Pittsburgh @ NC State preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) NC State 79, Pittsburgh 76

North Carolina State sits firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and the Wolfpack can't afford a misstep when struggling Pittsburgh comes to town Saturday. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Wolfpack as one of the "Last Four In" with Duke, Wake Forest and the ACC Tournament to follow.

NC State didn't help itself Wednesday by dropping an 85-79 decision against struggling rival North Carolina, as the Tar Heels used a decisive 22-4 run midway through the second half to turn a seven-point deficit into a 67-56 lead. “I told my guys after the game, we played extremely hard tonight,” Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said. “Unfortunate thing was, we came up on the short end of the stick. Give Carolina credit, I thought they finished the game much better than we did.” An optimistic start to the season by Pittsburgh has come to a thunderous halt with five straight losses, including Wednesday's 72-49 senior night drubbing by Syracuse. "I am disappointed in our performance. I didn’t think we had the required and necessary energy to start the game and throughout the game that’s necessary to win, and especially for a team that’s lost four games in a row," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said.

TIME: Noon ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (15-14, 6-12 ACC): The Orange led by 16 at the half and never looked back as the Panthers shot a season low-matching 29 percent, including 6-of-26 beyond the arc, committed 17 turnovers - the most in ACC play this season - and were outrebounded 41-32. Justin Champagnie (12.3 points, 7.4 rebounds) was the lone bright spot against Syracuse with 13 points and 17 rebounds - tied for fifth most ever by a Pitt freshman - while his 14 defensive rebounds are tied for most by a Panther freshman. The 6-6 forward is averaging 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in his last seven games.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (17-11, 8-9): Markell Johnson (13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists) led the Wolfpack with his 10th career double-double, posting team-highs in points (21) and assists (10) while adding a career-high tying four steals against the Tar Heels. The senior point guard has been wildly inconsistent; he posted 28 points and nine rebounds versus Duke two games ago but combined for 19 points in three games surrounding the Blue Devils. DJ Funderburk (12.7 points, 6.0 rebounds) had 18 points and nine rebounds against the Tar Heels but hasn't been able to string together three straight double-digit outings since posting nine straight from Dec. 19-Jan. 20.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. NC State has won eight straight games in the series and 13 of 14.

2. Champagnie became the fifth freshman in program history to top 300 points and 200 rebounds in a season, joining Sam Clancy, Charles Smith, Chris Taft and DeJuan Blair.

3. In ACC games only, the Wolfpack rank 14th in the conference in defensive rebound percentage (69.0) and last in opponents' free-throw attempt/field-goal attempt ratio (40.2), meaning teams are having much success turning offensive rebounds into foul shots.

PREDICTION: North Carolina State 72, Pittsburgh 59