12/22/2019 basketball Edit

Notebook: Markell Johnson joins exclusive club

Jacey Zembal • TheWolfpackCentral

Writer

NC State senior point guard Markell Johnson knew he needed one more rebound for a triple-double when he checked back in with three minutes left.

Johnson grabbed the board at the 1:54 mark and some history was made in the 83-63 victory over The Citadel at PNC Arena. Johnson finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and became the third player in NC State history to record a triple-double, and fourth overall, and he become the 33rd overall in ACC history. Dennis Smith Jr. had two triple-doubles and Johnson joined Julius Hodge with one apiece.

NC State senior point guard Markell Johnson recorded the fourth triple-double in Wolfpack history. (The Associated Press)

Johnson knew what was needed for the triple-double, but he didn’t ask to be put back in, and NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts said he didn’t put him back in just for the mark.

“That’s the first one I’ve gotten in college, but I had one in high school,” Johnson said. “It means a lot. Playing with Dennis Smith my freshman year, I was backing him up. That was good for me.

“It definitely snuck up on me.”

Johnson was more motivated to put the loss at Auburn behind him. The No. 12-ranked Tigers pulled away for a 79-73 victory Dec. 19.

“I just wanted to get it out of our heads, and that was the biggest thing,” Johnson said. “We had the chance to win. We need to move forward and that is what we wanted to do.”

Keatts has lamented in the past that players don’t take the losses quite the same way as coaches and fans. Johnson did take the Auburn loss personally.

“With today’s kids they kind of move on a lot quicker than we do,” Keatts said. “It was good to see him take that loss hard and he responded well today.”

Keatts shook up the lineup again, with redshirt junior wing Devon Daniels starting in place of fifth-year senior wing C.J. Bryce, and sophomore forward Jericole Hellems was back in the lineup. Five different NCSU players scored in double figures with Daniels leading the way with 18 points.

Bryce said he was going through “load management” which is the new buzzword of the NBA. However, Keatts said he wanted to get Daniels going and show the players there are more than just five starting players.

Bryce had 13 points and worked well off of Johnson.

“I feel like Markell is more of a lead by example guy,” Bryce said. “He goes hard every day in practice. He is one of the last people to leave the gym and is one of the first to the gym.”

NC State finished with an impressive 50 rebounds, while The Citadel had 38. Seven different players grabbed at least five rebounds, led by Johnson’s 10.

“We don’t really have a dominant rebounder, so everybody can get five, six or seven a game,” NCSU redshirt junior center D.J. Funderburk said. “That is how we operate.”

Kevin Keatts Aiming To Give Back To Loved Ones

Keatts said he’ll be going back home at likely 5 a.m. Monday to see his parents in Lynchburg, Va., and the players will have a few days off of basketball during the holiday’s.

NC State will return to practicing the evening of Dec. 26.

“I’m certainly one of those ones that loves to receive gifts,” Keatts said. “I love to put a smile on someone’s face as we give gifts.

“What I told our guys and I hope you guys do some of the same thing, over the Christmas holiday to take some time to go see someone who has made a difference in my life. It could be your mother or your father or your auntie or the lady down the street who saw you grow into who you are now. That is important to me.”

Keatts said sometimes individuals lose focus to how they reached a certain point.

“Hug your wife and kiss your kids,” Keatts said. “Spend time with them.”

Keatts said the game right before Christmas is always the toughest because of the various excitement and distractions.

“I thought our guys did a tremendous job, especially in the first half,” Keatts said. “We knew we had a team that if they came in here and made threes, it could be a tough night for us.”

The Citadel went 14 of 45 from three-point land, with the majority coming in the second half. The Bulldogs made 10 of 27 from beyond the arc after halftime.”

Walk-On Chase Graham Scores First NCSU Basket

NC State freshman walk-on guard Chase Graham knew Johnson’s halfcourt jumper was going in against UNCG to win the game Dec. 15 in Greensboro.

Johnson had a good view and knew Graham’s three-point jumper with 36 seconds left was also going in Sunday. The former Raleigh Athens Drive High product made his first NC State basket.

“At the top of the key, for sure,” Johnson said. “He shot that jumper with too much confidence.”

Graham was happy Johnson had that kind of confidence that his jumper would also go in.

“If you look at the video of his shot, I had a lot of confidence in that shot,” Graham said. “People asked me what was I going to do if it didn’t go in? How was I going to play it off? I don’t know because I had total confidence it was going in.”

Graham ended up playing 3:41 and fellow walk-on freshman Max Farthing played 4:46.

“They work extremely hard and just to get them the opportunity to play right before Christmas means a lot to me,” Keatts said.