NC State Releases 2016-17 Men’s Basketball Schedule

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team will play 18 home games in the 2016-17 schedule that was released Monday, including five visits from teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 in last season’s NCAA Tournament.

The Wolfpack begin the season with two home games on the opening weekend of play. NC State hosts Georgia Southern on Fri., Nov. 11 in the season-opener and St. Francis College on Sunday, Nov. 13.

Mark Gottfried and the Wolfpack depart the next week for the Virgin Islands and three games at the Paradise Jam. The Pack open the Paradise Jam with Montana on Friday, Nov. 18 in a game that will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

NC State travels to Champaign, Ill., for an ACC-Big 10 Challenge game on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Illinois. The game versus the Illini will tip at 9 p.m. and be televised on ESPNU.

NC State closes out the non-conference portion of the schedule in December with six consecutive home games. The annual Heritage Game, which will be played at recently renovated Reynolds Coliseum, will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Start times for non-conference home games have not been determined yet, except for the Thursday, Dec. 15 game against Appalachian State which is a 7 p.m. tipoff and will be televised on ESPNU.

The Wolfpack open ACC play with three of their first four games on the road. The Pack open ACC play by visiting Miami on New Year’s Eve before returning home to host Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Jan. 4 in the team’s ACC opener.

After two road games at UNC-Chapel Hill and Boston College, NC State returns to PNC Arena for three consecutive home games. The Pack host Georgia Tech on Sunday, Jan. 15, Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and Wake Forest on Sunday, Jan. 21.

NC State visits Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday, Jan. 23 and Louisville on Sunday, Jan. 29 to close out the January portion of the ACC schedule.

The Pack have five home games in the month of February and all five teams that visit PNC Arena advanced to the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

NC State opens the month by hosting Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 1, before Miami visits on Saturday, Jan. 4.

After road games at Florida State and Wake Forest, NC State returns home to host UNC-Chapel Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 15 and Notre Dame on Saturday, Feb. 18.

The Pack travel to Georgia Tech for a game on Tuesday, Feb. 21, before returning home to celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 25 by hosting Virginia.

The ACC schedule closes on Wednesday, March 1 with a game at Clemson.

The 2017 ACC Tournament will be played at Brooklyn, N.Y. from March 7-11 at the Barclays Center. The Pack have won at least one game in every ACC Tournament since Gottfried took over the program five years ago.

The Wolfpack return two double-figure scorers from last season in Abdul-Malik Abu (12.9 ppg) and Maverick Rowan (12.9 ppg). They are joined by a healthy Terry Henderson, who started last season’s regular season-opener but was lost for the year seven minutes into the game after suffering an ankle injury and Torin Dorn, the 2014-15 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, is eligible to play this season after sitting out last season to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements.

Dennis Smith Jr., who has been on campus since January, highlights a highly anticipated six-man freshman class that joins the team for the upcoming season.