Raleigh, NC – The NC State men’s basketball team continues play in the NIT Wednesday evening when it hosts Lipscomb inside a sold-out James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum.
(photo by Gene Galin)
The game will be televised on ESPNU and tipoff at 9pm. The winner of the game will advance to the NIT semifinals which will be played in Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday, April 2.
Pack Tracks
– NC State is making its 12th appearance all-time in the NIT and the first since 2010. The Pack has an all-time record of 18-12 in the NIT and has advanced to the NIT semifinals four times, most recently in 2000.
– The Pack advanced to the quarterfinals with a 78-77 win over Harvard on Sunday evening. CJ Bryce led five NC State players in double figures with 16 points. The Pack finished the game +10 in turnover margin and had a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
– NC State has grabbed 36 offensive rebounds in the first two NIT games. The Pack leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the NCAA at offensive rebounding, averaging 13.51 offensive rebounds per game. NC State had a season-best 29 second-chance points in the win over Hofstra in the first round of the NIT and had 17 in the second win over Harvard. The Pack has won the first two games by a combined seven points, but is +28 in second chance points.
– Torin Dorn leads the Pack in scoring at 13.4 points per game to rank 22nd in the ACC in scoring. NC State relies on a balanced scoring attack as seven different players have led the team in scoring this season.
– The Pack’s bench is averaging 29.2 points per game and has outscored the opponent’s bench by 471 points this season. NC State’s bench has had 43 individual double-digit scoring performances this season and had at least one player score in double figures in 14 of 18 ACC games. The Pack has scored 40+ points off the bench in eight games this season, including a school-record 62-point performance in the win over USC Upstate on Dec. 22. The Pack is 21-6 when its bench scores over 20 points and 3-5 when it scores less than 20 points.
NC State – Lipscomb Series
– Wednesday’s
game will be the second-ever meeting between the two programs.
– NC State won the first meeting, 75-58, on Dec. 20, 2008 in PNC Arena.
NC State in the NIT
– This is NC State’s 12th appearance in the NIT and first since 2010.
– The Pack’s best finish is runner-up in 1978.
Experimental Rules for the NIT
– Three-Point Line: Extend the current three-point line (20’6”) by approximately 1’8” making the line the same distance as the FIBA three-point line (22’ 1 and 3/4”) used in international basketball.
– Width of the Lane: Widen the lane from 12’ to 16’ making it consistent with the width of the lane used by the NBA.
– Shot Clock Reset after Offensive Rebounds: Reset the shot clock to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of 30 seconds.
– Elimination of bonus free throws and resetting of team fouls: For the purpose of determining bonus free throws only, each period (“half”) shall be divided into two 10-minute segments (a “segment”). This shall not
include overtime periods.
– At the 10:00 minute mark of the first and second periods, team fouls shall be reset to zero for each team.
– A team shall be awarded two bonus free throws beginning with:
a. The fifth team foul assessed against an opponent during each 10-minute segment, or
b. The second team foul committed with under two minutes remaining in each period (half) if that should occur prior to the fifth team foul in the second segment of either period (half).
– There shall be no one and one bonus free throws.
– Team fouls shall be reset at the beginning of each overtime period. During each overtime period, a team shall be awarded two bonus free throws beginning with:
a. The fourth team foul assessed against an opponent, or
b. The second team foul assessed against an opponent with under two minutes remaining in each overtime period if that should occur prior to the team’s fourth team foul in the overtime period.
Wednesday Storylines
– A win on Wednesday would give the Pack its 25th victory of the season which would be the most wins in a season for NC State since the 1982-83 team won 26 games and the National Championship.
– NC State had the highest NET ranking (33), BPI ranking (26) and Sagarin ranking (25) of any team to miss the NCAA Tournament.
– NC State leads the ACC and ranks 21st in the NCAA in forcing opponents into turnovers this season (15.71 per game) and leads the ACC and 24th in the NCAA in turnover margin (+3.2). Lipscomb leads the Atlantic Sun and ranks 31st in the NCAA in forcing opponents in turnovers this season (15.44 per game) and is second in the Atlantic Sun and ranks 52nd in the NCAA in turnover margin (+2.1).
– The Pack ranks 19th in the NCAA in opponent’s three-point field goal percentage, holding its opponents to 30.1% shooting from long range this season. NC State opponents are averaging only 5.77 three-pointers per game. Lipscomb ranks 40th in the NCAA at three-point percentage (37.5%) and 68th in three-pointers per game (8.8).
– Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly has connected on 134 three-pointers in his first two seasons at NC State to tie with former NC State players Rodney Monroe and Maverick Rowan for the second-most three-pointers in program history after a player’s sophomore season. Scott Wood has the most three-pointers in program history after a player’s sophomore season with 135.
– Second Half Markell: Johnson has scored 60.9% of his points in the second half of games this season. Over the last six games, Johnson is averaging 11.2 points per game and has hit 14 three-pointers in the second half.
– NC State’s opponents have shot more free throws than the Pack in 21 of 35 games. NC State has been outscored by 84 points at the foul line this season and on the season sends its opponent to the free throw line for 22 attempts per game. Lipscomb ranks 23rd in the NCAA in free throws made (562), 45th in free throws attempted (745) and 27th in free throw percentage (75.4%).
– Dominate the Paint: NC State is 17-3 this season when it scores more points in the paint than its opponent. It is 7-8 when its opponent scores more points in the paint.