Dec. 3, 2013

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Skip Myslenski's NC State Primer

Northwestern (4-4) at NC State (4-2)
Date	Wednesday, Dec. 4 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Location	PNC Arena  | Raleigh, N.C.
Watch	ESPNU and WatchESPN
Listen	WGN 720 and wgnradio.com (Dave Eanet and Tim Doyle); Sirius 108 and XM 190
Live Stats	Gametracker
Social Media	@NUMensBball   |  Facebook
Game Notes	Northwestern | NC State

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Chris Collins makes a return to the state of North Carolina as the Wildcats travel to NC State on Wednesday as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. Central time.

Collins is in his first season as the Wildcats' head coach after spending the last 13 years as an assistant coach at Duke, while also playing for the Blue Devils from 1992-96.

NU suffered a pair of losses to highly regarded foes at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational last week, falling 78-67 to Missouri and 95-79 to No. 19/21 UCLA. JerShon Cobb was named to the all-tournament team after tallying 22 points in both of the contests. Kale Abrahamson contributed a career-best 19 points off the bench vs. the Bruins.

Series History: NC State leads, 3-1. The teams have split two previous matchups in the Challenge, both in Raleigh.
Last Meeting: Michael Thompson scored 22 points in leading Northwestern to a 65-53 win over NC State Dec. 1, 2009 in Raleigh in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

SCOUTING NC STATE
• The Wolfpack (4-2) notched a 75-56 home win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, overcoming a 27-21 halftime deficit as T.J. Warren scored 30 points for the second consecutive game.
• Warren, a sophomore forward who was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team a year ago, leads the team with an average of 22.7 points per game while contributing 7.3 rebounds per contest.
• Mark Gottfried is in his third season as head coach at NC State where he has a 52-26 record, leading the Wolfpack to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances. Previously the head coach at Alabama and Murray State, Gottfried has a 330-181 record in 17 seasons overall.

NU IN THE BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE
Northwestern is 6-8 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, including four straight wins from 2008-11. The Wildcats' loss to Maryland a year ago snapped a string of five straight wins overall against ACC foes.

12/1/99 - vs. Florida State; L, 46-60
11/28/00 - at Clemson; L, 44-57
11/28/01 - vs. Florida State; W, 57-50
12/4/02 - at NC State; L, 49-74
12/1/03 - at Florida State; L, 53-71
12/1/04 - vs. Virginia; L, 44-48
11/30/05 - at Virginia; L, 57-72
11/28/06 - vs. Miami (Fla.); W, 61-59
11/27/07 - at Virginia; L, 52-94
12/3/08 - vs. Florida State; W, 73-59
12/1/09 - at NC State; W, 65-53
11/30/10 - vs. Georgia Tech; W, 91-71
11/29/11 - at Georgia Tech; W, 76-60
11/27/12 - vs. Maryland; L, 57-77

RUNNING WITH THE 'PACK
One of the highlights of Chris Collins' playing career came against NC State his senior year. On Jan. 18, 1996, Collins' 24-footer bounced on the rim four times before falling through the basket with 5.5 seconds remaining, giving Duke a 71-70 win over the Wolfpack at Reynolds Coliseum.

SHOOTING STAR
Redshirt senior Drew Crawford returned to the Northwestern lineup with a vengeance in the season-opener against Eastern Illinois, hitting five 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 25 points. The point total was the highest by a Wildcat in a season-opener since John Shurna scored 31 in a victory at Northern Illinois Nov. 12, 2010. Crawford is the Big Ten's active leading scorer with 1,518 career points. The total ranks 10th in school history and is three points behind Jitim Young (2001-04) for ninth place and 15 behind Cedric Neloms (1992-95) for eighth place. Crawford missed the majority of the second half vs. Missouri and the entire game vs. UCLA due to injury.

COMMENDABLE COMEBACK
After sitting out all of last season, JerShon Cobb has been impressive in his return to the court. He leads Northwestern and ranks 13th in the Big Ten with an average of 15.1 points per game. Cobb handed out a career-high eight assists in the Wildcats' season-opener vs. Eastern Illinois. He followed up the performance by scoring 19 points at Stanford Nov. 14 and then scored 19 again vs. Illinois State Nov. 17. Cobb's 11 free throws and 14 attempts against the Redbirds were both career highs. The 14 attempts were the most by a Northwestern player since Jitim Young had 15 vs. Michigan State on March 12, 2004. Cobb also posted a career-best 12 rebounds in a win at UIC Nov. 20 and knocked down the game-winning shot with 2.3 seconds remaining in a 63-61 win over IUPUI Nov. 22. His 22 points vs. Missouri Nov. 28 and again the following day vs. UCLA were two shy of his career high achieved vs. Minnesota on March 8, 2012.

HITTING THE GLASS
Redshirt freshman Sanjay Lumpkin has been an effective rebounder so far this season. After grabbing 7 boards at Stanford Nov. 14, Lumpkin notched his first career double-figure rebounding game on Nov. 17 vs. Illinois State. His 11 rebounds were the most by an NU freshman since Drew Crawford had 12 in an NIT game at Rhode Island March 17, 2010. He followed it up with 10 boards at UIC, which coupled with 10 points gave him his first collegiate double-double. Lumpkin is the first NU player with double-figure rebounds in consecutive games since Crawford vs. Purdue (10) and at Rhode Island March 12 and 17 of 2010.

BOOST OFF THE BENCH
Tre Demps has provided Northwestern with some scoring punch off the bench so far this season. The redshirt sophomore is averaging 9.6 points per game, including scoring in double figures five times in the team's eight games. Demps tallied a season-high 15 points vs. No. 19/21 UCLA Nov. 29. Big Ten Non-Starter Scoring Leaders (through games played Dec. 1)

Deverell Biggs (Nebraska) - 12.0
Bryson Scott (Purdue) - 10.5
Malik Smith (Minnesota) - 10.0
Zach McCabe (Iowa) - 9.8
Tre Demps (Northwestern) - 9.6

UP NEXT...
Northwestern returns home Saturday to take on Western Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

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