12/19/2018 basketball Edit

Quick hits from NC State’s 78-71 win over No. 7 Auburn

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

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Junior guard Markell Johnson set a career-high with 27 points. (Ken Martin/The Wolfpacker)

Quick hits and notes from NC State’s potentially important 78-71 win over No. 7 Auburn in front of 17,793 fans at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

Play of the game

The game was tied 47-47 after Auburn junior guard J’Von McCormick — who averaged 2.4 points per game coming into Wednesday, but scored 14 against the Wolfpack — drove for a basket with 10:19 left in the game. That is when it became "The Markell Johnson show."

The junior point guard made the first of what would be three consecutive three-pointers in his own personal 10-2 run, with one of his baskets being part of a four-point play. That put NC State up 57-49 with 7:56 left and the Pack never looked back after that.

Highlight of the game

Johnson’s last three-pointer was a straight heat check. After sophomore guard Braxton Beverly stole a pass, he tossed it ahead to Johnson. He pulled up from the right wing a foot behind the line with a hand in his face to nail the three.

Player of the game

Johnson did more than score 10 straight points, he also finished with a career-high 27 on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including 5 of 8 on threes. His five made three-pointers were also a new personal best. On the season, Johnson is shooting 52.2 percent (24 of 46) from long range. Only Virginia Tech’s Ty Outlaw, who is shooting 53.2 percent, has made threes at a better rate in the ACC (minimum 2.0 per game).

Overall from the floor, Johnson is shooting 59.8 percent (55 of 92), which is third in the ACC and best among guards among players with at least five made field goals per game.

Johnson’s previous career high in scoring had been 21 points, which he set in NC State’s lone loss this year at Wisconsin. Johnson also had four assists and three steals with only one turnover in 33 minutes.

The good

Start with beating the No. 7 team in the country. The last time NC State beat a non-conference top-10 opponent at home was Jim Valvano’s 1986 squad topped No. 8 Kentucky on Feb. 2, 1986. It was the largest such win since beating No. 5 Providence by 14 (92-78) in the 1974 NCAA Tournament en route to a national title.

In terms of actual basketball play, NC State forced Auburn into 25 turnovers, its most since at least 2010, and held the Tigers to just 4-of-23 shooting on threes. The Tigers backcourt combo of junior Jared Harper and senior Bryce Brown had been averaging a combined 32.9 points per game, but were held collectively to 14 points on 6-of-22 shooting, including only 1 of 9 on threes.

NC State also shot 52.8 percent from the field and made 10 of 22 three pointers (45.5 percent). It is just the second time this year an Auburn opponent shot better than 50.0 percent against them (Washington shot 55.6 percent in an 88-66 Auburn victory).

The bad

NC State had 22 turnovers themselves. Auburn has an ability to turn teams over, with this marking the sixth time a Tigers opponent turned it over at least 22 times in a game this season.

The free throw shooting had nothing to do with Auburn, however, and the Pack made just 12 of 23 at the line (52.2 percent). NC State entered Wednesday 12th out of 15 teams in the ACC in free throw shooting.

The balance

NC State did not get its normal game from fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn, who was held to just six points in 27 minutes, 10 points below his team-high average of 16.0 going into the contest. Second-leading scorer C.J. Bryce, a redshirt junior wing, played only 12 minutes and was held to a single point.

Yet the depth of the team continues to be apparent. Redshirt sophomore wing Devon Daniels scored all 15 of his points in the second half, and sophomore guard Braxton Beverly added 15 points, with 14 of them coming in the first half.

Spotted at the game

Members of the football team that were part of the Toys for Tots shopping spree this past week participated in a halftime ceremony in which a group of children were given new bikes to help make their holidays a little better.

The gymnastics team, which won a conference championship last year, was also introduced during a media timeout.

There were also T-shirts worn that said “Kevin Keatts is a winner.” Keatts joked that after seeing them he felt the most pressure in his coaching career to produce a win against the Tigers.

Scoring between official timeouts

This year we have kept track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-15:59: NC State 13, Auburn 4

15:59-11:12: NC State 3, Auburn 2

11:12-7:54: Auburn 4, NC State 3

7:54-3:29: Auburn 13, NC State 4

3:29-Halftime: NC State 10, Auburn 4

Second half

20:00-15:51: Auburn 8, NC State 2

15:51-11:23: NC State 8, Auburn 8

11:23-7:56: NC State 12, Auburn 6

7:56-3:50: NC State 12, Auburn 8

3:50-Final: Auburn 14, NC State 8

Plus/minus

Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.

• Johnson +18 (33 minutes played)

• Dorn +13 (27)

• Redshirt junior center Wyatt Walker +12 (25)

• Beverly +9 (34)

• Bryce +3 (12)

• Freshman forward Jericole Hellems +1 (17)

• Daniels -3 (26)

• Redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk -5 (15)

• Freshman guard Blake Harris -13 (11)

What the win means

The Pack is 10-1 overall on the season and leads the all-time series with Auburn 5-3. State will play at Auburn next season.

NC State is 12-19 all time against teams ranked in the top 10 at PNC Arena, including 2-0 under second-year head coach Kevin Keatts. Against top-25 teams under Keatts, the Pack is 6-3, including 4-1 against top-10 teams.

The game was broadcast on ESPN2. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.

- ACC Network Extra: 5-0

- RSN: 2-0

- ESPN2: 2-1

- ESPNU: 1-0

We will also track NC State’s records by month:

- November: 6-1

- December: 4-0

- January: 0-0

- February: 0-0

- March: 0-0

Other stats of note

• Auburn dominated the battle in the paint, outscoring NC State 48-26.

• Despite winning the turnover margin 25-22, NC State was outscored in points off turnovers, 27-17.

• The Wolfpack had a 19-16 win in fast-break points.

• Defensively, NC State had one block and seven steals. Auburn had 11 steals and three rejections.

• The Tigers had a 37-30 edge on the boards, including 15-8 on the offensive glass. Auburn had a 14-3 advantage in second-chance points.

• The Auburn bench outscored the Wolfpack’s reserves 43-25.

• NC State led for 37:47 compared to just 44 seconds for Auburn, and the game was tied for 1:26. Auburn never led by more than a single point, while NC State led by as much as 12.