HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
Mark Gottfried has brought a fast-paced, high energy offense to NC State as evidenced by the
team’s scoring numbers. The Wolfpack currently ranks second in the Atlantic Coast Conference
and ranks 11th nationally in scoring with 79.6 points per game.
The Pack’s offensive production has improved dramatically since Gottfried took over the program
prior to last season. In 2010-11, the campaign prior to his arrival, State ranked 115th nationally
and sixth in the ACC in scoring with 70.7 point per game. Last year, his first season with the
Wolfpack, the average was up slightly to 72.9 points per game - the nation’s 59th-best mark at
season’s end.
The NC State single season record for points per game is 92.9, set in 1973. However, the Pack’s
current mark would rank as the highest in over 15 years (81.2 in 1996) if the season ended today.
State has already scored at least 80 points in 11 contests this season - the highest total for a
Wolfpack squad since 2005-06 (13).
RECRUITING PROWESS
Mark Gottfried is bringing top-level talent to Raleigh, as both of his recruiting classes have been
ranked in the top-10 nationally. Last year, having just seven months till the fall signing period,
Gottfried brought in the No. 5 recruiting class in the nation, including three McDonald’s All-Americans.
It marked the first time the Wolfpack had three McDonald’s All-Americans in the same class
since 1979. Gottfried followed up with three more recruits signed in November and that class
currently ranks ninth nationally.
Gottfried came to NC State with the reputation of being a first-class recruiter. In three of his final
four seasons at Alabama, Gottfried’s recruiting classes were nationally ranked: 10th in 2005, 27th
in 2007, and 16th in 2008. In three of his final four seasons at Alabama, Gottfried’s recruiting
classes were nationally ranked: 10th in 2005, 27th in 2007, and 16th in 2008.
NC STATE VS. CLEMSON
Sunday’s game is the first of two contests
against the Tigers this season, marking only
the third time in the last 10 years the two teams
have played home-and-home games against
each other.
NC State and Clemson are 2-2 against each
other since the Pack took a 59-57 victory in
the first round of the 2010 ACC Tournament,
but the Tigers won five in a row from 2007 to
2010, their second longest winning streak in
the series. The longest was a six-game streak
from 1993-95.
The Wolfpack posted a 15-game winning streak
from 1941 to 1956. The Pack has four other
winning streaks of six games or more since the
teams first played in Raleigh during the 1923-
24 season.
Through the years, NC State has had more success
against the Tigers than any other charter
member of the ACC, posting a 97-48 overall
record (.669).
That is the second-highest winning percentage
against any current member of the ACC, just
behind a 35-14 mark (.714) against Virginia
Tech, which joined the ACC for the 2004-05
season.
LAST TIME OUT VS. THE TIGERS
In its only overtime contest of the season, NC
State fell at Clemson, 72-69, on Feb. 25, 2012,
as the Tigers handed the Wolfpack its fourth
consecutive defeat.
The tightly contested game saw the two teams
exchange the lead 15 times and tie 16 times
before the Tigers prevailed in the extra session.
The Wolfpack held the statistical advantage in
rebounding (36-32), points in the paint (36-28),
second chance points (17-14), fast break points
and field goal percentage (.500-.439). The difference
in the game would come down to the free
throw line, where the Tigers made the most of
their chances, converting 76.2 (16-of-21) from
the charity stripe, while the Pack connected on a
season-low 38.5 (5-of-13) at the line, including
a 1-for-4 performance in the final five minutes.
In the final minute of regulation, C.J. Leslie gave the Pack a 62-60 lead by converting two of the
few free throws it made on the afternoon, but
Clemson’s Tanner Smith sent the game into
overtime on with a pair from the line with 4.1
seconds left.
Lorenzo Brown gave NC State an early lead
in overtime, 69-66, on two driving baskets. It
would be the last points that the Pack would
score as Clemson posted the next six including
Andre Young’s game winner with 11.5 left on
the clock.
Leslie’s 3-point attempt to force another
overtime was off the mark on the game’s final
possession.
Leslie and Brown tied for game-high scoring
honors with 18 points each and C.J. Williams
added 16.
Following the loss, the Wolfpack won six of its
next eight games to end the season, including
the last two games of the regular season, two
games in the ACC Tournament and two games
in the NCAA Tournament.
THE CLEMSON CONNECTION
The NC State coaching staff has a Clemson connection
via associate head coach Bobby Lutz.
After two years of coaching at western North
Carolina high schools, Lutz became a graduate
assistant for head coach Cliff Ellis in 1984 and
spent two seasons with the Tigers, during which
Clemson made to back-to-back National Invitation
Tournament appearances.
Lutz also earned one of his five college degrees
from Clemson. He earned bachelor’s degrees in
psychology and economics from UNC Charlotte
in 1980, posting a 3.82 grade point average.
He then earned another bachelor’s degree in
1981 secondary education from Lenoir-Rhyne in
Hickory, N.C., a master’s degree in teaching for
secondary social studies from Winthrop in 1985
and a master’s degree in education in administration
and supervision from Clemson in 1986.
THE RACE TO 1,000
Senior Richard Howell and junior Lorenzo
Brown are both 16 points shy of scoring their
1,000th career point. When and if both players
reach that milestone, all four of the Wolfpack’s
upperclassmen will of the program’s 1,000-point
club.
Scott Wood scored his 1,000th point in last season’s
opening-round win over San Diego State
in the NCAA Tournament.
Junior C.J. Leslie earned his place in the
fraternity in the first half in NC State’s win over
Western Michigan on Dec. 29. He became the
46th player in NC State’s storied basketball history
to score his 1,000th point.
The last time NC State had three 1,000-point
scorers on the same team was in 2008-09, with Brandon Costner (1,273), 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).
That squad went on to win the national title.
Only 10 previous times have a pair of players
in the same recruiting class each scored 1,000
point during their careers, the last was the trio
of Costner, Fells and McCauley. Howell and
Wood would be the 11th and Brown and Leslie
would be the 12th.
SHARP SHOOTERS
NC State turned in its lowest shooting
performance of the season Wednesday in the
one-point loss at Maryland, uncharacteristically
connecting on just 31.1 percent of its
shots. That was the lowest mark of the season
and dropped the Pack from the national lead
in field goal percentage to third place, as the
Wolfpack is currently connecting at a .515 clip
- hitting 492 of its 956 attempts.
In 14 of 17 contests this season, State has
shot .500 or better, including a season best
.614 in its season-opening victory over Miami
of Ohio.
In its first three games against ACC competition,
State hit .500 from the field.
DULL SHOOTERS
The main common denominator in the Wolfpack
three losses this season has been poor
shooting.
State has shot .539 (419-777) in its 14 wins
and just .408 (73-179) in its three losses.
Another common factor in the three losses
has been that all three occurred away from the
friendly confines of the PNC Arena. In home
games, State has shot .552, while connecting
at just a .462 pace away from home. The
Wolfpack posts a 10-0 home record this
season.
BATTING .500
Since the beginning of the ACC in 1953-54, the
NC State men’s basketball team has finished
the season shooting over 50.0 percent from the
field just five times. The Pack’s current season
total is 51.5 percent, while the school record is
52.1 set by the 1981-82 squad.
In 14 of the Pack’s 17 games this season, NC
State has shot over 50.0 percent in the game.
The last time the Pack shot over 50.0 percent in
that many games was during the 2006-07 season,
when NC State shot 50.0 percent or better
in 19 of the 36 contests.
MAKING BASKETS
NC State currently ranks 11th nationally in
scoring, as the Pack is averaging 79.6 points
per game. Mark Gottfried’s team has eclipsed
the 80-point mark in 11 of the 17 games this
season, including eight of the last 10.
The Pack has not averaged 80 points in a
season since 1996 (81.2).
THE SELFISH SHARER
Junior point guard Lorenzo Brown was very
giving in the Wolfpack’s win over top-ranked
Duke on Jan. 12. He was also extremely
selfish.
Brown generously passed the ball to his
teammates in that epic Wolfpack win - dishing
out 13 assists to tie his career high in that
category.
The oddest thing about that statistic is that
Brown had every assist in the game. Nationally,
only three times since 1996-97 has a
team tallied more than 10 assists in a game
with every one going to a single player.
Brown ranks fourth in school history with 467
assists and is six away from third place. He
had one other 13-assist game in his career.
That one also came against the nation’s No. 1
team, as he handed out a baker’s dozen when
top-ranked Syracuse visited the PNC Arena on
Dec. 17, 2011.
A STRONG START
NC State’s 78-73 victory over Boston College on
Jan. 5 in Chestnut Hill, Mass., was the first time
the Wolfpack opened ACC play with a road win
since Dec. 4, 1997, when the Pack beat Georgia
Tech in Atlanta, 71-69.
On Jan. 9, an 83-70 victory over Georgia Tech at
PNC Arena gave the Wolfpack its first 2-0 record
in league play for the first time since 2003-04,
which is also the last time NC State had beaten a
top-ranked Duke team prior to this past weekend.
Last Saturday, Mark Gottfried and company
sent top-ranked Duke packing, winning 84-76 to
move to 3-0 in the league for the first time since
1988-89. That year, head coach Jim Valvano led
State to its most recent regular-season league
championship.
POINTS FOR ALL
NC State and Duke are the only two ACC teams
with five or more players averaging in double
figures. Only six other teams nationally have
five or more double-digit scorers: Detroit, Duke,
Indiana, Iowa State, Oregon and Oregon State.
NC State is one of two programs nationally with
five players averaging more than 11 points per
game.
The Pack is led by junior C.J. Leslie with an average
of 16.0 points per contest. Junior Lorenzo
Brown is second on the team in scoring, averaging
13.2 ppg.
Senior Richard Howell is contributing 12.6 ppg,
while freshman T.J. Warren is adding 11.6 and
senior Scott Wood chips in 12.6 ppg.
The Wolfpack spreads its scoring responsibility
around the lineup, with five different players
leading the team in scoring more than once,
Leslie leads the way with six times as the Pack’s
top scorer.