NC State Wolfpack basketball (11-9, 7-8 ACC) continues conference play Sunday afternoon against Pittsburgh at 4:00 p.m. on ACC Network.

The Panthers are 9-9 (5-8 ACC) under head coach Jeff Capel in his third season with the program. Pittsburgh is coming off of a 79-72 loss to Florida State Saturday.

The Pack is coming off of a three-game win streak, which most recently included a 68-61 road victory over No. 15 Virginia.

NC State began the win streak with a 74-73 road victory over Pittsburgh in the first meeting between the two schools this season on Feb. 17.

Here is the updated scouting report on Pittsburgh:

After a head-scratching 80-70 loss to Saint Francis (PA) in the season opener, Pittsburgh won eight of its next nine games, which included a 4-1 start in ACC play.

The Panthers, however, have lost seven of their last eight.

Pitt also appears to be having internal issues too considering two of its top players have announced their intent to transfer and have since left the program in the last week.

Junior guard Xavier Johnson was the first to announce his decision to leave the program last week. Johnson was third on the team in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game, and led the team in assists with 5.7 per game, good for second in the ACC.

Junior guard Au'Diese Toney announced later in the week that he too would transfer, also departing the program in the process. Toney was the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He was also second on the team in assists, averaging 2.3 per game.

In Pittsburgh's one-point loss to NC State, Johnson and Toney combined for 31 points, six assists, five rebounds and one steal in 58 minutes.

Pittsburgh was projected to finish 13th in the conference in the preseason ACC media poll.

Pittsburgh is ranked No. 87 in the NET rankings (NC State is No. 99), which makes Saturday's contest a "quad three" game for the Pack.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Panthers ranked No. 81 (NC State is No. 44), and KenPom.com has Pitt ranked No. 79 (NC State is No. 68).

Pittsburgh is also ranked No. 146 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Pitt's adjusted offensive efficiency is 108.8 (points per 100 possessions) according to KenPom, which ranks 81st nationally.

The Panthers have been about average offensively in conference play. Pittsburgh's adjusted offensive efficiency is 104.4 in league play, good for eighth in the ACC.

Pitt struggles shooting the ball but attacks the glass and gets to the rim frequently.

The Panthers have an adjusted field goal percentage of 48.7 which ranks just 240th among Division I teams. Pitt also shoots 48.6 percent on two-point attempts and 32.4 percent on threes, which rank 217th and 234th nationally, respectively.

The Panthers also score 20.1 percent of their points from the foul line, which ranks 85th in the country.

Advantage: NC State

Pittsburgh averages 38.6 rebounds per game, which is good for 50th among Division I teams. In conference play, the Panthers are averaging 36.2 rebounds per contest, which ranks fourth in the ACC.

The Panthers have been strong on the offensive glass. Pittsburgh comes up with an offensive rebound on 34.3 percent of its misses, however, which is good for 26th among Division I teams.

Advantage: Pittsburgh

Pitt has an adjusted defensive efficiency of 98.0 (points per 100 possessions) according to KenPom, which ranks 92nd nationally.

The Panthers' adjusted defensive efficiency increases to 105.8 (points per 100 possessions) in league play, which ranks 10th in the ACC.

The good news for NC State: Pittsburgh hasn't forced many turnovers this season. The Panthers force a turnover on just 18.3 percent of defensive possessions, which ranks 217th nationally.

Pitt's defensive strength is holding its opponents to a low percentage from beyond the arc. The Panthers' opponents have shot just 31.6 percent from three this season, good for 72nd nationally.

Advantage: NC State

Pitt has nine players that average 10.5 or more minutes per game, but only seven have appeared in nine or more games this season. Now two of those have left the program.

The Panthers have gotten just 27.5 percent of their total minutes from the bench, which ranks 271st nationally. And that was before Johnson and Toney left the program.

Advantage: NC State

Sophomore wing Justin Champagnie is currently the frontrunner for ACC Player of the Year.

The 6-6, 200-pounder leads the league in scoring and rebounding average.

Through 14 contests, the versatile wing is averaging 18.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.

“He's playing at a high level,” NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said prior to the first matchup. “It says a lot about what Jeff] has done with his program, and it says a lot about the kids that are in our league. When we do retain some of these guys who don't turn to the pros right away, you can see how good the players that we have in this league are. He's been one of the bright spots. He's a tough matchup, he can score the ball inside and out. It's unbelievable how he's rebounding the basketball. I don't care who you are, if you've had a game where you got 20 rebounds, you're pretty good.

“He’s a tough matchup for us. It's hard. How do you play him? Do you switch screens like we typically like to do one through four? He's become a three-level scorer. He's scoring around the basket, he's getting out in transition, he's getting to the free-throw line, and he's also been deadly behind the three-point line. He's one of the two guys I think are really a tough matchup problem for us, we just played against one in Matthew Hurt, and I think Champagnie is similar in that way.”

3 Games in a row in which freshman guard Cam Hayes has scored in double figures. The first was his 11-point, nine-assist performance in the road win over Pittsburgh, which marked the freshman's first time scoring double figures against an ACC opponent.

11 Straight wins for NC State in the series between the Wolfpack and Pittsburgh. The Panthers won the first meeting between the two as conference foes in Jan. 2014 but have lost every meeting since.

6-0 Is Keatts' record against Pittsburgh during his time with the Wolfpack. The most recent meeting was in the Pack's final game of the 2019-20 campaign in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, which resulted in a 73-58 NC State win.

NC State

G — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 175, Fr., 7.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.3 apg)

G — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, Fr., 4.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.7 spg)

F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Jr., 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.5 apg)

F — 0 DJ Funderburk (6-10, 225, 5th-Sr., 12.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.3 orpg)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-So., 9.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.8 bpg)

Pittsburgh

G – 0 Ithiel Horton (6-3, 200, So. 10.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)

G – 22 Nike Sibande (6-4, 185, Sr., 3.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.0 apg)

G – 2 Femi Odukale (6-5, 185, Fr., 4.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.0 apg)

F – 11 Justin Champagnie (6-6, 200, So., 18.7 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 1.6 apg)

F –12 Karim Coulibaly (6-8, 215, So., 5.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.0 apg)

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