Notre Dame @ NC State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) NC State 77, Notre Dame 73

Notre Dame will try to build upon its first ACC win when it pays a visit to North Carolina State on Wednesday night. After claiming three of their final four non-conference games, the Fighting Irish got past Syracuse 88-87 on the road Saturday, riding John Mooney's career-high 28 points - including a key putback in the final minute.

"I'm not the most athletic guy in the world, so I kind of got to use my body, use positioning to get in between guys and I just have a knack for the ball I guess," Mooney, who had 14 rebounds and entered Tuesday tied for the national lead with 13.5 per game, told reporters. After leaving Raleigh, Notre Dame will play five of its next seven at home and would like to enter that stretch at .500 in league play. The Wolfpack hope to return to the even mark in the ACC after dropping an 81-70 game to a struggling Clemson team Saturday. Junior forward DJ Funderburk led N.C. State with 14 points off the bench and he's averaging 16.7 in just 22.7 minutes over his last three games.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (10-4, 1-2 ACC): Guards TJ Gibbs and Prentiss Hubb both made six 3-pointers while combining for 43 points in the win at Syracuse and they rank second and third, respectively, on the team in scoring behind Mooney. Senior forward Juwan Durham contributes 8.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and a team-high 2.8 blocks - eight over the last two games. Mooney owns eight straight double-doubles and 11 in his 13 games this season.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (10-4, 1-2): The Wolfpack have played two straight games without leading scorer and rebounder C.J. Bryce (16.1 points per game, 6.8 rebounds), who remains in concussion protocol and is uncertain for this one. That puts more on senior guard Markell Johnson, who struggled to score 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting with six turnovers in Saturday's loss. "I think at times, Markell thinks that we have to have him make the basket," coach Kevin Keatts told reporters of Johnson, who averages 12.9 points and a team-high 6.8 assists but is shooting 26 percent from 3-point range. "I just need him to play like a senior and run the show."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Johnson is 19-of-40 from the foul line after making 74.7 percent of his free throws in 2018-19.

2. Hubb had nine assists at Syracuse and is averaging 7.4 over his last five games.

3. Bryce scored 23 points to lead the Wolfpack to a 77-73 win at Notre Dame in the only meeting last season.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 73, North Carolina State 71