BLACKSBURG – Playing back in the friendly confines of Cassell Coliseum for the first time in 11 days, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team will play host to NC State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in front of a sold-out crowd.
The Hokies (11-4, 2-2 ACC) and Wolfpack (11-4, 2-2) look to score a little more than the last time out, a game that set quite a few records in the low-scoring affair. Tech would win 47-24, holding State, a ranked team, to the fewest points scored in the shot-clock era by a ranked squad.
The Pack lead the all-time series 40-17 and are 12-9 in Blacksburg, however, Tech has won three out of the last four and two straight at home. Coach Mike Young defeated State the last time he faced them, which was in 2014 in Raleigh while he was the head coach at Wofford.
The matchup will be broadcast on regional sports networks (click here), with Evan Lepler (play-by-play) and Brian Oliver (analyst) on the call, while Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst) will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Properties.
GAME INFORMATION
Sat. | 2 p.m. ET vs. NC State | Stats | Watch | Radio | Notes
The last time out, the Hokies picked up their second road ACC win of the season, beating Syracuse (8-7, 1-3) by four points at the Carrier Dome. It marked Tech's first time defeating the Orange in the building and freshman Jalen Cone had a big part of it, racking up a career-high 19 points.
Tech ranks highly nationally, owning the best turnovers per game average with 9.8 a game, second in fouls committed per game with 12.3 and third in assist/turnover ratio with 1.61.
SCOUTING NC STATE
• The Wolfpack are coming off a 73-68 victory over Notre Dame (10-5, 1-3) on Wednesday at home, getting big contributions from Markell Johnson and his game-high 27 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals.
• Kevin Keatts enters his third season as the head coach in Raleigh, following his three-year stint as head coach at UNC-Wilmington, leading the Seahawks to postseason play in each season. Since Keatts' arrival to State, he has racked up over 50 wins and led the Pack to an NCAA Tournament.
• State is led by C.J. Bryce, who has a team-high 16.1 points per game but has missed the last three games due to injury, and Johnson (13.9 points p/g, 6.86 assists p/g), who is one of only 15 players in the nation to boast a triple-double this season.
•. Ranking in the top 40 nationally in blocks per game, State sits fourth in the ACC with averaging 4.7 a contest. Offensively, the Pack can score in bunches, sitting second In the ACC and 26th overall in points per game with a shade under 80 a game (79.7).
