NC State's defense struggles in second half, leading to loss
NC State loves to press, let shots fly and create offense from defense.
The Wolfpack have fed off their defense in various games, but Saturday against Virginia Tech, the defensive execution wasn’t quite there.
Virginia Tech made big shots and got some smooth drives to the basket to pull away for a surprising 84-78 win over NC State in front of 15,850 fans at PNC Arena. The loss left NCSU coach Kevin Keatts a little befuddled in the sense that his defense had stymied most of its ACC opponents. With each game meaning so much in the chase for a postseason berth, the frustration was clear following the game.
“Our defense has been who we are,” Keatts said. “You pick up the stat sheet and you hear a coach complaining about defense, and we forced 20 turnovers. Our calling card with this team is that defense has saved us — at Notre Dame, we didn’t score and defense saved us. The Wake Forest game, defense saved us. We were really good at it.”
Games have ebbs and flows, and two glaring ones could have been the first 10 minutes and the last seven minutes, with both benefitting Virginia Tech in many ways.
The stretch drive in particular, it proved to be all Virginia Tech, with starting guards Sean Pedulla, a junior point guard, and senior shooting guard Hunter Cattoor leading the way. Virginia Tech was down 54-51 with 7:53 left to work, and then just got good looks and clear paths to the rim, much to the chagrin of Keatts.
Pedulla had seven points and Cattoor led the way with 12 points during that 24-7 run. Cattoor’s back-to-back three-pointers was the catalyst.
The Hokies built a 75-61 lead with 2:20 left and the game was a wrap. Virginia Tech had five different players in double figures with Cattoor leading with 16 of his 19 points in the second half, senior center Lynn Kidd added 14 points and Pedulla finished with 13 points and eight assists.
“I thought they made big plays when they needed to,” Keatts said. “I thought in the first half, we did a good job on Pedulla and Cattoor. At the end of the game, we didn’t. I thought those guys drove us and made big plays when we needed to.”
NC State has shown at various points an energetic defense, but Keatts could tell his defense was off against Virginia Tech. The Hokies shot a blistering 62.5 percent in the second half and went 6 of 12 on three-pointers after halftime.
“I thought our defense in the second half half was not very good,” Keatts said.
The other missed opportunity in retrospect was that the Hokies had 10 turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the game, a stunning number with veterans guards like Pedulla and Cattoor. Freshman guard Brandon Rechsteiner came off the bench and had four turnovers in three minutes, with four points coming from them. Instead of leading after all of those turnovers, the Wolfpack still trailed 19-16 with 8:55 remaining in the first half, and a golden opportunity was missed.
“Even though they turned it over 20 times, I don’t think we capitalized on all of them,” Keatts said.
Keatts was disappointed by NC State having 18 turnovers, with 10 coming in the second half, to offset Virginia Tech’s 20 turnovers. Pedulla had eight of the 20 turnovers.
“We did some good things, but we didn’t do a great job defending,” Keatts said. “This particular team hasn’t been one of those groups that gave up straight-line drives. Guys were able to get all the way to the rim on us.”
Keatts was obviously frustrated by the 18 turnovers, and the squad had a quiet first half from three-point land again — going 2 of 8. However, the issues were bigger on the defensive side with 78 points more than enough, but the Hokies finished with 51 second-half points.
“It’s very frustrating," NC State junior guard Jayden Taylor said. "We aren’t a high turnover team. We usually don’t turn the ball over a lot. Today we didn’t play well offensively and we couldn’t guard the ball at the end. That’s really all it was.”
Keatts said the stretch drive was earmarked by Virginia Tech getting “comfortable” on offense.
“I don’t think we were as aggressive as the first half,” Keatts said. “JT [Taylor] really got after Pedulla.”
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