Two teams seeking to end losing streaks meet on the basketball court for the first time in 12 seasons when Stanford hosts North Carolina State in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Saturday afternoon.
Both teams last played on Wednesday. NC State (9-13, 2-9) dropped a seventh straight when beaten 74-62 at Cal, while Stanford (15-8, 7-5) took visiting Wake Forest to the wire before falling 79-73.
The programs haven’t seen each other since a home-and-home series in 2011 and 2012. Each won tight games at home, with the Wolfpack prevailing in the most recent head-to-head, 88-79 in December 2012.
A surprise national semifinalist a year ago, NC State hasn’t won a true road game all season, going 0-6, including 0-5 in ACC play. The Wolfpack’s overall seven-game skid equals their longest since a nine-gamer in 2008.
Marcus Hill paced the visitors with 20 points in their loss to Cal, but no one else contributed more than nine.
Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts could find himself calling upon freshmen Trey Parker and Paul McNeil more after they combined for 12 of their 19 bench points in just a combined 18 minutes at Cal, making five of their nine shots.
“I love the way they are showing up every day,” Keatts said of Parker and McNeil. “Showing up early, working, staying late, getting better — they are catching up, and it’s showing on the floor.”
Stanford has lost consecutive games to two of the top teams in the conference — SMU on the road and Wake Forest at home. The Cardinal will be looking at the other end of the conference standings when NC State visits.
The Cardinal faced Wake Forest without two key players — guards Benny Gealer and Jaylen Blakes — and could find themselves counting upon continued production from starter Ryan Agarwal and reserve Chisom Okpara, who put up 12 and 14 points, respectively, in the loss.
It helped keep the Cardinal competitive on a night when star Maxime Raynaud struggled from the field, missing six of his seven 3-point attempts and shooting just 4-for-11 overall.
“These are guys that haven’t played almost at all this year that either started or played significant minutes,” Raynaud said of Agarwal and Okpara. “I think you really have to tip your hat to them. If a guy is not here, then a guy is not here. It’s just next man up.”
