers into points. In the Pack's 12 wins this season, it is averaging 18.3 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 121 points. In the Pack's 18 losses it averages just 10.9 points off opponent turnovers and has been outscored its opponents in points off turnovers by four points (201-to-197).

NC State series with Miami
- Saturday will be the 31st all-time meeting between NC State and Miami.
- NC State leads the all-time series with the Hurricanes, 16-14.
- Last Meeting (January 31, 2024): NC State held Miami to a then-season-low 36.4 percent shooting to beat the Hurricanes, 74-68, in Raleigh. DJ Horne led the way for the Wolfpack with a game-high 24 points, with the NC State's offensive effort being aided by a team-best five assists from Michael O'Connell. Jayden Taylor led the way for NC State on the boards, matching his then-career-best with seven rebounds and setting a career-high with three blocks.

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

DJ Horne

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Paul McNeil

Ben Middlebrooks

Michael O'Connell

Trey Parker

Breon Pass

Jayden Taylor