NC State just played two teams who could be NCAA Tournament caliber squads in Purdue and Brigham Young, but neither are as athletic as Texas.
NC State increased its intensity, especially on the defensive end, but learned the little things make a big difference in close games. Texas came through on the boards and made just enough athletic plays to pull off a 63-59 win over NC State on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge at the Lenovo Center. The SEC won the two-day Challenge 14-2.
NC State fell to 5-3 overall and host Florida State at 4 p.m. Saturday, and Texas improved to 7-1.
“It’s the little things like boxing out, making your free throws,” NCSU senior shooting guard Marcus Hill said. “We are going to fix it.”
NC State struggled early in falling behind 9-0, but dusted itself off, and rose to the challenge. It took a big three-pointer by freshman wing Tre Johnson — following two offensive rebounds — to take a 60-57 lead. The door was opened for NC State when junior point guard Jordan Pope, who entered the game a career 86.2 percent free-throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 17.2 seconds left.
NC State ran senior shooting guard Jayden Taylor off a screen and he drove into the paint, but senior center Kaden Shedrick met him for the blocked shot.
“I thought it was contact in the restricted area,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “I mean, we've always been told that if there is contact in a restricted area, you got a chance to go to the free-throw line. We didn’t.”
The little things did in NC State down the stretch. Texas out-rebounded NC State 23-12 in the second half, including 11 offensive rebounds.
NC State also went an unacceptable 6 of 14 at the free-throw line — not that Texas was much better at 7 of 14 — but Hill missed two on one trip, and both senior point guard Michael O’Connell and senior center Ben Middlebrooks missed the front end of one-and-one’s down the stretch.
“I thought at the end of the game, we had a couple of careless turnovers,” Keatts said. “We missed a very crucial block out. Then obviously, the main thing that stands out is we got to make our free throws. I mean, we went six for 14, and at the end, when it's a one possession game. Certainly love our guys' fight.”
NC State has lost Purdue last Thursday and BYU last Friday, with the latter game not competitive in the second half.
The Wolfpack spark came from transfers Dontrez Styles and Hill, who both had the same motivation in many ways. Hill was benched and was a reserve in the loss against BYU on Friday, but returned to the starting lineup against Texas. Styles went to the bench against the Longhorns, with Keatts going “big” for the first time with 6-10 seniors Middlebrooks and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield playing together.
“I thought we did some good things with that,” Keatts said.
Hill had 11 points in the first half, driving relentlessly to the rim. Styles showed his inside-outside game and chipped in seven points in 10 minutes off the bench. They combined to go 8 of 12 from the field and sparked NC State, who took its first lead 25-24 with 7:01 left in the first half.
Styles led NC State with 17 points and Hill had 16 for the game.
“I was very happy to see Dontrez come off the bench and eally put the ball in the hole,” Keatts said.
Johnson scored five straight to give the Longhorns the lead again, 33-30 with 3:22 left in the first half. Then both teams struggled with the Wolfpack getting the lone point down the stretch.
Johnson scored a game-high 18 points, but needed 15 shots to achieve it. He had zero assists and four turnovers.
The loss stung for the Wolfpack, but might pay off in helping the team find its identity this season.
“It felt like one of those late February ACC games where both teams were playing extremely hard and really wanted it,” Keatts said. “It was a defensive battle.”
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