NC State vs. Western Michigan
This is the first meeting between NC State and
Western Michigan.
NC State-Western Michigan Connections
This may be the first meeting between NC State
and Western Michigan on the court, the two
coaching staffs have ties.
NC State director of basketball operations Jeff
Dunlap and Wolfpack director of player development
Larry Farmer both served on the staff of
Broncos coach Steve Hawkins.
Dunlap worked for Hawkins on three previous
occasions. Dunlap was an assistant at Quincy
University in Illinois for three seasons (1991-
94). The two reunited at Western Michigan with
Dunlap serving on Hawkins’ Broncos staff from
2004-07 and again from 2010-11.
Prior to his arrival in Raleigh, Farmer spent two
seasons (2010-12) on Hawkins’ Bronco coaching
staff.
The ties go even further back as Hawkins, a
1987 South Alabama graduate, got his start
in coaching as student assistant under USA
head coach Mike Hanks. Wolfpack coach Mark
Gottfried’s father, Joe, was the South Alabama
athletics director at the time.
NC State vs. The MAC
While this is the first meeting between NC State
and Western Michigan, the Wolfpack is 5-1 all
time against programs from the Mid-American
Conference (MAC).
Western Michigan is the second MAC school
the Pack has faced this season. It opened the
year with a 97-59 victory over Miami (Ohio).
Home for the Holidays
Saturday’s Western Michigan game is the fifth
contest in a six-game December homestand for
NC State.
The Pack is 4-0 on the homestand following
its 92-73 win over St. Bonaventure this past
Saturday.
NC State opened the homestand with an 80-
63 victory over Cleveland State at Reynolds
Coliseum on Dec. 8, in its only appearance at
the historic venue this season and an 84-62 win
over Norfolk State on Dec. 15.
The Pack then closes out the calendar year
hosting by UNC Greensboro on New Year’s Eve
at 5 p.m.
Time Change
The game time for NC State’s Dec. 31 home
contest with UNC Greensboro has been
changed to 5 p.m. The game originally had
been slated for a 1 p.m. start.
The time change was made to allow Wolfpack
fans locally and across the nation to support
the football team as it takes on Vanderbilt in the
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl,
followed by the basketball contest later that
afternoon.
Both events will be broadcast on the NC State
Radio network. The Wolfpack football game
is set to air on ESPN at noon and the men’s
basketball contest will be on ESPNU.
Milestone Day
Juniors C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown both can
reach scoring milestones in Saturday’s contest.
Leslie need four points to reach 1,000 in his
NC State career, doing so in his 76th game in a
Wolfpack uniform.
Brown needs five points to reach 900 as member
of the Wolfpack, reaching the plateau in 79
games.
Leslie Named ACC Player of the Week
C.J. Leslie was named the ACC Player of the
Week the conference office announced on Dec.
24. The junior forward earns the honor for the
second time in his career and the second time
this year.
Leslie led the 23rd-ranked Wolfpack to victories
over Stanford, 88-79, and St. Bonaventure, 92-
73, extending NC State’s winning to five straight
games.
Against the Cardinal last Tuesday, Leslie scored
16 points, shooting 6-for-10 from the floor and
4-for-5 from the free throw line. He also grabbed
six rebounds and had two blocks.
This past Saturday, the Holly Springs, N.C.,
native posted a career-high 33 points versus
St. Bonaventure by hitting on 10-of-13 from the
floor. Leslie also went 13-of-18 from the charity
stripe, setting career-highs for free throws made
and attempted. He also had eight rebounds,
three blocks and two assists.
For the week, Leslie averaged 24.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He shot
.695 (16-23) from the field and .739 (17-23)
from the free throw line.
Sharing The Wealth
The Pack has evenly shared the scoring load
this season with five players averaging double
figures.
The Pack is led by junior C.J. Leslie with an
average of 15.0 points per contest. Freshman
T.J. Warren is second on the team in scoring
with an average of 13.5 ppg.
Senior Richard Howell is contributing 13.1 ppg,
while junior Lorenzo Brown is averaging 12.4
ppg.
Senior Scott Wood is averaging 11.3 ppg,
while freshman Rodney Purvis is close to
double digits at 9.4 ppg.
NC State is one of two ACC schools with five
players averaging in double figures. The other
is Duke. Nationally, the Pack is one of seven
teams with a quintet averaging double figures.
Those schools include Detroit, Indiana, McNeese State and Oregon State.
Head Of The Freshman Class
T.J. Warren is the ACC’s leading freshman
scorer with an average of 13.5 points per
game.
He owns the top two scoring games in the
conference among freshmen this year with 22
against Penn State (tied with BC’s Oliver Hanlon,
who also had 22 versus Penn State) and
21 versus Massachusetts and Norfolk State.
A team-best four times, Warren has led the
Pack in scoring with three of those performances
coming in a reserve role.
The Freshman 20
In just 11 games this season, freshman forward
T.J. Warren has already hit the 20-point
mark on three occasions, becoming the
Wolfpack’s first freshman since J.J. Hickson
in 2007-08 to score 20 or more points multiple
times in a season.
Hickson scored at least 20 points on seven
occasions in his only season with the Pack,
including 33 in his first game.
C.J. Leslie had a season-high 21 in his first
game with the Wolfpack in 2010-11 and Scott
Wood surpassed 20 once with his 31-point
performance against Florida State in his inaugural
season.
Brandon Costner had nine 20-point performances
as a redshirt freshman in 2006-07.
Brown Shines Versus Stanford
Junior Lorenzo Brown showed why he’s one of
the top guards in the country versus Stanford.
In the nationally televised contest, Brown
scored a game-high 24 points, which tied his
career best. He set the benchmark in an 87-81
victory over Campbell on Dec. 29, 2011.
His field goals made (9) tied his career high
established versus Elon on Nov. 25, 2011 in an
82-67 win. His field goals attempted (15) was a
season high.
The Higher, The Better
In the Wolfpack’s nine wins, it is averaging
84.2 points per game and shooting .552 (275-
498) from the field.
Three times NC State has topped the 90-point
barrier, scoring a season-high 97 points in
the opener versus Miami of Ohio, posting 94
against UMass in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and
scoring 92 in its win over St. Bonaventure.
In its Miami victory, the Pack shot a season
best .614 (35-of-57) from the floor.
In its two losses, NC State is averaging 64.0
points per game and shooting .458 (54-of-118)
from the field.
In nine of its 10 contests this season, the Wolfpack
has shot .500 or better from the floor.
NC State’s .534 field goal percentage leads
the nation.
Paint Production
The Pack has outscored its opposition, 464-
323, in the paint this season. That’s 42.2
points per game for NC State coming off of
shots around the rim, while its opponents are
scoring 29.4 points a contest in the lane, giving
the Pack a 12.8-point advantage.
That equates to .524 of the Wolfpack’s scoring
production coming from in the post, compared
to .421 of the scoring output for its opponents’
post players.
One-Two Punch
Freshman T.J. Warren and senior Richard
Howell are one and two in the ACC statistics in
field goal percentage.
Warren is connecting on .681 of his shots from
the floor, which is third nationally. Howell’s .644
field goal percentage which is the18th-best
nationally.
The last Wolfpack freshman to lead the ACC
in field goal percentage was J.J. Hickson, who
shot .591 for the 2007-08 season. The duo
are the only teammates that rank in the top 10
nationally in shooting percentage.
Lending A Helping Hand
Three times this season, junior Lorenzo Brown has
recorded double digits in assists, versus Michigan,
Massachusetts and St. Bonaventure.
Last Saturday, Brown had a season-high 11 assists
versus the Bonnies.
All of last season, Brown had two performances
with 10 or more assists, including a career-best 13
in the Pack’s loss to Syracuse. Against the Orange,
he also registered his first career double-double,
adding 10 points.
Against UMass this year, Brown posted his second
career double-double by scoring 11 points to go
with his assist tally.
Brown, who leads the ACC in assists per game at
6.4, is the conference’s active leader for double-digit
assist games with three. Brown’s assists per
game are the most by a Wolfpack player since
Chris Corchiani averaged 9.6 per game during the
1990-91 season.
Chairmen Of The Boards
Senior Richard Howell and junior C.J. Leslie are
the only teammates on the ACC list of career
double-digit rebound games.
Howell is second among active players with 29 10-
plus rebound contests, while Leslie is fifth with 17.
Howell is also second in the league for career
rebounds with 778 and Leslie is sixth with 548.
Howell’s rebounding total places him in 12th alltime
in program history. He needs two more to surpass
Kenny Carr (789) for 11th on the all-time list.
On The Break
One of the points of emphasis in NC State’s
offensive style is to score points in transition.
This
season, the Pack has outscored its opponents,
209-75, on fastbreak points.
Through 11 games, NC State is averaging 19.0
points per game on the fastbreak, compared to 6.8
points per contest for its competition.