NC State’s defense responded in a big way Saturday in the rematch against Clemson.
The Tigers carved up the Wolfpack to the tune of 18 assists on 23 made field goals to win 81-70 on Jan. 4 in Clemson, S.C. The second game between the two ACC programs was completely different in front of 16,553 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
Clemson shot just 37.7 percent from the field and was an abysmal 5 of 20 from three-point land against a more physical stifling NC State defense. The Wolfpack built an 18-point lead in the second half and held on to win 60-54 and improve to 13-5 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. NCSU plays at Virginia on Monday.
NC State had four players in double figures with redshirt junior post player D.J. Funderburk coming up with his first double-double of his Wolfpack career, getting 13 points and 11 boards. Funderburk was doused with water by his teammates in the locker room to help celebrate the achievement.
Funderburk also did a good job of bodying up Aamir Simms, who started the game on fire, scoring 12 of the Tigers’ first 15 points. He finished with 18 points and 11 boards.
"I know when he goes left, he wants to spin back right, and when he goes right, he tries to go up strong," Funderburk said. "He is a strong dude. I just tried to sustain it.
"Give me that Hall of Fame defensive stopper badge."
The slip screen became the buzz word for Clemson’s offense in the first meeting, but was rarely uttered in NC State’s win.
“I thought we gave up too many threes and they slipped a lot of plays and got a lot of layups [in the first meeting],” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “To our guys credit, they made some adjustments. I thought they did a good job of listening to the scouting reports. They took away the strengths they beat us with at their place.”
NCSU fifth-year senior wing C.J. Bryce missed the previous game against Clemson, but he could see what was different defensively with the Wolfpack.
“We played more as a team tonight, offensively and defensively,” Bryce said. “We were getting into those gaps and getting extra stabs at the ball. We were talking on ball screens and bringing more energy.”
Another huge difference between the two contests happened at the free-throw line. Clemson shot an uncharacteristic 26 of 31 at the line in the victory, but then fell apart Saturday, going 9 of 23 for 39.1 percent.
Keatts said he was prepared for a low-scoring contest and wanted to see how his squad has improved over the last 14 days. He said the Wolfpack have played their two best defensive games in the last two contests.
“I know this was going to be a grind it out game,” Keatts said. “I didn’t think it would be a game where we scored 75-to-80 points.”
C.J. Bryce Plays All 40 Minutes In Lineup Change
NC State re-inserted Bryce into the starting lineup. He had been coming off the bench in four of the last six games he played in, even though he played “starter’s minutes.”
Bryce had missed four games with a concussion and returned to the court Wednesday in the impressive win over Miami. Keatts didn’t expect for Bryce to play all 40 minutes Saturday against Clemson.
“I didn’t want to play him 40 minutes,” Keatts said. “I didn’t even know that to be honest with you until I picked up the stat sheet. It says a lot about him.”
Bryce said he welcomed the workload and he chipped in 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists. He played 44 of 45 minutes in the season opener against Georgia Tech, and he played 38 of 40 minutes at UNCG.
“I’ve done it a couple of games before,” Bryce said. “I’m still in really good shape and will continue to work on my body and my conditioning. To get back grooving out there.”
The lineup of Bryce, Funderburk, senior point guard Markell Johnson, redshirt junior wing Devon Daniels and redshirt freshman center Manny Bates had never started together. Bryce replaced junior guard Braxton Beverly.
“I thought he [Bryce] was good and played with so much composure,” Keatts said. “There was a stretch at the end of the first that he played point guard for us.”
Keatts still views his roster as having more than five starters, and such decisions are based on who has practiced well that last week and how the matchups are with the opponent.
“I told the guys yesterday I don’t even know who our starters are,” Keatts said. “I literally pick the starting lineup when our DOBO comes to me about 20 minutes before the game and he says, ‘Who do you want to start?’
“I wanted a more of a bigger lineup and a defensive-minded lineup going into this game. It had nothing to do with whether he [Beverly] is making shots. He stepped up and hit a huge three for us in the corner.”
Two Players Get Injured During Game
NC State has the quick turnaround to play Virginia at 7 p.m. Monday, and will be closely monitoring Bates and senior power forward Pat Andree.
Bates was injured reaching in for a foul on Amir Simms with 11:40 left in the first half and immediately went to the locker room area, and never returned to the bench in the second half.
Andree appeared to sprain his right ankle and exited the contest with 1:25 left. He needed help to leave the court after hopping around on left leg.
Keatts said he went from talking to the players to doing his radio spot and then press conference, so he wasn’t sure the complete assessment of Bates and Andree.
“I don’t have an update on either Pat or Manny,” Keatts said. “Have I ever had a situation like this [with constant injuries]? No. I’m hopeful for both of those guys, but I don’t want to assume anything.”
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