NC State’s defense is giving the Wolfpack every opportunity to win games, but offensive execution and outside shooting has been a pressing concern.
NC State lost 63-57 to ACC newcomer SMU, and the Wolfpack dropped to 9-10 overall and 2-6 in the ACC. The Mustangs improved to 15-5 overall and 6-3 in the league.
NC State rallied from being down 15 points with 11:50 left in the game, and had it at 65-55 with 3:21 left, but couldn’t get over the hump. NCSU made one field goal over the last 5:40 of the game.
“Here's the key to the game, we're not shooting the ball well at all,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “I know we had some really good looks. For whatever reason, we're not making those.”
NC State continued the trend of struggling to reach 68 points in its high major losses. NC State fell to 2-10 vs. high-major opponents, and had 84 in a overtime win against Florida State on Dec. 7, and scored 76 in a loss at Virginia Tech on Jan. 15 as the lone games over 68 points.
“Our guys are fighting their butts off defensively,” Keatts said. “Defense is really keeping us in every game that we have. Obviously, when you hold a team to 63 points, you have a chance to win.”
SMU held NC State to a season-low 57 points due in part to the Wolfpack shooting 29.2 percent from the field and 4 of 24 on three-point attempts for 16.7 percent. NC State rallied from being down 15 points with 11:50 remaining, and cut the SMU lead down to 56-55 with 3:21 left. Senior forward Dontrez Styles scored the remaining two points for the Wolfpack.
SMU junior guard B.J. Edwards hit a big three-pointer with 2:55 remaining to stretch the lead to 59-55, and the Wolfpack just couldn’t respond well enough.
“Everybody is in the gym, everybody is shooting a lot of shots,” said NC State senior guard Marcus Hill, who had a team-high 14 points. “You see right now, we aren’t getting a good outcome. Later on, it’s gonna fall.”
NC State shot well from three-point land at Virginia Tech — shooting 8 of 19 on three-pointers — but are a combined 8 of 53 from beyond the arc in three home losses against North Carolina, California and SMU. Keatts doesn’t want his players to lose confidence or have it affect the defensive effort, but the four-game losing streak is taking its toll.
“Offensively, we just aren’t making shots, and we got some great looks,” Keatts said. “They are just not going down. You get a little tighter when you are missing shots. Then I start thinking that you're pressing.
“It's so much pressure on our defense to perform, and it's hard because you're playing so hard on the defensive end.”
The first 35 minutes proved to be a game of runs for both teams, but one thing remained constant — SMU usually had the lead and led for 26:52 of the game. Two areas that SMU held the advantage in both involved 7-foot freshman center Samet Yigitoglu of Istanbul, Turkey. He went 8 of 13 from the field, most of which came in the paint, and finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Yigitoglu helped the Mustangs dominate the points in the paint category, 32-16. He is rebounding combined senior power forward Matt Cross grabbing 10 of them to go with his 11 points gave SMU a 43-35 rebounding advantage.
SMU was trailing 22-16 with 7:44 left, and then things went south for NC State. The Mustangs went on a 15-0 run thanks to six points from Yigitoglu and five points from reserve wing Kario Oquendo. SMU closed out the first half 18-4 and led 34-26 at halftime.
The closing run spoiled a quality first 12 minutes of the game for NC State. The Wolfpack have sometimes had slow starts to games, but raced out to an early 8-0 lead. Hill in particular came out sharp with six of the first 10 points for NCSU.
SMU soon found its footing and had a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game 14-12 with 10:44 left.
Poor shooting has harmed the Wolfpack during their three-game losing streak. NC State went just 10 of 33 from the field and 2 of 12 on three-pointers in the first half. SMU even mixed in some zone defense to test the Wolfpack’s shooting.
NC State doesn’t have much of a break, returning to action at Duke at 8:30 p.m. Monday on ESPN. The Blue Devils game is followed by hosting Clemson on Feb. 1.
Keatts said the Wolfpack simply need to see the ball go in the hole.
“We are right there,” Keatts said. “If we can figure out how to get over the hump and score some shots and make some shots, then we're there.”
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