NC State had its last warm-up of the preseason and gave coach Kevin Keatts plenty of material to work with on improving the squad.
Keatts has always said that he wants his team to learn lessons while winning. Lees-McRae threw a scare into NC State and nearly upset the Wolfpack in the exhibition contest at the Lenovo Center on Wednesday.
NC State had seven players with at least seven points, but only senior shooting guard Jayden Taylor managed to reach double figures with 12 points on 2 of 11 shooting, plus he added eight rebounds and five assists.
NC State opens the season next Monday against South Carolina-Upstate, with the ACC Tournament championship banner and Final Four banner being raised at the Lenovo Center.
“That was our last dress rehearsal,” Keatts said. “I think we can learn a lot from our secret scrimmage [against South Carolina] and our last 20 minutes [vs. Lees-McRae].”
Lees-McRae made its move and cut NC State’s lead to just five points, 66-61, with 6:57 left in the game. That led to a tie game, 69-69, with 3:40 remaining, and tension was high among the few thousand fans at the Lenovo Center.
“In the second half, I started big guys against small guys and we came out and turned the ball over three straight times,” Keatts said.
NC State got the break it needed when senior shooting guard transfer Marcus Hill got the dunk on the break, and drew a flagrant foul. He made both free throws and NC State had some breathing room 76-69 with 1:54 left.
Lees-McRae had one last chance after NCSU freshman converted on the break, but missed the free throw, giving the Wolfpack a 78-75 lead with 22 seconds left. Lees-McRae turned the ball over and that sealed the win for the Wolfpack.
“I played 11 guys and I didn’t call a timeout until the end,” Keatts said. “I just wanted the guys to play through some stuff. I could have stopped a couple of runs. I wanted our guys to figure it out and we’d get better for it. Now, we have their attention.”
Keatts harkened back to last year’s 89-79 win over Mount Olive in the Wolfpack’s exhibition game. Mount Olive shot lights out in the second half from three-point land — shooting 8 of 14 on three-pointers — and out-rebounded the Wolfpack 23-14 after halftime. The difference is that NC State led comfortably most of the game.
“Last year against Mount Olive, we were 89-79 and were ACC champs,” Keatts said.
NC State subbed early and often with its 11-man rotation, but built a 44-25 lead at halftime. The wheels came off in the second half, with Lees-McRae climbing back in the game and then hanging around and hanging around.
Freshman forward Desmond Kent provided a spark in the comeback, along with redshirt freshman wing Anthony Parker. Kent, who was a multi-time state champion at Central Cabarrus in Concord, N.C., had 17 points and four rebounds in just 21 minutes of action. Parker chipped in 15 points off the bench.
NC State also had some self-inflicted wounds. The Wolfpack shot 4 of 20 from three-point range, committed 19 turnovers and missed 13 free throws (27 of 40). The poor outside shooting led to shooting 38.7 percent from the field.
“We had some combinations out there that I had never seen in practice,” Keatts said. “I was throwing guys in and out. I’m just trying to get through the game without anyone getting hurt.
"If it was a regular game, we would have played it completely different."
NC State played without redshirt junior wing Mike James and sophomore forward Dennis Parker. James had a knee scope and could be out for the first 3-4 games of the season, and Parker has sprained each of his ankles in recent weeks.
Keatts also pointed out that senior point guard Mike O'Connell had recently missed some time with an injury.
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