NOTEBOOK: Pack Hosts Deacs Tonight
NC State returns to action tonight at 8pm against Wake Forest in PNC Arena. Here are some pregame notes on the Wolfpack.
Pack Tracks
The Pack, playing its third consecutive ranked opponent, fell to No. 3 Virginia Sunday evening, 68-51, in Charlottesville. NC State forced UVA into a season-high 15 turnovers, but the Cavaliers shot 56.1 percent in the win. Torin Dorn led the Pack with 16 points and Lavar Batts, Jr., scored a career-high 12 points.
* The Pack is now 3-1 this season against ranked teams. NC State defeated No. 2 Arizona, 90-84, on Nov. 22, No. 2 Duke, 96-85, on Jan. 6 and No. 19 Clemson, 78-77, on Jan. 11. This year’s NC State team is the first in program history to secure two wins in the regular season over teams ranked second or better in the national rankings.
* Second half, TD: Over the last three games, Torin Dorn has scored 33 of his 41 points in the second half. He scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the win over No. 2 Duke in the second half, seven of his nine points in the second half of the win over No. 19 Clemson and 14 of his team-best 16 points in the second half at Virginia. He is shooting 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the field in the second half, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.
Yurtseven Finding Comfort Level in Sophomore Season
NC State sophomore center Omer Yurtseven came to college last season as a consensus five-star player, but the Istanbul, Turkey native had an up-and-down season as a freshman.
After a 12-point, 16-rebound performance against Pittsburgh on Jan., 17, the seven-footer never scored more than 10 points or had more than five rebounds in a game the rest of his rookie season. Now, as a sophomore a confident Yurtseven is becoming the No. 1 priority on opposing team’s scouting reports.
* On the season, ranks third on the team in scoring (12.3), second in rebounding (6.7) and field goal percentage (60.6%) and first in blocks (33).
* In five ACC games, leading the team in scoring (13.4), rebounding (6.6), blocks (13) and second in field goal percentage (51.7%).
* The sophomore has been more involved in offensive end of floor this season. As a freshman, Yurtseven averaged 5.3 field goal attempts per game. This season he is averaging 8.6 field goal attempts per game.
* Yurtseven has 60 field goal attempts in five ACC games this season. He only had 83 field goal attempts in 17 ACC games as a freshman.
* Yurtseven had a career-high 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range in win over #19 Clemson on 1/11.
* One of 20 student-athletes to the preseason watch list for this year’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.
Constant Defensive Pressure leading to Opponent Turnovers
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts came to Raleigh promising that his program would pressure the opponents full court and create turnovers.
* The Pack has forced 10 of its 18 opponents this season into 16+-turnovers. Four times, the Pack has forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers in a single game. The last NC State team to force opponents into 20 or more turnovers four times in a season was the 2009-10 team. The last seven NC State teams (2010-11 team through 2016-17 team) only twice forced opponents into 20 turnovers (2010-11 team forced East Carolina into 20 turnovers on 11/18/10 and 2016-17 team forced Virginia Tech into 20 turnovers on 1/4/17). In Keatts first four games at NC State, his teams forced opponents into 21 (VMI), 24 (Charleston Southern), 27 (Bryant) and 22 (Presbyterian) turnovers.
* The 27 turnovers NC State forced Bryant into on Nov. 14 are the most turnovers the Pack has forced an opponent to commit since Mount St. Mary’s had 27 on Nov. 22, 2002.
* In the first four games this season, the Pack forced its opponents into more turnovers than made field goals.
* In 18 games, the Pack has forced 289 turnovers. The 16.1 turnovers forced per game ranks tied for 38th in NCAA Dl and are the most forced turnovers by a team from the ACC.
* NC State recorded 14 steals in Tuesday’s win over Bryant. It’s the most steals in a game for NC State since the Pack had 16 steals in a win over Boston College on Jan. 19, 2012. It was a 192 game span between 14+-steal games for the Pack. NC State has 149 steals in 18 games this season, a mark that ranks second in the ACC and 47th overall in NCAA DI.
Healthy Freeman Becoming an Offensive Force
NC State senior Lennard Freeman had offseason leg surgery prior to the 2015-16 season and after playing through pain, elected to have offseason leg surgery again prior to the 2016-17 season and sat out the year to recover. Now fully healthy, Freeman has started his senior season with an offensive outburst.
* A career 3.6 points per game average coming into the season, Freeman has reset his career-high three times this season and is averaging 11.2 points per game through 17 games. He opened the year with 15 points against VMI, had 20 against Bryant and then had 23 in the Pack’s win against Presbyterian.
* Freeman is shooting a team-best 68.2 percent from the field this season. Freeman would lead the ACC in FG percentage, but falls short of the minimum number of field goal makes to rank among ACC leaders.
* In 103 career games coming into this season, Freeman had only scored in double figures six times, he’s scored in double figures in 10 of 18 games this season.
* The game against Presbyterian on November 16 was the 107th career game in an NC State uniform for Freeman. It was the first time in those 107 games that Freeman led NC State in scoring. Freeman led the Pack in scoring for the second time in his career with 19 points in a 103-71 win over South Carolina State on Dec. 2.
Bench Production
NC State’s bench is averaging to score 22.9 points per game this season. The Pack’s bench has outscored the opponents bench, 413-278 this year.
* NC State’s bench has outscored the opponents bench in 12 of 18 games this season.
* In the win over No. 2 Arizona at the Battle 4 Atlantis, NC State’s bench outscored Arizona’s, 39-6. Braxton Beverly had 20 points off-the-bench for the Pack in the win, while Omer Yurtseven had 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
* Against Penn State, NC State’s bench outscored the Nittany Lions, 39-9. The Pack’s bench consisting of Yurtseven, Sam Hunt and Lavar Batts, Jr., combined to shoot 12-for-15 from the field (80 percent), including 9-for-10 from three-point range.
Winning The Turnover Battle
The Pack is +71 in turnover margin. Pack has forced 289 turnovers and only turned it over themselves 218 times. +71 turnover margin is the second-best in the ACC.
* Major turnaround from last year. Last season, NC State finished the season -67 in turnover margin.
Pack Rewriting NC State/PNC Arena Record Books in Kevin Keatts First Season
NC State has already broke three PNC Arena records and one program record in the first few months of the Kevin Keatts era. This season marks the 19th season NC State has called PNC Arena home. The arena opened on October 29, 1999.
* NC State’s 116 points against Jacksonville on Dec. 22 is the most in PNC Arena history. (Previous mark was 113 set by UNC-Chapel Hill against Mount St. Mary’s on March 21, 2008.) It is the most points in a game for NC State since defeating UNC Asheville, 120-71, on Dec. 20, 1995.
*NC State’s 19 three-pointers against Jacksonville on Dec. 22 are the most in PNC Arena history and the most in program history. The previous high in PNC Arena was 17 three-pointers by ECU on Nov. 15, 2011 against Northwestern. The previous program high was 18 against Florida State on Feb. 10, 1992.
* NC State’s 31 assists against South Carolina State on Dec. 2 are the most in PNC Arena history. The previous high was 28 set twice prior to this season. The Pack had 28 assists in the win over Jacksonville on Dec. 22. In two of the first nine games at PNC Arena in the Kevin Keatts era, the Pack had the most and tied-for-second most assists in a game in the 19-year old arena.
* NC State’s 52-point win over Jacksonville on Dec. 22 (116-64) is the second-largest margin of victory in PNC Arena history (55; NC State 99-44 over Campbell on Nov. 26, 2004 is largest). It’s the largest margin of victory for NC State since Dec. 1, 1998 vs. Army (+61, 94-33).
* NC State forced Bryant into 27 turnovers on Nov. 14. It ranks as the third-most turnovers in a game in PNC Arena history. It’s the most turnovers the Pack has forced an opponent to commit since Mount St. Mary’s had 27 on Nov. 22, 2002.
Freshman Braxton Beverly Shining in Freshman Season
Freshman guard Braxton Beverly has seen his production go up as the Hazard, Ky. native has gotten more comfortable playing at the college level this season. Beverly wasn’t cleared to play for NC State this season until Tuesday, Nov. 14 after initially being declared ineligible by the NCAA.
* Beverly currently ranks second in the ACC with a 2.79 assist-to-turnover ratio. The freshman guard has had only two games this season with more turnovers than assists and has had one turnover or fewer in nine of the 16 games he’s played in this season.
* After only having 10 assists in the first six games of the season (1.7 per game), Beverly has 57 assists in the last 10 games (5.7 per game)
* For the season, Beverly is shooting 35.1 percent from three-point range, but he has been feast or famine from three-point range this season. He has not connected on a three-pointer in six of 16 games this season. In those six games he is a combined 0-for-19 from three-point range. In the 10 games he’s made a three-pointer, he is averaging to hit 2.7 per game and is shooting 46.6% (27-for-58) from long-range.
Shooting Success for Pack Trio
NC State’s Torin Dorn, Lennard Freeman and Omer Yurtseven have all been efficient scorers for the Pack this season.
* Torin Dorn is shooting 55.5 percent from the field this season (91-for-164) and has shot 50 percent or better in 13 of 18 games, including eight of the last nine games.
* Lennard Freeman is shooting 68.2 percent from the field this season (75-for-110) and has shot 50 percent or better in every game, but two this season.
* Omer Yurtseven is shooting 60.6 percent from the field this season (94-for-155) and has shot 50 percent or better in 14 of 18 games, including 13 of the last 15 games.
* The trio have been the most efficient players for NC State all season.