Notre Dame at North Carolina State men's hoops: All you need to know
Tom Noie
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
∎ WHO: Notre Dame (9-11 overall; 1-8 ACC) vs. North Carolina State (15-5; 5-4)
∎ WHERE: PNC Arena (19,722), Raleigh, North Carolina
∎ WHEN: Tuesday at 7 p.m.
∎ TV: ACC Network
∎ RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).
∎ ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at twitter.com/tnoieNDI
Hoops chat:Talk Notre Dame men's basketball with NDI's Tom Noie
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∎ NOTING: Guard Jarkel Joiner scored 18 points with four rebounds and three assists and power forward D.J. Burns (6-foot-9, 275 pounds) added 18 points and three rebounds in North Carolina State’s 80-69 loss Saturday at rival North Carolina. The Wolfpack shot 41.9 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from 3 and 100 percent (12-for-12) from the foul line. The game featured six ties and six lead changes. The Wolfpack lost sophomore guard Terquavion Smith, the league’s leading scorer (18.7 ppg.) and projected first-round NBA draft pick, in a scary fall after driving through traffic to the basket midway through the second half. Smith was taken off the court on a stretcher after suffering neck and elbow injuries. He was admitted to UNC Medical Center, then released. Smith's status was updated Sunday as day-to-day. … Saturday’s loss snapped a four-game league win streak, which included victories over Duke, Miami (Fla.) and Virginia Tech. … North Carolina State also has league losses to Clemson, Miami and Pittsburgh. It’s 10-1 at home, 3-1 in league play with the loss to Pittsburgh. … The Wolfpack opened the calendar year with four straight wins, the first time that’s happened since they won six straight to open the new year during the 1988-89 season. … Nine Wolfpack play at least 10.6 minutes per game and four average double figures for a team that averages 79.0 points per game and allows 69.0. The Wolfpack are second in the league in scoring margin (+10.0). … The program added four graduate transfers, including Burns and Joiner, in the offseason … North Carolina State returned three starters off last year’s team that finished 11-21 overall, 4-16 and 15th – last place – in the ACC. After winning at least 20 games the previous three seasons, the Wolfpack have won 14 and 11 the last two … Picked in preseason to finish 10th, North Carolina State opens the last full week of January tied with Florida State for 10th. Picked sixth, Notre Dame is tied with Georgia Tech for 13th. … Notre Dame leads the all-time series 10-8, including 6-2 in Raleigh and 6-5 as ACC colleagues. The Irish have won the last two meetings after losing the previous four. This is the only regular-season meeting between the teams. … This is the second of four regular-season games in North Carolina for Notre Dame. ... The Irish are 0-4 on the road in league play, 0-6 away from home overall. … Notre Dame has trailed by at least 14 points in each of its last two league games and three of five. … The Irish enter the week having lost three straight, six of seven and nine of 11. The recent slide has included three three-game losing streaks since Dec. 11.
∎ QUOTING: “We’re not going to give up. We’re going to go down swinging.” — Notre Dame super senior power forward Nate Laszewski
— Tom Noie