NC State, Nebraska, Are Going To Be Matching For The First Time During The 2021-2022 Season Because NC State Is Hosting Nebraska For The ACC/ Big Ten Challenge In Raleigh

There is a first time for everything!

During the 2021-2022 season two teams that have never faced each other will match up in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge!

When?

Wednesday December 1, 2021!

Where?

North Carolina’s state capital as NC State will host Nebraska!

NC State’s Head Coach is Kevin Keatts!

The 2020-21 season marked Kevin Keatts fourth year as head men’s basketball coach at NC State as he looks to continue to build a program that has won 79 games in his four years at the helm.

Keatts has an overall record of 79-47 and has guided NC State to a 39-34 ACC record in his four seasons with the Pack. He is just the second coach in the last 40 years to lead NC State to four consecutive seasons of .500 or better play in the ACC.

Keatts' NC State teams have a 54-16 home record in his three years as head coach, including a 23-14 mark in conference play. The Pack has defeated six ranked opponents at home, including three wins over top-10 ranked teams.

For the second consecutive season, Keatts had to deal with numerous injuries as only two players appeared in all 25 games in the 2020-21 season. Midway through the season, the Pack was dealt a crippling blow as senior guard Devon Daniels, who was leading the team in points and rebounds at the time, suffered a torn ACL late in the team’s win over Wake Forest on Jan. 27.

Despite the injuries, Keatts rallied the team in February as the Pack ended the regular season with five consecutive wins to clinch a winning ACC record for the fourth consecutive season. The five-game win streak for NC State was the longest ACC win streak for NC State since the 2003-04 season.

In February, NC State went 5-0 in ACC road games, marking the first time the Pack has won five consecutive ACC road games since the 1973-74 season.

Manny Bates was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive team. He was the first NC State player to make the league’s All-Defensive team since Beejay Anya in 2015.

Jericole Hellems earned ACC Honorable Mention honors.

NC State ended the season in the NIT, defeating Davidson before falling in the quarterfinals to Colorado State.

Despite a rash of injuries that saw only two players play all 32 games, Keatts guided his 2019-20 NC State team to its third consecutive 20-win season. The Pack’s season was highlighted by a win over reigning National Champion Virginia in January and a 22-point blowout of sixth-ranked Duke in February. The win over Virginia was the Pack’s first win in Charlottesville since March 2005. NC State’s 88-66 win over Duke was the largest for the Pack over a top-10 opponent since March 13, 1965 when NC State beat third-ranked Saint Joseph's, 103-81, in a consolation game of the NCAA Tournament in College Park, Md. It also marked the largest margin of defeat for Duke to an unranked opponent in the Mike Krzyzewski era.

The Pack’s offense averaged over 80 points in the first two seasons under Keatts. Prior to Keatts taking over the program, NC State hadn’t averaged over 80 points per game since the 1995-96 season. The 2018-19 NC State team averaged 80.1 points per game and scored 2,882 points which is the most points scored by an NC State team in program history.

The 2018-19 also hit 292 three-pointers, the second-most in program history. Both of Keatts’ NC State teams have been prolific from three-point range as both rank in the top-10 for season three-point field goals made in program history.

In 2018-19, NC State won 24 games, its most wins since the 2012-13 season as the Pack advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Pack defeated eventual Final Four participant Auburn in non-conference play and went 9-9 in the ACC portion of its schedule.

In the 2017-18 season, Keatts took a program that was preseason picked 12th in the ACC and led them to five wins over ranked opponents and a 11-7 record in the ACC to finish in a tie for third place. Overall, the Pack finished the season with a 21-12 record and returned to the NCAA Tournament.

Keatts’ first squad served notice of its penchant for taking down ranked foes in November when the Pack defeated second-ranked Arizona and eventual number one pick in the NBA Draft Deandre Ayton in the opening round of the Battle for Atlantis. NC State entered ACC play with a 10-3 record and faced another second-ranked foe when Duke came to PNC Arena for the Pack’s ACC opener. Like the Arizona game, the Pack took down the highly ranked Blue Devils, pulling away in the second half for a double-digit win. Five days later, the Pack added another win over a ranked opponent as the Pack held off No. 19 Clemson by one point.

At the end of January, NC State secured its third win over a top-10 opponent as the Pack went to Chapel Hill and defeated the Tar Heels in overtime. The Pack’s final win over a ranked opponent came at the end of February when NC State dispatched 25th-ranked and eventual Elite 8 team Florida State by 20 points.

Keatts finished the regular season with 21 wins, tying with legendary coach Everett Case (21-4 in 1946-47) for the most regular season wins by a first year head coach in program history. The Pack’s 11 ACC wins are the most for a first-year head coach in program history and the best ACC record for the team since the 2012-13 season.

The Pack’s tie for third place finish in the ACC is the best regular season finish for the Pack in the ACC since the 2003-04 team finished in second place.

Keatts’ first team at NC State set numerous program marks. The Pack set the program and PNC Arena for three-pointers with 19 in the win over Jacksonville in December. The Pack also set the PNC Arena record for points in a game with 116 in the win over Jacksonville. NC State set the PNC Arena record for assists in a game with 31 against South Carolina State and also twice tied the PNC Arena for fewest turnovers in a game with four against Clemson and Louisville.

Nebraska’s Head Coach is Fred Hoiberg!

In his first season in Lincoln in 2019-2020 , he laid the foundation during his first season, as Nebraska played at one of the fastest paces in the country in 2019-20. NU ranked 16th nationally and led the Big Ten in pace, while the Huskers’ 7.9 3-pointers per game were the most by a Husker team since 2001-02. In conference action, NU ranked in the top three in 3-pointers per game (third) and turnover margin (second). Despite having just one returning letterwinner on the roster and the fewest returning points by a Big Ten team in more than a decade, the Huskers knocked off Iowa and Purdue in Big Ten play, while losing on the road to nationally ranked Maryland and Rutgers in the final seconds. The Huskers, who had just 10 scholarship players, also tied a school record with four overtime games.

“according to his biography on huskers.com”