Poor shooting spoils the Wolfpack’s near upset
Game Summary:
If NC State could shoot they would be a very good team. However, that is not the case as evidenced by shooting 36.9% / 15.8% in this game. Thusly, we are not a very good team.
The first half was a strange one. At the 10:35 mark the score was UNC 12 – Marcus Hill 10. Six other Wolfpack players had missed their shots. At the half we were 9-40 FG and 1-12 3PT. However, other good things were happening. Due to Huntley-Hatfield missing the game because of a shoulder injury that occured in the Notre Dame game, Big Ben got a lot of minutes (32) and knew what to do with them. At the half he had 10 rebounds (1 off his career high), two blocked shots, three points, and only 1 foul. Dennis Parker, Jr. added 3 blocked shots in the half. On the backs of Middlebrooks’ 10, Hill’s 6 and Styles’ 4 rebounds, NC STATE OUT REBOUNDED UNC 26-25! The half ended UNC 26-NC State 20.
The second half looked better, we shot 60% from the field and even hit a couple of 3PT shots but struggled to get defensive stops. UNC freshman Ian Jackson kept hitting critical 3PT shots preventing the Wolfpack from catching up or maintaining a momentary lead. Jayden Taylor found his shooting touch and scored all 12 of his points in the second half. UNC came out of halftime hot and built an 8 point lead, 35-27. Then the Pack went on a run and at the 13:58 mark Marcus Hill hit a jumper to make it 36-35 Wolfpack, but we could not hold the lead. By 8:54 UNC was up 7 again. At the 3:13 mark, Marcus Hill again put the Pack ahead 58-57. At 1:29 Hill (again) tied the game 61-61. Jalen Washington (of all people) got loose for a dunk, and that was the final score, 63-61. Jayden Taylor got off a last second shot, but it was blocked.
Overall Takeaways:
- Poor Shooting – 36.9% / 15.8% / 83.3% – We shot 1/12 from the 3PT line in the first half, and 2/7 in the second half.
- Improved rebounding – UNC is a very good rebounding team, and only out rebounded NC State 40-38. The Wolfpack won the offensive rebounds 16-13, but lost the defensive end 27-22.
- Only 7 assists on 24 made baskets. Indirect cause of the poor shooting percentages.
- Fast break points – UNC 16-10. One of the key differences in the game.
- Fouls – UNC averages 19+ fouls per game and was only called for 10. It was a very physical game, the refs chose to swallow their whistles and let them play.
Keatts Comments
Individual Highlights
- Ben Middlebrooks led the team in rebounds with a career high 14
- Marcus Hill carried the team scoring load with 20 points. Jayden Taylor was the only other double figure scorer, and all of his points came in the 2nd half
- Marcus Hill just missed a double -double with 9 rebounds
- Michael O’Connell had 4 of the team’s 7 assists
- Dennis Parker, Jr. had 3 blocked shots
- Three players had two steals, Styles, Taylor, and Hill