Quick hits and notes from No. 18-ranked NC State’s 87-82 win at Miami in front of 6,983 fans at the Watsco Center on Thursday in Coral Gables, Fla.
Play of the game
When junior point guard Markell Johnson hit a three-pointer to bring NC State to within 74-73 with 7:41 left, there wasn’t much doubt on which team had all the momentum and would win. NC State erased a 10-point deficit in record time during a 13-0 spurt to eventually go up 77-74 and never trailed again.
Highlight of the game
Redshirt sophomore Devon Daniels turned it over on offense, but that didn’t affect his hustle on the defensive end. He went up for a huge block against Miami graduate transfer senior guard Zach Johnson in a three-point game, to help preserve the victory.
Player of the game
Markell Johnson doesn’t have any dreams of being ACC sixth man of the year, but he was cast in that role after subpar efforts against Loyola (Md.) and South Carolina-Upstate.
Johnson checked in with 16:04 left in the first half, and went to the bench with two fouls with 12:03 remaining before halftime. That set the stage for Johnson in the second half, where he got the start and exploded for 17 of his team-high 20 points. He finished shooting 4 of 6 on three-pointers and added five assists, four rebounds but also four turnovers in 23 minutes played. NC State will need the second half version of Johnson against North Carolina on Tuesday.
Déjà vu from last year
NC State’s first road victory last year was 72-68 at Pittsburgh on Jan. 24, 2018, and the first road win of 2019 felt eerily similar.
Pittsburgh was leading by nine points with 5:54 remaining, whereas Miami held a 10-point lead with 9:53 left in the contest. Both games had that feeling where once NC State would get going, they’d find a way to win down the stretch. The Wolfpack’s deeper bench and strength and conditioning program also might have proved superior in closing out the victories. The Hurricanes are a better team than the Panthers were a year ago, but also only have seven scholarship players.
NC State went from down 10 to trailing 74-73 in two minutes, 12 seconds against Miami. The Wolfpack went from down nine with 5:54 left against Pittsburgh a year ago, to trailing by one with 3:52 left. Once NC State got the lead in both games, the Wolfpack never trailed again.
Tag-team centers worked
NC State had both of its centers with four fouls during the remaining 11:53 of the game, and made it work.
Redshirt sophomore DJ Funderburk picked up his fourth foul with 12:59 left, and then redshirt junior Wyatt Walker got his fourth foul with 11:53 remaining. Instead of playing freshman forward Jericole Hellems, who is about 6-foot-7, at center, the Wolfpack finessed Funderburk and Walker’s minutes, all the while staging a comeback.
Funderburk provide a boost during that stretch before fouling out with 4:41, but by that time, the Wolfpack led 77-75. The Walker/Funderburk duo combined for 17 points, 15 rebounds and a block, and Walker never did pick up his fifth foul.
NC State won’t miss Chris Lykes
Miami sophomore point guard Chris Lykes showed what a difference a year makes. Lykes got the start against NC State a year ago, but would overdrive and get into trouble at a generously listed 5-foot-7. He finished with six points and went 3 of 7 from the field in Miami’s 86-81 win in Raleigh on Jan. 21, 2018.
Flash forward a year later and Lykes dominated the Wolfpack for two-thirds of the game before cramping up in the final minutes. He finished with 28 points and went 10 of 15 from the field and 3 of 4 on three-pointers. His long-range shooting proved troublesome to the Wolfpack defense in the high ball screen offense that Miami uses. NC State was also without sophomore point guard Blake Harris, who was out with a hip-pointer.
Lykes was also a pest on defense, between drawing fouls or disrupting players. Due to his diminutive size, bumps against him will always be more obvious than against bigger players, and he knows how to get the call already.
NC State will only play Miami again if it’s in the ACC Tournament or postseason (which is unlikely), but the Wolfpack won’t be looking forward to two more years of Lykes.
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
20:00-15:36: Miami 14, NC State 13
15:36-10:53: NC State 10, Miami 7
10:53-7:22: NC State 7, Miami 4
7:22-3:55: Miami 9, NC State 5
3:55-Halftime: Miami 11, NC State 2
Second half
20:00-15:24: NC State 15, Miami 11
15:24-11:53: Miami 12, NC State 9
11:53-9:25: Miami 7, NC State 6
9:25-7:11: NC State 6, Miami 0
7:11-3:46: NC State 3, Miami 3
3:46-Final: NC State 8, Miami 6
Plus/minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.
• Johnson +15 (23)
• Daniels +7 (32)
• Funderburk +6 (16)
• C.J. Bryce +5 (25)
• Braxton Beverly +2 (30)
• Walker +1 (23)
• Torin Dorn +1 (33 minutes played)
• Eric Lockett -1 (6)
• Jericole Hellems -11 (12)
What the win means
NC State improved to 12-11 against Miami all-time in the series, snapping a three-game Hurricanes’ winning streak. The Pack is 13-1 overall on the season, matching the start of the legendary 1973-74 squad, which won a national title.
The game was broadcast on ESPNU with former Wolfpack great Debbie Antonelli on the broadcast. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.
- ACC Network Extra: 6-0
- RSN: 3-0
- ESPN2: 2-1
- ESPNU: 2-0
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 6-1
- December: 6-0
- January: 1-0
- February: 0-0
- March: 0-0
The last time NC State went undefeated in December was 2012.
Other stats of note
• NC State won the battle in the paint, outscoring Miami 36-30.
• The Hurricanes easily won the turnover battle 16-7, and had 20 points off turnovers while the Wolfpack had 10 points off turnovers.
• Miami edged NC State 14-13 on fastbreak points.
• Defensively, NC State had three blocks and just four steals. Miami finished with one block and seven steals.
• The Wolfpack had a 51-29 monster advantage on the boards, including 18-9 on the offensive glass. NC State had a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Pack bench outscored the Hurricanes two-man bench 31-26.
• NC State led for 16:20 compared to Miami’s 22:29, and the two teams were tied for 1:08. Miami led by 10 points as its largest lead and NC State’s biggest lead was seven points with six seconds remaining.
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