NOTEBOOK: Pack, Heels Set To Battle
NC State returns to action today at noon at rival North Carolina. Check out these pregame notes on the Wolfpack.
Pack Tracks
NC State evened its ACC record on Wednesday evening with a 72-68 come-from-behind win at Pitt. The Pack trailed by as much as 15 points - and still trailed by nine with under six minutes to play - but held Pitt to just two points in the final 5:57 of the game, ending the contest on a 15-2 run. Omer Yurtseven led the Pack with 16 points, while Allerik Freeman contributed 13 points off-the-bench. Markell Johnson had his second consecutive double-digit assist performance, finishing with 12 against Pitt.
* Omer Yurtseven was named ACC Co-Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 25 points a game on 65.6% shooting against Wake Forest and Miami. Yurtseven had 22 points, eight rebounds and 1 block in the win over Wake Forest on Thursday. On Sunday, he had 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting and added six rebounds and two blocked shots.
* Over the last six games, Yurtseven is averaging 19.5 points per game on 63.3% (50-of-79) shooting. He leads the ACC in field goal percentage at 62.4% shooting this season.
* The Pack has used seven different starting lineups in 21 games this season. Torin Dorn is the only player to start every game for NC State this year.
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 second on the team in scoring (13.8), rebounding (6.6) and leads in field goal percentage (62.4%) and first in blocks (38).
* In eight ACC games, leading the team in scoring (16.6), rebounding (6.4), blocks (18) and field goal percentage (58.6%).
* 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 9.2 field goal attempts per game.
* As a freshman averaged 5.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 45.7% FG%. Has increased points per game by 132 percent, rebounds by 45 percent and field goal percentage by 16.7 percentage points from last year.
* In four ACC home games, Yurtseven is averaging 23.8 points on 64.1% shooting (41-of-64), including 50% (7-of-14) from three-point range. Also averaging 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.
* 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 half its 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 21 games, the Pack has forced 326 turnovers. The 15.5 turnovers forced per game ranks 50th in NCAA Dl and are the most forced turnovers by a team from the ACC.
* The 15.5 turnovers forced per game is 4.2 more turnovers forced/game than last year’s team that forced 361 turnovers in 32 games.
Pack Already With Most Steals Since 2013-14 Team
With 167 steals in 21 games, the Pack has already surpassed last season’s total steals total of 162, as well as the 2015-16 (149) and (2014-15) (138) NC State teams. This year’s squad is seven steals away from surpassing the 2013-14 NC State team that finished the year with 173 steals.
* NC State ranks second in the ACC and 30th overall in NCAA DI with 167 steals.
* NC State recorded 14 steals in the win over Bryant on Nov. 14. 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.
* The Pack had 11 steals in the win over Clemson on Jan. 11.
* Sophomore guard Markell Johnson leads the Pack with 31 steals in 14 games this season. His per game average of 2.21 would lead the ACC, but Johnson does not qualify for the rankings because he has not played in 75% of NC State’s games this season. The Cleveland, Ohio native has had three or more steals in seven of 14 games this season.
Healthy Freeman Having Best Offensive Season of Career
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.
* 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 10.0 points per game through 19 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 66.9 percent from the field this season.
* 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 21 games this season.
* The game against Presbyterian on Nov. 16 was the 107th career game 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 23.3 points per game this season. The Pack’s bench has outscored the opponents bench, 489-352 this year.
* NC State’s bench has outscored the opponents bench in 13 of 21 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 +69 in turnover margin. Pack has forced 302 turnovers and only turned it over themselves 230 times. +69 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 Record Books in Keatts First Season
NC State has already broken 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.