Miami made big plays and big shots down the stretch to hold off NC State 84-79 on Saturday and sweep the season series.
The game didn’t have some of the same ebbs and flows of Wednesday’s overtime loss to Syracuse, but it was another scenario where NC State was in control and looking good at times. NC State built up a 16-point lead with 8:44 left against Syracuse, only to fall 100-93 in overtime. The Wolfpack had a had a 12-point lead against Miami with 1:31 before halftime.
Miami (15-7 overall, 5-5 ACC) proved to be a different team in the second half, but NC State still clung to a eight-point lead with 16:14 left in the game. The Hurricanes quickly erased the deficit with a 10-1 run to take a 53-52 lead with 13:58 remaining.
Miami sophomore forward Anthony Lawrence delivered the knockout blow with a three-pointer to give the Hurricanes a 76-68 lead with 2:25 left. That was a feeling NC State players have grown accustomed to during this difficult season.
“It gets tight and we have to learn as a team to execute down the stretch,” Henderson said. “It isn’t just offense. It’s playing together on the defensive end, and it is costing us games.
“It is now or never if you ask me. I’m tired of losing, I am. Nobody on our team wants to lose.”
Lawrence was one of three Miami players that set career highs against NC State. Senior small forward Davon Reed had 26 points and seven rebounds, and shot 7 of 10 on three-pointers, giving him a combined 46 points against the Wolfpack. Lawrence finished with 19 points, which is just the second time he’s reached double figures in an ACC game. Sophomore center Ebuka Izundu of Charlotte, N.C., also set a new career-high with 16 points to go along with six rebounds.
Miami never flinched in the last seven minutes of the game to open the door for NC State.
“They made every one they needed to make,” Gottfried said. “Every critical shot they needed to make, they made them. You have to give those guys credit for that.”
NC State fell to 14-10 overall and 3-8 in the ACC, and play at Florida State on Wednesday. Much of the focus has been on making the NCAA Tournament this season, but the Wolfpack have work to do to reach any kind of postseason tournament.
“I think our team is a handful of plays away,” Gottfried said. “We are a team that is playing hard and competing hard. We have to figure out how to get over that hump. That is where we are.”
Miami Crushes NC State On Boards
Miami dominated NC State on the offensive boards to give the Hurricanes 14 more field-goal attempts.
The Hurricanes grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and the Wolfpack had just 16 defensive rebounds. Miami held a 36-21 overall advantage on the boards. The aforementioned Lawrence knockout blow came after three Miami offensive rebounds during a possession that lasted 1:23.
“The main thing in today’s game was our inability to get a defensive rebound,” Gottfried said. “That led to them shooting a much better percentage and led to some kick-outs. Some offensive rebounds led to some threes.”
Gottfried felt good about what NC State accomplished on offense, but pulling down just five offensive rebounds limited the Wolfpack’s opportunities. NCSU shot 11 of 18 on three-pointers and had 15 assists on 27 made field goals.
“This is kind of like a broken record,” Gottfried said. “We should be able to win the game.”
NCSU freshman center Omer Yurtseven said it isn’t about desire, but sometimes it just didn’t happen Saturday. He pointed to that sequence leading up to Lawrence’s three-pointer as hitting the Wolfpack hard.
“We have to pick up the defense,” said Yurtseven, who had 10 points, four rebounds and career-high five blocks. “They aren’t a team that can make a shot over your hand, but they can make like any team, can make open shots. It is defense.”
Gottfried has said with different teams of his in the past that it is hard to play a full 40 minutes. The Wolfpack have shown flashes, led by Smith’s 31 points and nine assists, but the season will get defined by the less glamorous parts of the game, especially on defense and cleaning the boards.
“It’s not hard but I think we can do it together as a team,” Yurtseven said. “We have to do it as a team. We have to be more together.”
Halftime Adjustment Slows Down Terry Henderson
NC State fifth-year shooting guard Terry Henderson was on fire in the first half to complement Smith’s outside shooting.
Henderson made 4 of 5 from three-point land and had 16 points, and Smith had made all four of his three-pointers and had 17 points and six assists. The Wolfpack shot a blistering 18 of 29 for 62.1 percent in building a 45-36 halftime lead.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga had seen enough and made a critical move in the second half. He took point guard Ja’Quan Newton and moved him from guarding Smith to Henderson. He figured that Newton wasn’t going to slow down Smith, so let him go against Reed, but he felt Newton could make life difficult for Henderson.
“At halftime, I was very impressed with NC State,” Larranaga said. “I like the way we responded, and we started scoring more as the half progressed. At halftime, we just made a couple of small changes. Between our two guards, we were able to hold him [Smith] to 31. The guy is amazing and is a great, great player.”
Henderson was held to just one field-goal attempt in the second half, which was a three-pointer with four seconds left. He didn’t know he hadn’t gotten more shots attempted.
“I really have no comment on that honestly,” said Henderson about the lack of field-goal attempts. “I’m just going out there worried about getting stops on defense. I’m not stressing offense as much.”
Gottfried said Henderson’s streakiness is sometimes just how games can go.
“Terry was making shots early and Maverick [Rowan] struggled most of the day, and we couldn’t get him going,” Gottfried said. “Terry then kind of cooled off, so we weren’t getting points out of either one of those guys.”
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