Wolfpack Tipoff: Game 23, at Miami
NC State (14-8, 5-6 ACC) vs. Miami (11-10, 3-8)
Watsco Center (8,000)
8:30 p.m., ACC Network (PxP: Chris Cotter; Analyst: Chris Spatola)
Streaming: ACC Network Extra; Satellite radio: Sirius XM 380; Live stats: GoPack.com
Series history: State leads 13-11 (Series is tied 5-5 in Coral Gables)
Last meeting: State won 80-63 at PNC Arena on Jan. 15, 2020
Most recent game: State lost to Louisville 77-57; Miami lost to Pittsburgh 62-57
BetOnline line: State minus-3 | Over/Under 142 1/2
PROJECTED STARTERS
| NC STATE | Stats | MIAMI | Stats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Markell Johnson | 6-1 Senior | 12.9 ppg 6.5 apg | Harlond Beverly | 6-4 Freshman | 7.1 ppg 2.4 apg |
Devon Daniels | 6-5 Redshirt Junior | 11.4 ppg 5.0 rpg | D.J. Vasiljevic | 6-3 Senior | 14.2 ppg 4.0 rpg |
C.J. Bryce | 6-5 Redshirt Senior | 13.2 ppg 6.1 rpg | Isaiah Wong | 6-3 Freshman | 4.8 ppg 1.7 rpg |
Jericole Hellems | 6-7 Sophomore | 9.4 ppg 3.5 rpg | Sam Waardenburg | 6-10 Redshirt Junior | 6.1 ppg 6.4 rpg |
D.J. Funderburk | 6-10 Junior | 13.0 ppg 6.1 rpg | Rodney Miller Jr. | 7-0 Redshirt Junior | 7.6 ppg 5.8 rpg |
THEY SAID IT
"Basketball is not that complicated. I've got to figure out how to get my best players playing better offensively. And they're not right now. It could be a combination of a lot of things -- maybe overthinking, some of those guys are banged up and it could be just the chemistry of playing together."
"We're basically playing three freshmen and three underclassmen. We're just very shorthanded. We're playing without our two leading scorers. In February, you want to be at your best. Now we're just undermanned." Miami coach Jim Larrañaga
"It's a marathon. We're going to have stretches, we had a three-game win stretch and now we're on a three-game losing stretch and we we're looking forward to the grind. I actually learned something when you're getting better and your productivity is going up it's never straight up, it's gonna be up and down. That's what's going on with this team right now. We're still getting better everyday." Redshirt senior wing C.J. Bryce
NOTABLE
Miami is going through a similar injury epidemic to the one that has plagued State throughout the ACC schedule. The Hurricanes have played the past three games without point guard Chris Lykes, their leading scorer, and two of the past three games without third-leading scorer Kameron McGusty. Both players are listed at questionable for Wednesday's game ...
State won the first meeting between these teams this season behind 19 points from D.J. Funderburk. In its most recent trip to Watsco Center, the Wolfpack battled back to win 87-82 last Jan. 3 after trailing by 10 points with less than 10 minutes to go. It went ahead with a 13-0 run and never trailed again. ...
After being held scoreless for the two previous games, senior guard C.J. Bryce finally regained his form in the second half of last Saturday's loss to Louisville by scoring 13 of his team-leading 15 points in the second half. Bryce's 13.2 points per game average is still the best on the team,. but he was averaging 16.1 before missing four games because of a concussion. ....
Senior guard Markell Johnson has nine steals in his last three games and now has 146 for his career. He needs three more to tie former Wolfpack great and current Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan for 13th place on State's all-time steals chart. He ranks third in the ACC in steals this season, averaging 1.95 a game. ...
State held the Miami to just three assists in the win earlier this season. The three assists are the lowest for an opponent in the Kevin Keatts era. The Wolfpack committed only seven turnovers in that game while forcing the Hurricanes into 15. State is 11-4 this season when it commits fewer turnovers than the opposition and 3-4 when it has more turnovers than the other team.
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