Published Jan 15, 2020
Quick hits from NC State's win over Miami
Matt Carter  •  TheWolfpackCentral
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Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 80-63 home win over Miami in front of 15,801 fans Wednesday evening at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

Play Of The Game

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It may not have seemed like much at the time, but junior guard Braxton Beverly’s three-pointer with 3:33 left in the first half gave the Pack its first lead of the game at 26-25. That basket would give NC State the lead for good, too.

It was the start of a 10-0 run to end the half, and the Hurricanes did not once get it to within a single possession after halftime.


Highlight Of The Game

There is nothing like the unbridled joy of watching teammates celebrate a basket by a walk-on. Freshman win Max Farthing, along with classmate and fellow walk-on Chase Graham, checked into the game with 26.1 seconds left. Farthing responded by making the first shot of his career, a three-pointer with 12.7 seconds remaining.

Player Of The Game

NC State gave redshirt junior D.J. Funderburk his first start of the year, and he responded with his seventh straight double-digit scoring performance.

Funderburk had team-highs with 19 points and eight rebounds in a season-high 31:58 of action. In the past four ACC games, Funderburk is averaging 16.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest.

Head coach Kevin Keatts decided to go with the big starting lineup for the first time this year, bringing sophomore forward Jericole Hellems off the bench.

Finally Controlling A Game

Since the turn towards full-time ACC play Jan. 4, NC State had led for the entirety of 9:13 out of the 120 minutes played. The opponent has held the advantage for a whopping 102:47.

The first 15-plus minutes of this game was much of the same. Until that Beverly three-pointer, Miami had led for 12:05 while the game was tied for an additional 4:22.

Red Hot Second Half

The simple truth is the shots fell for NC State in the second half. The Pack started the game making just 5 of its first 20 attempts. Amazingly it was only down 17-15 at that point. NC State would finish the first half shooting 11 of 33 from the field, or 33.3 percent.

That would actually be better than what Miami shot. The Hurricanes missed its last seven attempts of the half, and it shot 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) at the break. Miami compounded its offensive woes by turning it over seven times as well.

The second half was better shooting-wise for Miami. It made 12 of 28 shots for 42.9 percent. The problem for them? NC State made a blistering 18 of 28 field goals for 64.3 percent, its best shooting performance in a half this season.

After beginning the contest 5 of 20, NC State was 24 of 41 from that point onward. It finished the contest shooting 47.5 percent from the field, its best performance since it shot 56.6 percent in the win at UNC Greensboro.

Nine-Man Rotation

In addition to starting both Funderburk and freshman center Manny Bates, Keatts used his full nine-man rotation as fifth-year senior center Danny Dixon logged 4:21 of playing time and fifth-year senior C.J. Bryce made his return after missing four games with a concussion.

It is only the third game this year Keatts was able and also used nine scholarship players in a game, joining the loss to Memphis in Brooklyn and the win over The Citadel. In two of his past three games, Keatts has only used seven players.

Spotted At The Game

NC State’s top scholar-athletes were recognized at halftime. Former NC State player and frequent guest Ernie Myers was in attendance, as was former women’s basketball player and now popular TV commentator Debbie Antonelli.

Scoring Between Official Timeouts

Here we keep track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-15:35: NC State 7, Miami 7

15:35-11:17: Miami 7, NC State 4

11:17-7:45: NC State 6, Miami 3

7:45-3:51: NC State 6, Miami 6

3:51-Halftime: NC State 10, Miami 2

Second half

20:00-15:36: NC State 10, Miami 10

15:36-11:58: NC State 9, Miami 5

11:58-8:07: Miami 8, NC State 7

8:07-3:10: NC State 16, Miami 7

3:10-Final: Miami 8, NC State 5

Game Scores

Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average for an NBA player.

Funderburk: 13.6

Senior guard Markell Johnson: 11.9

Redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels: 10.8

Bryce: 8.7

Bates: 6.7

Hellems: 6.7

Senior forward Pat Andree: 4.2

Farthing: 2.7

Dixon: 1.2

Beverly: 0.7

Graham: 0

Plus/Minus

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

• Funderburk +23 (31:58 minutes played)

• Johnson +18 (34:53)

• Daniels +16 (29:03)

• Beverly +14 (28:36)

• Hellems +11 (21:19)

• Bryce +6 (21:08)

• Bates +3 (20:16)

• Farthing +1 (0:27)

• Graham +1 (0:27)

• Andree -2 (7:32)

• Dixon -6 (4:21)

What The Win Means

NC State is 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, and Miami is 10-6 and 2-4. The Wolfpack now leads the all-time series 13-11, and is 12-11 against the Hurricanes since Miami became a member of the ACC. NCSU is 6-4 versus the Canes in PNC Arena and snapped a two-game home losing streak to them.

The Pack is 10-1 at home this year. NC State is 6-2 in night games (played after 6 p.m.), 5-3 in weekday games (4-0 on Wednesday) and 11-1 when leading at halftime.

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

- ACC Network Extra: 3-0

- ESPN+: 1-0

- RSN: 3-1

- ACC Network: 3-2

- ESPN2: 2-2

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

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 2-2

Other Stats Of Note

• NC State won the battle in the paint, 36-28.

• The Pack outscored the Hurricanes 9-7 in fast break points.

• State’s bench beat Miami’s reserves, 26-8.

• The Pack had the significant edge in turnover margin 15-7, but both teams had 13 points off them. It was the best TO margin for NCSU in an ACC game this year.

• Miami won the battle on the boards, 40-34 overall and 17-13 on the offensive glass. Both teams had 16 second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had seven blocks (three by Bates for those tracking), altered two more and nabbed nine steals. The Hurricanes had three blocks, seven alters and three steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was 20 points, while Miami’s was six.

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