NC State returns to action today at 3:00 pm against Notre Dame. Here are some pregame notes on the Wolfpack and a preview of the Irish.

NC STATE NOTEBOOK

Pack Tracks

NC State hit a season-high 16 three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough as Syracuse got past the Pack, 89-82, Wednesday evening inside PNC Arena. The Pack’s 16 three-pointers are the most of the Kevin Keatts era and the most since the program hit a school-record 19 against Jacksonville on Dec. 22, 2017.

- Freshman guard Terquavion Smith led NC State in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 25 points against the Orange. Smith hit a career-high tying seven three-pointers in the loss.

- Smith has now scored 59 points in his last two games after scoring 34 points in Saturday’s loss at North Carolina. The 34 points are the second-most by a freshman in program history (35 by Ernie Myers on 1/26/83 vs. Duke), tied for the 11th-most by a freshman in ACC history, and the most ever by a freshman at the Dean Smith Center. The 34 points are also the most scored by an ACC player in a conference game this season.

- Sophomore forward Jaylon Gibson made the most of his first career start Wednesday night as the Zebulon, N.C., native posted career-highs in points (14) and rebounds (6). Gibson’s previous career-high was five points, and he had gone scoreless in the last three games before Wednesday’s matchup with the Orange.

- Redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron added 17 points and team-highs in rebounds (8) and assists (5) against Syracuse. He leads NC State in scoring, rebounding, and assists this season. Only 16 players in Division I basketball lead their teams in all three categories. Seabron is one of just two players in the ACC (Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams is the other) to lead his team in all three statistical categories.

Wednesday Storylines

The Pack is honoring the 1988-89 NC State men’s basketball team on Saturday. That team won the school’s last Atlantic Coach Conference regular season championship. NC State will be wearing red Adidas throwback uniforms from the 1989 season on Saturday.

- NC State only had eight scholarship players available for Wednesday’s game against Syracuse after Ebenezer Dowuona was declared out prior to the game because of a lower leg injury. The Pack only had one player taller than 6’8” available vs. Syracuse. NC State started the season with five players taller than 6’8”, but transfer Greg Gantt has never played this season after offseason surgery, two-time reigning ACC shot block champion Manny Bates was injured 57 seconds into the season and will miss the rest of the season, and freshman Ernest Ross broke his ankle in practice before the Pack’s game at Duke on Jan. 15. This is the second consecutive season that NC State has been bitten hard by the injury bug.

The Pack played most of February and March last season with just nine, and sometimes eight, scholarship players available after multiple players (including leading scorer Devon Daniels) were lost to season-ending injuries.

- After hitting 16 three-pointers on Wednesday, NC State leads the ACC with 115 three-pointers in conference play and an average of 9.58 per game. Notre Dame has hit 101 in 11 ACC games and ranks third in conference only games with an average of 9.18 per game.

- Over the last four games, NC State’s defense has allowed its opponents to shoot a combined 51.6 percent from three (47-of-91), and all four opponents have hit double-digit three-pointers against the Pack.

- Freshman guard Terquavion Smith is leading the Pack in scoring in conference games, averaging 17.8 points per game. He ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring in conference games only. Smith is averaging 17.8 in conference games despite a 2-point performance against Clemson on Jan. 8 and a 4-point performance at Notre Dame on Jan. 26. If you take those two games out, Smith is averaging 20.7 points and shooting 46.2 percent from the field, including 43.3 percent from three-point range in his other 10 games against ACC opposition.

- Casey Morsell hit his first three three-pointers on Wednesday vs. Syracuse to extend his red-hot three-point shooting streak to making 11 of his last 13 three-pointers. Despite missing his final three-pointers of the game, Morsell enters Saturday’s game shooting 11-of-16 (68.8%) from long distance in his last five games. He is shooting a combined 18-for-31 (58.1%) from the field in the Pack’s last five games.

More Than A Shooter

Terquavion Smith has made a name for himself as a shooter and scorer this season, but don’t discount his defense. The Greenville, N.C., native has 23 steals in the Pack’s last 11 games and leads NC State in steals with 35 this season. Smith has 24 steals in 12 ACC games and ranks third in the conference in ACC-only games with an average of 2.1 steals per game.

Earlier Meeting: NC State vs. Notre Dame

Notre Dame used a 15-0 run early in the second half to take control of the game. The game was tied at 30 at halftime and NC State scored the first five points of the second half to take a 35-30 lead, but Notre Dame scored the next 15 points and the Pack never led again.

- Dereon Seabron led the Pack with 21 points and eight rebounds. Jericole Hellems added 14 points while Casey Morsell finished with 10 points and a career-high tying eight rebounds.

- Notre Dame’s Nate Laszewski led the Fighting Irish with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and had 11 rebounds. The Fighting Irish hit 11 three-pointers in the win over the Pack.

NC State - Notre Dame Series

Saturday is the 18th meeting between the two programs. Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 9-8.

- NC State is 2-2 all-time against the Fighting Irish at PNC Arena and has won the last two matchups inside the arena.

- Kevin Keatts is 4-2 against Notre Dame as head coach of NC State, including a 2-0 mark against the Fighting Irish inside PNC Arena.

NOTRE DAME PREVIEW

• Notre Dame Roster

• Notre Dame Schedule

• Notre Dame Stats

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
 

KEY RESERVES
 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Guard Blake Wesley: A 6’5” guard, Wesley is one of the most dynamic playmaking freshmen in the country and impacts the game in a variety of ways, on both ends of the floor.

A local product from South Bend, Wesley is Notre Dame’s go-to player down the stretch.

Guard Dane Goodwin: The senior guard is shooting as well as anyone in the country right now.

Goodwin is flirting with a 50/40/90 season, and he would be the only P5 player to accomplish it this year while averaging over 14 points per game. 

NC State can't let him get going from three-point range today.

X-FACTOR

Forward Nate Laszewski: At 6-foot-10, Laszewski leads Notre Dame in rebounding and can score on the block -- but what makes him dangerous is his three-point shooting ability.

Laszewski becomes even more dangerous when he slides to the five position, where he really hurt NC State in the first matchup.