Men's College Basketball
Preview
Notre Dame at NC State
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Where: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, North Carolina

Notre Dame and North Carolina State are both trying to shed a frustrating two-game skid, and one of them will reach a .500 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play after meeting Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.

"We got to go find a way to capitalize on the road," Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "We got to go get one. Let's be tough. Let's be resilient."

Notre Dame (7-7, 1-2) is coming off a tough home loss to North Carolina on Saturday, one in which the Tar Heels stunned the Fighting Irish with a four-point play in the closing seconds to win 74-73.

Markus Burton led Notre Dame with 23 points in his return from a seven-game absence (knee) but missed the potential game-winning layup at the buzzer. The sophomore guard paces the Fighting Irish with 18.9 points, albeit in just seven games.

"He's just a warrior," Shrewsberry said of Burton. "... He put us in position to win. He's going to be better. He's going to keep growing."

Notre Dame will visit an NC State squad coming off two road setbacks last week. The Wolfpack (8-6, 1-2) blew a 14-point lead in a 70-67 loss at Virginia on New Year's Eve before getting clobbered 77-59 by Wake Forest on Saturday.

"We have to increase our stretches of how well we play during times," NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. "We've had games where I thought we played 20 really good minutes of basketball, then 25. As we continue to go through the season, we got to get up to 30 to 35 to ultimately 37."

Keatts said the Wolfpack still have the right attitude and he believes a breakthrough is imminent.

"We've just got to get back to being a little bit more stingy on the defensive end, and then our shots will fall offensively," he said.

Dontrez Styles paired 11 points with 10 rebounds off the bench against Wake Forest. It marked his first double-double for NC State since transferring from Georgetown after last season.

"What we're trying to get from him is for him to feel comfortable both on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively, and trying to fit him into what we're trying to do," Keatts said.

Styles scored 10 points for Georgetown in an overtime victory over Notre Dame last season. He ranks third on the Wolfpack with 9.6 points per game behind fellow guards Marcus Hill (12.6 ppg) and Jayden Taylor (12.1).

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Neutral Day Night Conf
Notre Dame 7-7 L2 6-2 1-2 0-3 2-3 5-4 1-2
NC State 8-6 L2 8-1 0-3 0-2 2-5 6-1 1-2
Last Meeting
Notre Dame NC State
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
1/3/24 NCST 54 ND 52 52 34 40.4 54 36 28.8
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Notre Dame M. Burton 18 43.8 2
NC State D. Burns Jr. 13 40.0 1
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Notre Dame K. Njie 11 1 10
NC State M. O'Connell 7 2 5
Assists Player  
Notre Dame M. Burton 4
NC State D. Burns Jr. 2
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Notre Dame T. Davis 233 52.7 70
NC State M. Hill 177 50.7 37
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Notre Dame K. Njie 81 30 51
NC State B. Huntley-Hatfield 72 30 42
Assists Player  
Notre Dame M. Allocco 50
NC State M. O'Connell 54
Quickchart Matchup
blue bar Notre Dame Off vs  red bar NC State Defense
blue bar 75.6 Points For
red bar 67.1 Points Against
blue bar 46.9 FG%
red bar 43.8 FG%
blue bar 33.1 Reb
red bar 32.1 Reb
red bar NC State Off vs  blue bar Notre Dame Defense
red bar 73.0 Points For
blue bar 70.9 Points Against
red bar 45.9 FG%
blue bar 43.4 FG%
red bar 30.4 Reb
blue bar 28.9 Reb