Another rough one at Lenovo
Game Summary:
You knew it was a bad omen when in the pregame, Coach Keatts said that due to sickness this week, they had a tough time having enough players to practice. Then Huntley-Hatfield was unable to play due to illness. Then the first shot of the game was a missed 3PT shot by Ben Middlebrooks. It was not destined to be our game.
The first half followed our formula for collapsing just before halftime. At 2:35, Taylor put the Pack ahead 29-28, then we failed to hit another basket in the half. Clemson scored 6, Taylor hit a couple of free throws for a 31-34 deficit at the half. It was clear rebounding was a focus, NC State led 21-14 at the half. Middlebrooks had 2, Taylor had 4, and Hill, O’Connell, Styles, and McNeil each had 3. Styles carried the team, scoring 10 on 4-5 shooting.
The Wolfpack scored only 27 points in the second half. To their credit, they limited Clemson to 34, but the Tigers outshot the Wolfpack 48.1% to 38.3%, too much to overcome. Styles was the only NC State player in double figures with his season high 24 points. NC State won the rebounding battle 38-28 including 13-4 on offensive boards.
Final score, Clemson 68 – NC State 58.
Overall Takeaways:
- The losing streak is at six games, tying Coach Keatts’ career longest
- NC State turned the ball over 12 times – 12 points for the Tigers
- The Pack outrebounded Clemson 38-28, one of our better rebounding nights of the season. Seven players had at least 3.
- Only 8 assists on 23 made shots
- Not having Huntley-Hatfield hurt us, Diouf played 13 minutes and did not score – Clemson won points in the paint, 36-24
Keatts Comments
Individual Highlights
- Dontrez Styles played a second consecutive very good game. He led the team in scoring with 24, including a career high 6 3PT shots made
- Jayden Taylor’s shot wasn’t falling (2-8 / 0-2) and he only had six points, but he had an outstanding stat line, leading the team in rebounding (7), assists (4), and steals (4)
- Ben Middlebrooks led the team in blocks with 3