NOTING THE PACK
• NC State has won 15 of the last 18 against
Florida State.
• NC State's has lost its four games by an
average of just 5.5 points, and its first three
losses were by a combined 10 points.
• Three different players have started at each
point guard, shooting guard, and small forward
this season for NC State. The Pack has
had seven different starting lineups in the 13
games.
• NC State has hit 46.1 percent (35-76) of
its three-pointers over the last five games,
after hitting just 31.3 percent in the first seven
games.
• NC State's top four scorers this season are
all shooting at least 48.8 percent from the
field, including Ben McCauley (.569) leading
the way.
• NC State has allowed its last 10 opponents
to shoot just 25.5 percent (49-192) from threepoint
range.
• NC State is third the ACC in scoring defense
giving up just 60.9 points per game.
• NC State is also fourth in the ACC in FG
percentage defense (.384) and third in 3FG
percentage defense (.284).
• NC State is fifth in rebounding margin in
the ACC (+6.8) after finishing last a year ago
(-1.0).
• NC State has won the rebounding battle in
12 of the 13 games this season.
• Brandon Costner became the 41st Wolfpack
player to score 1,000 career points. Courtney
Fells (135) and Ben McCauley (68) are both
within reach of 1,000 career points as well.
• Costner also became only the eighth player
in school history to record 1,000 career points,
500 career rebounds and 150 career assists.
NC STATE OPENS HOME ACC PLAY WITH FLORIDA STATE
NC State will open hoe ACC play
by hosting Florida State on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the RBC Center. The game will mark the
only regular season matchup between the teams, and the first of two home ACC games this
week for NC State (Georgia Tech on Saturday).
The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU by Sam Gore and Fred Barakat.
THE SERIES VERSUS FLORIDA STATE
Tuesday's matchup will mark the 43rd meeting between
NC State and Florida State. The Wolfpack leads the overall series, which dates back to 1955-
56 season, 25-17. This season also marks the fourth time in the last five years the two teams
play only once during the regular season.
NC State has won 15 of the last 18 games against FSU, with the Seminoles only wins during
that span coming in Raleigh in 2005 and 2008 and at FSU in 2007.
The two teams are meeting in Raleigh for the second straight season, and the Pack has
won seven of the last nine games at home. After last season's win by FSU at the RBC Center,
NC State is 6-2 against the Seminoles at the RBC Center and 14-5 at home overall.
LAST SEASON VERSUS FLORIDA STATE
The two teams met twice last season, with NC State
first winning at Florida State, then the Seminoles returning the favor and winning at the RBC
Center.
NC State picked up its only ACC road win of the season, overcoming a 12-point first half deficit in defeating Florida State, 69-66, on Janaury 26. Courtney Fells banked in a threepointer
to tie the score at 66-66 with 41.7 seconds left, then J.J. Hickson converted both
his free throw attempts with 9.6 seconds left and blocked FSU's final shot to give the Pack
their sixth win in the last seven trips to FSU. State was down by as many as 12 points in
the first half, but finished the half on a 17-0 run, holding FSU without a point for the final
5:08. Hickson recorded his second straight double-double (12 pts. and 10 reb.) and Fells
scored 16 points.
Florida State lead from start to finish, and handed NC State its sixth straight loss,
72-62 at the RBC Center on February 27. The Seminoles opened the game 12-0, and 25-
6, enroute to a 32-24 halftime lead. NC State cut the lead to 34-32 with 16:32 left in the
second half, and to 52-49 with 7:59 left, but never captured the lead. NC State hit all 11 of
its free throws, and had just 12 turnovers, but also pulled down a season-low 23 rebounds
and only forced six turnovers. Trevor Ferguson came off the bench to score a career-best
17 points hitting 4-of-5 three-pointers, while freshman Tracy Smith scored 11 second-half
points.
LAST TIME OUT
NC State fell in its first ACC contest of the season, 63-51, at
Clemson on Saturday. The Pack struggled in the first half, starting the game just 1-15 from
the field enroute to just 17 first-half points. The Pack came out of the lockerroom on fire,
score 12 points on its first four possessions to tie the score at 31-31. But NC State would
never capture the lead, as Clemson would answer with a 10-2 run and never surrender the
lead the rest of the way. NC State had its worse shooting performance of the season (31.5
percent), and scored its fewest points in a regular season ACC game since the 1999-00
season.
CLOSE LOSSES
Nobody can say the final minute of Wolfpack games this season haven't
been exciting. NC State's four losses this season are by an average of just 5.5 points, and
the first three were are by a combined 10 points with each of those games decided in the
final seconds.
The Pack's first loss of the season was at Davidson on December 6. With Davidson up
one, Stephen Curry hit a 30-foot three-pointer with just over one minute left. After a Pack
free throw, NC State's Brandon Costner missed a tying three-pointer with eight seconds
left, and Curry sealed the game with two more free throws in the final seconds for the 72-67
win.
Against Marquette on December 22, it was Marquette's Dominic James hitting a hreepointer
with just 00.4 seconds left, as NC State fell to the Golden Eagles 68-65.
Last time out at Florida was also decided on the last possession. The Pack was up one
after a goaltending call with 28 seconds left, but Florida's Nick Calathes got the go-ahead
basket with 11.3 seconds left. The Pack called a timeout, but were forced into a turnover
with 3.1 seconds left, and Calathes would add a final free throw for the decisive 68-66 margin.
FERGUSON RETURNS TO ACTION
Trevor Ferguson returned to the Pack's starting lineup
at Clemson, and played a season-high 37 minutes. Ferguson had missed three straight
games due to a non-displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal bone (ring finger) on his
non-shooting hand. The injury occurred during the Pack’s game against Marquette on December
22.
Ferguson scored five points in his first game in three weeks, but was 0-of-4 from three-point range and failed to hit a three-pointer
for the first time in his last 14 games.
Ferguson was also clutch on the defensive
end, as he drew the assignment of covering
Clemson's top deep threat, Terrence.
Oglesby was just 1-of-5 from the field, and
failed to hit a three-pointer for the first time
in 24 games.
MORE WITH INJURIES
So far this season, four
different players have missed a total of 11
games due to injuries, but all of the Pack's
players were back in action at Clemson.
Before returning to action at Clemson,
sophomore point guard Javier Gonzalez
had played just two minutes over a five
game span after suffering from two different
injuries. He suffered a cut on his elbow
against East Carolina. and missed the the
Lipscomb game on December 20, and
played just two minutes against Marquette
on December 22. More recently, Gonzalez
was forced to miss the wins against Loyola
and Towson due to a sprained ankle suffered
in practice after Christmas. He practiced
once before the game at Florida but
was held out, and played seven minutes off
the bench at Clemson.
Senior Courtney Fells had a string of 44
consecutive starts snapped against Winston-
Salem State on December 13, and
missed two games due to an ankle injury
suffered at Davidson on December 6. Fells
has returned to the starting lineup the last
five games, averaging 10.4 points in 33.0
minutes despite still being bothered by the
ankle injury and missing practices.
Junior point guard Farnold Degand
started the Pack's first game of the season,
but missed the second half of that game at
New Orleans, and played only 15 minutes
over the first six games of the season. He
has since returned and averaged 21.1 minutes
over the last seven games, including
returning as the starter at point guard the
last four games.
THE CHANGING LINEUP
With the rash of injuries
suffered by the Pack, NC State has
used a total of seven different starting lineups
through 13 games of the season.
The Wolfpack has used three different
starters at three different positions: point
guard, shooting guard and small forward.
The only constant for the Pack has been
the frontcourt, where Brandon Costner has
all 13 starts at power forward and Ben Mc-
Cauley has started every game at center.
HOT SHOTS
NC State has improved its
shooting as of late, as the Wolfpack is
shooting 48.6 percent (198-407) over the
last seven games, despite a 31.5 percent
(17-54) performance at Clemson. The Pack
has been over 50.0 percent in six of those
last eight games, including a season best
performance of 58.5 percent at Florida.
NC State has also increased its production
behind the three-point line, as the
Pack is 35-of-76 (46.1 percent) over the
last six games, an improvement from the
31.3 percent shot in the first seven games
of the season.
On the season, each of the Pack's top
four scorers are all shooting at least 48.8
percent from the field, with Ben McCauley
leading the way (.569).
MILESTONES REACHED
Redshirt junior
Brandon Costner has reached a trio of milestones
this season.
On December 22 against Marquette,
Costner became the 41st player in school
history to score 1,000 career points. He
then recorded his 500th career rebound
and 150th career assist in the win over
Towson.
Costner became only the eighth player
in NC State history to record 1,000 points,
500 rebounds and 150 assists during his
career.
Costner will soon have company in
that group, as senior Ben McCauley is on
the verge of becoming the ninth player in
school history with those same career numbers.
McCauley already has recorded 190
career assists, and currently has 936 career
points and 492 career rebounds.
Costner and McCauley are set to become
the first pair of Wolfpack players to
each have posted 1,000 career points and
500 career rebounds while they were teammates.
PACK STOUT ON DEFENSE
The NC State defense
has been lead the way for Pack this
season. The Wolfpack currently ranks third
in the ACC giving up a mere 61.1 points per
game, as only six of the first 13 opponents
have scored over 60 points in a game.
NC State led the ACC through the first 12
games of its season in that category.
The Wolfpack is fourth the conference
in field goal percentage defense (.384) and
in third three-point field goal percentage defense
(.284).
Only five opponents have shot over
40.0 percent in a game this season.
In Sidney Lowe's three seasons, the
Wolfpack is 7-0 when it holds opponents
under 50 points, a perfect 17-0 when teams
score under 60 points, and 33-6 when holding
teams to under 70 points.
OPPONENTS DON'T HAVE RANGE
Not only
does the Pack rank fourth in the ACC in
field goal percentage defense, but NC
State is also third in three-point field goal
percentage defense. Opponent's have only
hit 28.4 percent (65-229) of their long range
ties this year.
NC State has improved in its three-point
field goal percentage defense since
the first two games of the season. In those
opening two contests, the Pack allowed
New Orleans and High Point to shoot a
combined 43.2 percent (16-37) from long
range. But over the last 11 games, teams
have combined to shoot just 25.5 percent
(49-192), with only three teams finishing
above 31.0 percent in a game.
COSTNER CATCHING FIRE
Costner Catching Fire: Redshirt junior
Brandon Costner has come on as of late,
averaging 17.1 points over the last seven
games, scoring 24 points three times. Costner
now leads the Wolfpack in scoring this
season, averaging 14.4 points.
He had perhaps his top shooting performance
of his career against Marquette
in scoring a game-high 24 points. He was
9-of-10 from the field, and hit all five of his
three-point attempts.
Against Towson, Costner finished with
his third double-double fo the season with
15 points and a career-best 10 assists. He
became the first non-point guard to record
double figures in assists since the first
game of the 2005-06 season.
MCCAULEY GETTING IT DONE
Senior Ben McCauley is enjoying a fine senior season, as
he currently is second on the Pack in scoring
(13.2) and leads in rebounding (8.0).
McCauley has increased his scoring
7.1 points a game from last season, the
second largest increase in the ACC. His
average of 8.0 boards is also a career-best
average, bettering the 6.9 he pulled down
as a sophomore two years ago.
He has recorded four double-doubles
this season, and he leads the Wolfpack
with scoring in double figures in 11 of the
13 games.
MAYS MAKES HIS MARK
Coming into the
season, freshman Julius Mays was third on
the depth chart at point guard. But his patience
has paid off, as his playing time has
increaded and he has earned a couple of
starts this season.
When Farnold Degand went down with
a knee injury in the first game of the season,
Mays became the Pack's back-up point
guard in the first six games of the year. With
a healthy Degand and Javier Gonzalez in
the lineup against East Carolina, Mays did
not see action.
But with Gonzalez bothered by an elbow
injury, Mays got the call in two starts
before Christmas break, including his first
career start against Lipscomb on December
20. Mays finished that game with nine
points and seven assists in 24 minutes, but
more importantly he did not commit a single
turnover.
Mays had a strong showing in his first
ACC contest, as he finished with eight
points in just 11 minutes at Clemson. He
has also been steady from the free throw
line, hitting all 16 attempts this season.
REBOUNDS ON THE REBOUND
A season
after finishing last in the ACC in rebound
margin (-1.0), the Pack has changed things
around this season.
NC State is currently fifth in the ACC,
outrebounding its opponents and average
of 6.8 boards a games.
The Pack has won the rebound battle
in 12 of the 13 games this season, only
outrebounded at Davidson 45-39.
Before that Davidson game, the Wolfpack
had increased its rebound totals in
each of the first four games of the season,
including a season-high of 49 against
UNC Greensboro. That marked the most
rebounds in a game for NC State in 224
games, dating back to 2001-02.
Two Wolfpack players are currently in
the top-15 in the ACC in rebounding, Ben
McCauley leads the team and is seventh
in the ACC (8.0) while Brandon Costner is
14th (6.8). Both players have two games in
double figures, and each one has also surpassed
15 boards in a game this season.
FIREPOWER OFF THE BENCH
NC State is getting
better production in terms of scoring
from its bench players, as the bench points
have gone from under 24 percent last season
to 30.5 percent this year. NC State has
posted more bench points than the opponent
in nine of 13 games this season.
Sophomore Tracy Smith is the leading
scorer off the bench, as his 9.2 points a
game this season ranks fourth on the Wolfpack.
He has scored 119 points in his 169
minutes played this season, and is shooting
50.6 percent (44-87) from the field.
Junior Dennis Horner is the back-up
at power forward this season, and is the
second leading scorer off the bench at 5.2
points in 15 minutes a game.
Freshman point guard Julius Mays has
also added scoring off the bench, and he
is shooting 60.0 percent (6-10) from three-point
range and a perfect 16-of-16 on free
throws this year.