Gameday Preview: Wake Forest Makes The Short Drive To Raleigh To Take On NC State

2-22-25 

Raleigh, North Carolina- Wake Forest (19-7, 11-4 ACC) visits NC State (10-16, 3-12 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at the Lenovo Center at 2 pm. 

The Wolfpack have gone 10-6 at home. This will be the final Saturday home game of the season for the Wolfpack. NC State has a 1-5 record in games decided by less than 4 points. 

The Demon Deacons have gone 11-4 against ACC opponents. Wake Forest averages 70.6 points while outscoring opponents by 3.9 points per game. 

TOP PERFORMERS: Marcus Hill leads the Wolfpack at 12.2 points per game. While Dontrez Styles is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. 

Hunter Sallis is shooting 29.0% from beyond the arc with 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Demon Deacons, while averaging 18.5 points and 5.1 rebounds. Cameron Hildreth is shooting 44.6% and averaging 15.0 points over the last 10 games. 

Saturday Storylines 

NC State has had six or fewer turnovers in three of its last five games. The Pack has had single digit turnovers in eight of its last 11 games and 14 overall games this season. NC State leads the ACC and ranks eighth in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.2). In 15 ACC games, the Pack lowers its turnovers to just 8.9 per game, which also leads the league. NC State is aiming for a fourth straight season ranked as one of the nation’s best teams in valuing basketball. The Pack finished 12th in the NCAA last season in turnovers, seventh in 2022-23 and 16th in 2023-24. 

Ben Middlebrooks- He is one of just seven players in the ACC that has combined for 60 or more blocks and steals this season The NC State senior leads the team in blocks with 36 and is third on the team with 24 steals. Middlebrooks has had 10 games this season where he’s finished with three blocks or three steals. NC State is 6-3 when

Middlebrooks has multiple blocks in a game this season and is 4-2 when he has multiple steals. 

More consistency is needed from Dontrez Styles: He’s scored 18 or more points in four of the last seven games. The bad – in the three games he didn’t reach 18 points, he scored just 13 points in those games combined. In the four games he reached at least 18 points, Styles is 14-of-21 (66.7%) from three-point range, but is just 1-of-11 in the other three games. 

Get rebounds- Wake Forest outscored NC State, 38-20, in points in the paint in the first meeting this season back on Jan. 4. The 18-point differential was the largest NC State had been outscored in the paint until the Pack’s game against Louisville on Feb. 12. NC State gave up a season-high 52 paint points to UNC on Wednesday night. 

NC State series with Wake Forest- Saturday will be the 258th all-time meeting between NC State and Wake Forest. NC State leads the all-time series, 147-110. The Pack has a 19-6 advantage over the Demon Deacons in games played at the Lenovo Center. Coach Kevin Keatts is 10-5 against Wake Forest as head coach of NC State. In the first meeting this season back on Jan 4th in Winston Salem, Wake Forest defeated NC State, 77-59.