NC State fifth-year senior forward Torin Dorn almost had a near story-book ending, but even he knew there was more than enough time on the clock for something to happen.
Dorn has seen his fair share of exciting and heart-breaking endings in his four years in Raleigh, and Wednesday proved to be the latter with a stunning 63-61 loss on Senior Day.
Georgia Tech surged to a 53-46 lead with 5:33 left and things looked bleak for the Wolfpack. Junior point guard Markell Johnson shook off a sluggish first 35 minutes of action and hit three three-pointers and also made three free throws when fouled on an attempt to come within 60-58 with 1:31 left.
Johnson eventually dished to Dorn who calmly hit the top of the key three-pointer to give the Wolfpack a 61-60 lead with 5.5 seconds left. What happened next was stunning.
Devon Daniels was ready to guard GT point guard Jose Alvarado but there was a timeout. Johnson then was tasked with taking on Alvarado, who sprinted down the floor, made a crossover into the lane and ran into NCSU redshirt junior center Wyatt Walker. Alvarado deftly dished to teammate James Banks for the easy dunk since nobody was in position to pick him up after Walker left him. Banks was fouled by Devon Daniels and made the free throw with 1.4 seconds left to push it to 63-61.
“We wanted to keep the ball in front of us,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “Obviously, it’s hard because we didn’t want to foul him [Alvarado] because he’s a good free-throw shooter. He got a running start and he pushed the ball.”
A Dorn baseball pass to C.J. Bryce gave the Wolfpack a three-point attempt at the buzzer from the top of the key, but he missed. NC State fell to 20-10 overall and 8-9 in the ACC, with at Boston College on Saturday.
Dorn could only lament how things turned out.
“It seemed like a fitting ending,” Dorn said. “We didn’t get that stop to finish it off. It happens like that sometimes.
“I’m sure it puts us closer to the bubble now. Their zone gave us some problems. We didn’t have the energy that we usually have. We played a little lethargic today and I don’t know why that was.”
Keatts said that despite 30 games into the season, the team is still searching for a leader, a top defender or best offensive player. He lamented how sophomore guard Braxton Beverly and Bryce combined to go 1 of 16 from the field and 0 of 11 on three-pointers.
“Usually they shoot the ball a lot better than that,” Keatts said. “When those two guys aren’t making plays, it’s going to be a long night for us.
“I love my guys and they worked hard. It’s unfortunate they lost the game.”
Long-range shooting dooms Wolfpack
NC State’s defense kept the Wolfpack within striking distance in the first half, while the offense struggled from three-point land.
The Yellow Jackets were getting easy layups or dunks when they weren’t turning the ball over — 44 points in the paint. GT was sloppy with the ball and committed 12 first-half turnovers, but only had four in the second half.
Daniels finally provided a much-need spark with back-to-back three-pointers from the right wing, giving the Wolfpack some much-needed breathing room at halftime, 33-28. Daniels made all three first half three-pointer’s for the Wolfpack, who went 3 of 15 from beyond the arc. Johnson made all four of his three-pointers in the second half, and Dorn had his big one, but the Wolfpack shot 8 of 35 from beyond the arc.
Keatts had a bad feeling going into the game about his team’s shooting, due to how the players shot in practice this week.
“We hadn’t shot the ball well,” Keatts said. “We didn’t practice well. We didn’t do a great job in practice guarding stuff. We had to go over it several times. It’s unfortunate because we had a great opportunity here.”
The Wolfpack made up for their outside shooting woes by hammering the Yellow Jackets on the offensive boards. Redshirt junior center DJ Funderburk finished with 15 points and helped the Wolfpack hold a 20-2 second-chance points advantage.
“I thought it really hurt us when DJ Funderburk fouled out of the game,” Keatts said.
Debbie Yow also has potential last game at PNC Arena
Dorn wasn’t the only person saying good-bye to PNC Arena.
NCSU athletic director Debbie Yow was also potentially saying so long to PNC Arena, assuming NC State doesn’t end up hosting an NIT game, which is dangerously becoming a possibility.
Yow’s impact on the NCSU basketball program will be felt for as long as Keatts’ is on the sidelines.
“I am still in AD mode,” said Yow before the game. “Working as usual and concentrating on doing all possible to help Coach Keatts and our other coaches. No time yet to pause, although I know that time will come in April, but not now.”
Yow inherited head coach Sidney Lowe when she was hired June 25, 2010. She would have loved nothing more than to see Lowe and the Wolfpack turn the corner with a touted group of young players, but instead the team lost five of their last six games to finish 15-16 overall and 5-11 in the ACC.
Yow then went through a roller coaster of a coaching search that will probably still get dissected years from now. After a high profile search, the end result was the surprising hire of ESPN broadcaster and former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried.
The move paid off in a big way in Gottfried’s first season, resulting in a run to the Sweet 16. Gottfried added a second Sweet 16 run in 2014-15 before the program began to unravel with players coming and going.
Yow then embarked on her second coaching search while at NC State, and it proved to be a 180-degree difference. She quickly zeroed in on Keatts, who was at UNC Wilmington, and then VCU coach Will Wade. Yow quickly secured Keatts’ signature on a contract, and he turned around the Wolfpack program in his first year, going 15-17 under Gottfried in 2016-17, to 21-12 and a berth in the NCAA Tournament last year.
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