NC State is used to playing in tight games, but falling 74-73 to Stanford on Saturday was an emotional gut-punch.
NC State called timeout with 3.9 seconds remaining and threw the ball in to senior shooting guard Marcus Hill, who drove left. He kicked it to freshman point guard Treymane Parker who tried a left corner three-pointer with the clock hitting zero, but it just rimmed out.
Parker made four three-pointers in the first half and finished with five en route to 19 points and five assists off the bench.
NC State coach Kevin Keatts said after the game in a postgame radio interview that Stanford star 7-foot-1 center Maxime Raynaud should have been called for a foul on the close-out on Parker. Instead, NC State suffered its eighth-straight loss and fell to 9-14 overall and 2-10 in the ACC.
Raynaud showed why he’s in contention for ACC Player of the Year and had 25 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes of action. His impact was felt in numerous ways, especially with NC State short-handed at the center position.
NC State entered the game without backup senior center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, and then had starting center Ben Middlebrooks get into foul trouble, that limited him to 13 minutes before he fouled out with 5:41 left.
Stanford is not the team to not have a center against. NCSU turned to deep reserve Ismael Diouf, who gave up several inches to Raynaud. Diouf did the best he could and worked the pick and roll game with Parker well, netting nine points and five boards in 23 minutes of action.
Raynaud proved just too tough for anyone in a Wolfpack uniform, especially in the second half. He had 21 of his 25 points after halftime, and went 7 of 12 from the field and made all seven free throws.
Stanford was missing starting point guard Jaylen Blakes, who is averaging 14.6 points and 5.0 assists per game, and backup Benny Gealer was also injured.
Without a true point guard, Stanford kept to the basics, which usually meant working through Raynaud. The Cardinal made their move with a 9-0 spurt to stretch the lead to 59-51 with 9:14 left.
The last five minutes have usually been problematic for NC State this season, but the Wolfpack went on a 7-1 run to create drama over the last 17 seconds.
Stanford sophomore guard Ryan Argawal had an easy drive to give the Cardinal a 74-73 lead with 7.3 seconds left. NC State advanced the ball to the frontcourt and called timeout with 3.9 seconds left, and that led to Parker trying the left corner jumper at the buzzer.
Both teams had just one turnover in the second half, but that hurt the Wolfpack more, who pride themselves on creating turnovers and forced nine in the first half.
NC State shot just 37.7 percent for the game, but hit some rough spots in the second half. Conversely, Stanford made 11 of its first 16 shots in the first 10 minutes of the half.
The Cardinal featured four players in double figures led by Raynaud. Junior shooting guard Oziyah Sellers had 12 points, and both freshman small forward Evan Stinson and junior power forward Chisom Okpara chipped in 10 points apiece.
Parker led NC State with his 19 points, but got help from senior forward Dontrez Styles, who had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Hill added 14.
NC State returns to action with two games this week at the Lenovo Center — vs. Louisville on Wednesday and Boston College on Saturday.
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