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NC State Game Notes | Texas Southern Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team hosts Texas Southern Wednesday night inside Reynolds Coliseum in the program’s annual Heritage Game played at its former home arena.
Tipoff against the Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be shown on ACC Network Extra. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Notes
– NC State fell to 19th-ranked Kansas, 77-76, in overtime on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd in the Lenovo Center.
– Despite shooting season-lows in field goal percentage (37.8%) and three-point percentage (26.5%), the Pack had the final shot of regulation and also had two opportunities in the final 16 seconds of overtime to take the lead.
– Darrion Williams (17 points/10 rebounds) and Ven-Allen Lubin (16 points/11 rebounds) both posted double-doubles for the Pack vs. the Jayhawks.
– After scoring in double figures just once in the Pack’s first three games this season, Ven-Allen Lubin has now scored in double figures in eight consecutive games. He has shot over 50 percent from the field in every game this season and leads the ACC and ranks 10th in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 67.0 percent.
– In the last five games, Lubin is averaging 17.4 points per game and is shooting 70.6 percent (36-of-51) from the field while also averaging 8.0 rebounds per game.
Quadir Copeland led NC State with 19 points and also grabbed eight rebounds and passed out six assists. Over his last five games, Copeland is averaging 18.6 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field. The Philadelphia, Pa., has led the Pack in scoring in three of the last five games, in assists in four of the last five games and in steals in three of the last five games.
– NC State ranks near the top in the ACC in scoring (3rd – 87.6 ppg), field goal percentage (4th – 48.8%), 3-point percentage (3rd – 38.5%) and free throw percentage (4th – 76.1%).
– Pick Your Poison: NC State has had five different players score 20-plus points in a game this season, tied with Pitt for the most in the ACC. Four Wolfpack players (Quadir Copeland, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Darrion Williams) have reached the 20-point mark in multiple games—more than any other team in the conference.
– NC State had just seven turnovers against Kansas and has now had single digit turnovers in four of its last five games. The Pack ranks 30th in the NCAA with an average of 9.9 turnovers per game.
Wednesday storylines
– Wednesday is the Pack’s annual Heritage Game where it returns to Reynolds Coliseum, its home from 1949-1999. The Pack is 26-2 since the 1999-2000 season when playing at Reynolds Coliseum.
– NC State assistant coach Brandon Chambers has coached at Texas Southern for three total seasons in two different stints. He was an assistant coach for two seasons at TSU from 2019-21 before joining Will Wade’s staff at LSU in the 2021-22 season as Special Assistant to the Head Coach. He returned to Texas Southern the following season as an assistant coach. In three years with Texas Southern, Chambers helped the Tigers to two SWAC Tournament titles and helped guide TSU to its second NCAA Tournament win (First Four) in program history.
– Dating back to the 2016-17 season, NC State has a 72-4 (.947) record against non-conference opponents in regular season home games.
– NC State ranks 36th in the most recent NET rankings released on Monday, Dec. 15 NC State’s average opponent NET rank though 11 games is 126. The Pack’s opponent NET rank ranks as the toughest of any ACC team. Six of the Pack’s first 11 games this season are currently Q1 or Q2 games. That’s the most Q1/Q2 games of any ACC team and the Pack’s four Q1 games currently tie with Duke for the most of any ACC team. NC State still has two non-conference games remaining and as of the current NET rankings will play one more Q2 game (neutral site game vs. Ole Miss on Dec. 21).
– Ven has been unstoppable in second half of games this season: A missed shot midway through the second half against Liberty last Wednesday snapped a streak of 24 consecutive made second half field goals for Ven-Allen Lubin. His streak started with two makes against Boise State in the second half on Nov. 25, the next day he was 6-6 against Texas in the second half, he then went 3-3 at Auburn, 9-9 against UNC Asheville and made his first four second half field goal attempts against Liberty before finally missing a second half shot. In 11 games this season, Lubin is shooting 78.3 percent (36-of-46) from the field in the second half. He’s also made 14-of-his-15 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes of games this season which means his second half shooting splits are 82.1/50/93.3.
– Second Half Pack: NC State is averaging 47.6 points and shooting 53.6 percent from the field in the second half of its 11 games this season. In addition to Lubin’s second half efforts mentioned above, Quadir Copeland has also been fantastic in the second half as he’s shot 63.6 percent (28-of-44) in the second half of games this season. Overall the Pack’s top five scorers in the second half (Quadir Copeland, Darrion Williams, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Tre Holloman) combine to shoot 58.9 percent from the field in the second half, including 50 percent (47-of-94) from three-point range.
– Pack’s starting unit is giving NC State a lethal offensive punch through the first 10 games. NC State’s normal starting lineup (Quadir Copeland, Tre Holloman, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Darrion Williams) are combining to average 66.2 points per game and shooting an efficient 51.9 percent (251-of-484) from the field, including 42.3 percent (83-of-196) from three-point range.
– The season is only a third of the way through, but with a current 1.70 assist-to-turnover ratio, the Pack is on pace to post the best single-season mark in program history. NC State has had more turnovers than assists just once this season (VCU) and has recorded an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0 or better in five games.
– Win the Boards, win the game? Kansas outrebounded NC State by two last weekend and the Pack is now 1-4 when it is outrebounded this season. The Pack is 6-0 when it outrebounds its opponent.
– NC State outscored Kansas, 38-32, in the paint and has now scored 40 or more paint points in half of its games this season. For the season, NC State is averaging 35.8 paint points per game and only once this season (vs. Seton Hall) has the Pack been outscored in the paint. Overall through 11 games, the Pack is +118 over its opponents in paint points.
NC State series with Texas Southern
– Wednesday will be the second all-time meeting between NC State and Texas Southern.
– Last Meeting (November 21, 2021): NC State defeated Texas Southern, 65-57, in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Texas Southern led 31-28 at the break, and still had a 41-37 lead six minutes into the second half, when NC State went on a 10-0 run to take the lead. TSU got back within two, 49-47, but a mini 6-0 run put the game out of reach as the Tigers never got within five the rest of the way. Dereon Seabron led the Pack with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
