NC State vs. Boston College
NC State won all three meetings with Boston
College last season, but the Eagles still hold the
advantage in the all-time series between the two
schools, 8-6.
Last season’s meeting between the two
programs in Chestnut Hill was a hard-fought
contest with NC State prevailing 56-51 for its
second win at Conte Forum. Scott Wood had
a game-high 16 points, including going 5-for-5
from the charity stripe.
The game was decided on a pair of free throws
by Lorenzo Brown in the closing seconds.
NC State also won the meeting with BC in
Raleigh, 76-62, and the matchup between the
Wolfpack and Eagles in the ACC Tournament,
78-57.
Preseason ACC Favorites
For the first time since the David Thompson
era, NC State was
picked to win the
ACC in a preseason
poll of media at the
league’s annual
Operation Basketball
in Charlotte.
The Pack earned 26
of the 53 first-place
votes cast in the poll,
followed by Duke,
North Carolina and
defending ACC
champions Florida
State.
The only other times the Pack was picked to finish
first in the poll was in 1973-74, when Norm
Sloan’s team was coming off a perfect 27-0
ACC championship season, one of only two undefeated
seasons in ACC history.
Junior David
Thompson and senior Tommy Burleson helped
the Wolfpack follow through on that prediction,
not only winning its second consecutive ACC
title but also ending UCLA’s college basketball
dynasty, beating the seven-time champion Bruins
in the NCAA semifinals at the Greensboro
(N.C.) Coliseum. The Pack won the school’s
first team NCAA title by beating Al McGuire’s
Marquette squad in the championship game to
finish the season 30-1.
The Pack was also picked to finish first going
into 1974-75, Thompson’s senior season. That
year, as Thompson earned his third consecutive
ACC Player of the Year Award and his second
straight National Player of the Year Award, the
Wolfpack finished 22-6, tied for second in the
ACC standings and losing to North Carolina in
the ACC Tournament championship game It did
not receive one of the ACC’s two bids into the
expanded 32-team NCAA Tournament field.
Over the years, the Pack has been better at
exceeding expectations in the preseason poll.
State has finished at least two spots better than
its predicted finish on 11 occasions, including
last season, when it was picked eighth and
finished fourth.
It has also finished two or more spots below its
predicted finish on nine occasions, including
2008, when the Wolfpack was picked third but
finished tied for 11th, and 2011, when it was
picked fourth, but finished tied for 10th.
For Openers
NC State is 33-26 all-time in ACC openers and
14-18 when opening league play on the road.
The last time the Wolfpack opened its conference
slate on the road was the 2008-09 season
at Clemson, suffering a 63-51 setback to the
Tigers.
NC State is 5-5 in its last 10 ACC openers,
including 1-5 when starting conference play on
the road.
This is the first time that the NC State has
opened conference play at Boston College.
New Year, New Format
When ACC play opens league-wide on Saturday,
conference’s 12 teams will play in the
inaugural 18-game format.
The format was adopted in advance of Notre
Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse joining the
ACC.
Each year, teams will play every league opponent
at least once with the two partners playing
home and away annually. In addition to the four
annual games against partners, the remaining
14 conference games will feature home
and away games with two rotating opponents
and five home-only games and five road-only
games.
The two-primary-partner format preserves
competitive balance and builds upon traditional
rivalries while providing the opportunity to create
new ones.
One-Two Punch
Freshman T.J. Warren and senior Richard
Howell are ranked one and two in the ACC
statistics in field goal percentage.
Warren, who was 6-of-8 in the Pack’s win over
UNCG, is connecting on .694 of his shots from
the floor, which is third nationally. Howell’s season
percentage is .667, which is the ninth best
shooting percentage in the nation. Howell had
an impressive 8-for-8 performance against the
Broncos ninth 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.
1,000-Point Club
By the end of the January, the Wolfpack’s four
upperclassmen could all be members of the
program’s 1,000-point club.
Junior C.J. Leslie earned his place in the
fraternity with a made free throw with 58.3 seconds
remaining in the first half in NC State’s
win over Western Michigan, becoming the 46th
player in NC State’s storied basketball history
to score his 1,000th point. He now is 44th on
the list with 1,036 points.
Leslie was 5-for-10 from the field in the game
and 9-for-11 from the free-throw line, scoring a
game-high 19 points as the Wolfpack earned
its sixth consecutive win and its eighth straight
win at home.
Among the many former Wolfpack stars who
have reached the 1,000-point plateau is current
teammate Scott Wood, who scored his
1,000th point in last season’s opening-round
win over San Diego State in the NCAA Tournament.
Wood currently has 1,176 points (37th).
Senior forward Richard Howell is 58 points
away from joining them and junior Lorenzo
Brown is 80 earning a spot in the club as well.
The last time NC State had three 1,000-point
scorers on the same team was in 2006-07,
with Engin Atsur (1,181), Ben McCauley
(1,138) and Courtney Fells (1,060).
The 1982-83 squad also had a trio of 1,000 scorers led by Thurl Bailey (1,495), Dereck
Whittenburg (1,272) and Sidney Lowe (1,048).
The Streak Is On
NC State’s current eight-game winning streak
is the longest under coach Mark Gottfried.
The last time the Pack had that many consecutive
wins was at the start of the 2004-05
season when it finished 21-14 and advanced
to the Sweet 16 where it fell to Wisconsin,
65-56.
The most recent double-digit winning streak
occurred during the 1988-89 campaign, when
NC State put together 10 consecutive wins
starting with a 109-81 victory over Alabama
State (Dec. 20) and stretching to an 82-64
victory over Wake Forest (Jan. 18). North
Carolina handed the Pack its first setback in
a month, taking State an 84-81 win in Chapel
Hill.
The longest winning streak in NC State history
is 36 games which spanned the 1973-74 and
1974-75 seasons.
Leslie At The FT Line
In his last four games, junior C.J. Leslie has made
31 of his 42 free-throw attempts in the last three
games, a clip of .738, raising the career .581 free
throw shooter’s average on the season to .644
percent.
Leslie had a career-high 13 free throws and a
career-high 18 attempts against St. Bonaventure
on Dec. 22 and followed up with a 9-for-11 performance
against Western Michigan.
Sharing The Wealth
The Pack has evenly shared the scoring load this
season with five players averaging double figures,
freshman Rodney Purvis close behind.
The Pack is led by junior C.J. Leslie with an average
of 15.8 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 13.3 ppg,
while junior Lorenzo Brown is averaging 12.4 ppg.
Senior Scott Wood is averaging 11.5 ppg, while
Purvis averages 9.1 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.
Warren has led the Pack in scoring four times, with
three of those performances coming as a reserve.
The Freshman 20
In just 13 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.
The Higher, The Better
In the Wolfpack’s 11 wins, it is averaging 84.6
points per game and shooting .550 (337-613) 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 11 of its 12 contests this season, the Wolfpack
has shot .500 or better from the floor.
NC State’s .535 field goal percentage leads the
nation.
Paint Production
The Pack has outscored its opposition, 546-401,
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 30.8 points a
contest in the lane, giving the Pack a 11.4-point
advantage.
That equates to .515 of the Wolfpack’s scoring
production coming from in the post, compared to
.444 of the scoring output for its opponents’ post
players.
Lending A Helping Hand
Three times this season, junior Lorenzo Brown
has recorded double digits in assists, versus
Michigan, Massachusetts and St. Bonaventure.
Against the Bonnies on Dec. 23, Brown had a
season-high 11 assists.
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
6.3, is the conference’s active leader for doubledigit
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.
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,
234-89, on fastbreak points.
Through 13 games, NC State is averaging
18.0points per game on the fastbreak, compared
to 6.8 points per contest for its competition.
In The Rankings
NC State has been ranked in the Associated
Press poll since the preseason, opening the year
at No. 6.
The Pack was ranked 23rd in the Dec. 24 AP
poll, marking the ninth straight week it has been
ranked. New polls are released every Monday
afternoon.
It is the longest stretch that NC State has been
ranked by AP since spending 15 weeks in the poll
during the 2005-06 season.