Wolfpack Tipoff: Game 25, At Boston College
NC State (16-8, 7-6 ACC) vs. Boston College (12-13, 6-8)
Conte Forum (8,606)
6 p.m., ACC Network (PxP: Wes Durham; Analyst: Malcolm Huckaby)
Streaming: ACC Network Extra; Satellite radio: Sirius XM 973; Live stats: GoPack.com
Series history: State leads 13-11 (BC leads 4-6 in Chestnut Hill)
Last meeting: State won 73-47 at Conte Forum on March 9, 2019
Most recent game: State beat Syracuse 79-74; BC lost to Miami 85-58
BetOnline line: State plus-4 | Over/Under 142
PROJECTED STARTERS
| NC State | Stats | BC | Stats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Markell Johnson | 6-1 Senior | 13.0 ppg 6.7 apg | Derryck Thornton | 6-3 Graduate | 12.7 ppg 3.5 apg |
Devon Daniels | 6-5 Redshirt Junior | 12.0 ppg 4.8 rpg | Jay Heath | 6-3 Freshman | 12.5 ppg 3.4 apg |
C.,J. Bryce | 6-5 Redshirt Senior | 14.0 ppg 6.3 rpg | C.J. Felder | 6-7 Freshman | 5;9 ppg 4.0 rpg |
D.J. Funderburk | 6-10 Junior | 12.3 ppg 5.8 rpg | Steffon Mitchell | 6-8 Junior | 7.4 ppg 8.6 rpg |
Manny Bates | 6-11 Freshman | 5.4 ppg 3.0 bpg | Jarius Hamilton | 6-8 Sophomore | 9.6 ppg 4.5 rpg |
THEY SAID IT
"My message to these guys in the last couple of weeks was to stay together no matter what adversity we have. You talk about family, there’s not a family in America that doesn't go through something and argue about something. But at the end of the day you're playing for the same team, which is NC State." Coach Kevin Keatts
"We did an awful job of matching up. We did an awful job guarding the ball. We missed a couple easy shots, I thought, and then we just stopped competing for about 4-5 minutes the way you have to to beat a team with that type of firepower. I'm very disappointed in our team." BC coach Jim Christian after last week's loss to Miami
NOTABLE
Coach Kevin Keatts is 3-1 against BC as State's coach. ...
In the most recent meeting between the teams, the Wolfpack closed out the 2018-19 regular season with a 73-47 win in Chestnut Hill. The 26-point margin was the largest victory margin for State in an ACC road game since beating Wake Forest 76-40 on Jan. 14, 2012. The Eagles' 47 points and 26.7 percent shooting (16-of-60) in that game are opponent lows for the Keatts era at State. ...
The Wolfpack enters Sunday having won three of its last four ACC road games. State is 4-3 on the road in the conference this season. In his three seasons with the Wolfpack, Keatts has led his team to 12 road ACC wins. Only Virginia’s Tony Bennett (20 wins), Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (18) and North Carolina’s Roy Williams (14) have more road wins in that stretch. ...
A win Sunday would give the Wolfpack three straight ACC road wins, something it hasn't accomplished since the final two road games of 2002-03 season and the first ACC road game of 2003-04. ...
State has clamped down defensively down the stretch in each of its past two games, both wins. At Miami on Feb. 5, the Wolfpack led 67-64 with 7:14 remaining and held the Hurricanes to just one field goal the rest of the way, ending the game on a 16-8 run to win 83-72. On Tuesday at Syracuse, State trailed 68-62 with 6:16 to play and held the Orange to just one field goal the rest of the way, ending the game on a 17-6 run to win, 79-74. ...
Markell Johnson has handed out 20 assists in the past two games to regain the ACC lead in assists, The senior point guard is averaging 6.7 assists per game and has a narrow lead on Duke’s Tre Jones (6.59 apg). Johnson previously led the ACC in assists as a sophomore season and would become the first ACC player since UNC’s Kendall Marshall (2011 and 2012) to lead the ACC in assists in multiple seasons. ...
The Wolfpack enters Sunday's game having been outrebounded in five of its last six games. State ranks 12th in the ACC in rebounding margin at minus-1.2 per game. BC, however, ranks dead last at minus-5.32. One the the Eagles do have going for them is Steffon Mitchell, who in four career games against the Wolfpack is averaging 13.3 rebounds per game, with 5.5 coming on the offensive end.
