NOTEBOOK: Huge Road Game For State
NC State returns to action tonight in Atlanta against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Here are some pregame notes on the Wolfpack.
Pack Tracks
NC State captured its fourth consecutive win with a 92-72 win over No. 25 Florida State on Sunday evening. It’s the Pack’s longest regular season ACC win streak since 2006 and the most wins over ranked opponents (5) since the 2003-04 season.
* Allerik Freeman led the Pack in scoring with 25 points. Freeman has led NC State in scoring in each game during the current four-game win streak. In the last four games, he is averaging 21.5 points on 51 percent shooting (26-of-51), including 45.8% (11-of-24) from three-point range., 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
* Sam Hunt has hit 82.4% of his three-point attempts (14-of-17) during the four-game win streak. He was 4-of-6 at Syracuse, 2-of-3 at Wake Forest and a perfect 4-of-4 in back-to-back games last week vs. Boston College and Florida State. Hunt missed his first two three-point attempts at Syracuse, before hitting all four of his attempts in the second half, so he enters Thursday’s game having connected on eight straight three-pointers and 14 of his last 15.
* NC State has shot 50 percent or better in five consecutive games. It is the first time the Pack has shot 50 percent or better in five consecutive ACC regular season games in the same season since the 1985-86 season when NC State shot 50 percent or better in five consecutive ACC games from 2/5/1986 to 2/23/1986.
Trends
A win on Thursday at Georgia Tech would be the Pack’s fifth in its last six ACC road games.
* A win over the Yellow Jackets would give the Pack a 5-4 record in ACC road games this season. It would only be the third winning record for NC State in ACC road games in the last 20 years (5-4 in 2014-15 and 5-3 in 2011-12).
* The Pack has won 10 ACC games this season. It’s the seventh double-digit ACC win season for NC State since NC State went 12-0 in back-to-back season (1972-73 & 1973-74).
* If NC State closes out the regular season with two wins to finish 12-6 in the ACC, it’ll be the most conference wins for the Pack since 1973-74 and the most games over .500 (6) since the 2003-04 team went 11-5 in the ACC.
* Head Coach Kevin Keatts has won 20 regular season games this season. One more win will tie Keatts with legendary coach Everett Case (21-4 in 1946-47) for the most wins in the regular season in first season as head coach of the Pack.
* The Pack has forced its opponent into an even or worse assist-to-turnover ratio in the last five games. Virginia Tech (12 assists/11 turnovers) on Feb. 7 is the last team to have more assists than turnovers against the Pack.
* Miami shot 52.6% (10-of-19) from three-point range against NC State on Jan. 21, since then the Pack hasn’t allowed a team to shoot better than 35.7% (Syracuse 5-of-14) from three-point range in the last nine games.
* In the last five games, NC State is shooting 50.5% (52-of-103) from three-point range. During that same five-game span, the Pack’s opponents are shooting 22.2% (20-of-90).
* During the Pack’s current four-game win streak, NC State has outscored its opponents 135-42 from the three-point line.
* The Pack ranks second in the ACC in opponent three-point field goal percentage in overall games (31.2%) and ACC games (31.0%). NC State (92) and Virginia (87) are the only ACC teams that have allowed less than 100 opponent three-pointers in ACC games this season.
* NC State has hit more three-pointers than its opponent in eight of the last nine games (Notre Dame on Feb. 3 is only team to hit more 3-pointers than the Pack, 8-6).
* NC State is 13-1 this season when Torin Dorn grabs 6+ rebounds. The Pack is 7-8 when he grabs less than six rebounds. The Pack is 16-3 this season when Dorn scores in double figures, 4-6 when he doesn’t.
Allerik Freeman: Two-Time ACC Player of the Week
NC State guard Allerik Freeman is the reigning ACC Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in two wins last week.
The Charlotte, North Carolina, native led the Wolfpack in scoring with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting with six rebounds and three assists in an 82-66 win over Boston College on Tuesday night.
He then scored a game-high 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting and added four rebounds, three assists and tied his career-high with four steals in a 92-72 win over No. 25 Florida State on Sunday evening.
* Freeman was previously honored on Jan. 29 after his record-setting performance in the Pack’s win over No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill on Saturday, Jan. 27. Freeman set an ACC record for three-pointers made without a miss, connecting on all seven of his attempts.
* He joins Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Grayson Allen and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Luke Maye as players to be honored as ACC Player of the Week multiple times this season.
Omer Yurtseven: ACC’s Most Improved Player?
There are a number of good candidates for the ACC Most Improved Player award, including NC State’s Omer Yurtseven.
Omer Yurtseven's Two Seasons At NC State
| Season | Points | Field Goal % | Rebounds | Blocks |
| 2016-2017 | 5.9 ppg | 45.7% | 4.4 rpg | 0.7 bpg |
| 2017-2018 | 13.6 ppg | 59.5% | 6.8 rpg | 1.8 bpg |
| 2016-2017 (ACC ONLY) | 4.9 ppg | 42.2% | 4.2 rpg | 0.8 bpg |
| 2017-2018 (ACC ONLY)* | 14.9 ppg | 56.0% | 6.8 rpg | 1.9 bpg |
* - Yurtseven leads the Pack in all four categories in ACC play
Last year in ACC play, Yurtseven only had 3 double-digit scoring games and 3 games with 6 or more rebounds. This season, the sophomore has scored in double figures in 12 of 16 ACC games, including over 20 points in five games and has had 6 or more rebounds in 10 games.
Another Sophomore making impact for the Pack
Omer Yurtseven’s fellow sophomore teammate Markell Johnson has also seen his impact on this year’s Pack team increase as well.
* Johnson leads the Pack in assists (170 / 7.73 per game) and steals (39 / 1.77 per game) this season. He’s currently on pace to finish with the highest assist per game average at NC State since Chris Corchiani averaged 9.6 assists per game in the 1990-91 season.
* Johnson leads the ACC in assists and ranks third in steals. His 2.34 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 4th in the ACC.
*Has had three or more steals in seven of 22 games and seven or more assists in 14 of 22 games.
* Johnson had a career-high 20 points in the win at No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill on 1/27. He added 11 assists for his second career double-double. He scored or assisted on 15 straight NC State points from the 2:58 mark of regulation through the 2:25 mark of overtime. He clinched the win with two free throws with :04 seconds remaining in overtime.
* The Cleveland, Ohio native has been a more effective long range threat this season. As a freshman last season, he was 12-of-48 (25.0%) from three-point range in 30 games. This season, Johnson is 25-of-56 (44.6%) from three in 22 games. In 12 ACC games, Johnson is 16-of-33 (48.5%) from three.
*Johnson had a career-high 14 assists vs. Miami on Jan. 21. It’s the most assists in a game by an ACC player this season.
* Johnson has had double-digit assists in five straight games from 1/21 to 2/7. He’s the first player in NC State history to have five straight games of double-digit assists.
Constant Defensive Pressure leading to Opponent Turnovers
The Pack has forced 15 of 28 opponents this season into 15+-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. 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 28 games, the Pack has forced 427 turnovers. The 15.3 turnovers forced per game ranks 36th in NCAA Dl and are the most forced turnovers by a team from the ACC.
* In the last seven games, only one team (Virginia Tech - 12 assists/11 turnovers) has had more assists than turnovers against the Pack.
* The Pack has a +2.68 turnover margin this season which ranks second in the ACC.
* In ACC play, the Pack is 8-1 when it has less turnovers than its opponents and 2-5 when it has more turnovers than its opponents.
Pack Already Have Most Steals Since 2012-13 Team
With 220 steals in 29 games, the Pack has already surpassed last season’s total steals total of 162, as well as the 2015-16 (149), 2014-15 (138) and 2013-14 (173) NC State teams. The Pack is currently on pace to finish in the top-10 in season steals in program history.
* NC State leads the ACC and 46th overall in NCAA DI with 220 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.