Quick hits from NC State’s 90-82 loss to UNC
Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 90-82 loss to North Carolina in front of 19,500 loud fans at PNC Arena on Tuesday.
Play of the game
NC State made a series of charges at UNC throughout the evening, but every time the Heels came up with an answer. NC State never led in the contest.
The last notable answer from UNC came when NC State trailed 70-69 with 10 minutes left. UNC responded with a jumper from freshman guard Leaky Black with 9:47 left. Then after a couple turnovers from NC State junior guard Markell Johnson, UNC senior guard Kenny Williams made a three to put the Tar Heels up 75-69 with 8:44 on the clock, which proved to be the biggest play of the game.
That was part of a nearly five-minute stretch where NC State did not score and found itself down 10 before sophomore guard Braxton Beverly broke the drought with a three to cut the lead to 79-72 with 5:14 to go.
Highlight of the game
It was a forgettable evening for Johnson of NC State, but he did have an impressive drive down the lane for a one-handed dunk with 13:20 to go, and he followed that with a steal and layup 20 seconds later, cutting UNC’s lead to 66-64.
Player of the game
Beverly came off the bench and immediately settled NC State down after they appeared flustered offensively with high percentage shots not falling and jumpers rimming out. Beverly finished with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, including a 5-of-7 effort from long range.
The eight made baskets were also a new career high for Beverly, and his five threes matched his personal best which he did on two occasions as a freshman, including against Boston College in ACC play.
Beverly is 18 of 33 on threes (54.5 percent) over his last six games.
The dreadful start
Ultimately, NC State was done in by falling behind 12-0 after UNC senior forward Luke Maye made a three-pointer with 16:39 on the clock in the first half. The Pack would trail by as many as 14 points at 19-5 before starting to settle down. NC State missed its first eight shots from the field, including three layups.
The starters for NC State in particular struggled. In the first half, they combined to shoot 1 of 15 from the filed and had five turnovers. Beverly and redshirt sophomore center DJ Funderburk (15 points, five rebounds and two blocks), though, were able to lift NC State off the bench in yet another example of the Pack’s strength in numbers this season.
Some starters got going in the second half, but Johnson was not one of them. He finished 4-of-12 shooting for 11 points and had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio of 4-to-5. He was just 1 of 7 on threes.
Coming into Tuesday, Johnson had been shooting 50.9 percent on threes, second in the ACC among players making at least 2.0 a game. He was also shooting 60.0 percent from the field, and Tuesday was just the fourth time this year he made less than half his shots from the field.
Also struggling mightily all night was redshirt sophomore guard Devon Daniels, who went 0 of 4 from the field and finished with a season-low one point. It is the first time he has not made a basket in a game this year.
The Wolfpack as a team finished the game shooting a season-low 42.5 percent from the field.
Dominated on the boards
UNC and NC State were the two top rebounding teams in the ACC going into the game. The Tar Heels were tops in the conference with a plus-11.1 rebounding margin, while the Wolfpack came in at 10.9. The Heels, though, crushed the Pack 51-33 on the boards.
It is just the fourth time this year NC State has been out-rebounded, and this was by far the largest margin. The previous worst was minus-seven against Western Carolina and versus Auburn.
Always fighting
NC State fans can take solace in the fact that despite not playing its best and with arguably its best player, Johnson, having a subpar game, it still had multiple opportunities against a 12th-ranked opponent. UNC in contrast had to play without senior forward Cameron Johnson, who left the game for good with 11:58 remaining, representing its lone adversity in the game.
All five UNC starters finished in double digits and three registered double-doubles. Sophomore center Garrison Brooks’ 11 points represented just the fifth time he was in double-digits scoring in a game this year, and a struggling Williams matched his season highs with five made field goals and 15 points. Maye’s 21 points was his second best point total of the season and highest since scoring 24 in the opener against Wofford.
Yet NC State twice in the first half missed threes that could have given it the lead after falling behind 14 points. It scored the first five points of the second half to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip and evened it a second time at 53-53. It also had three more possessions where a made shot (twice three-pointers when down two) could have given the Wolfpack a lead.
UNC, though, had a knack for the big shots in this game, including making three-pointers both times on the ensuing possession after NC State tied it.
Spotted at the game
Many former players were seen: including Ben McCauley, Cat Barber, Kenny Inge, Jordan Vandenberg, Chucky Brown, Ernie Myers and Chris Corchiani.
Recently offered sophomore point guard Carter Whitt from Raleigh Leesville Road was in attendance. Also there was four-star offered guard Cam Hayes from Greensboro (N.C.) Day, offered sophomore wing Terquavion Smith from Farmville (N.C.) Central and class of 2020 forward Jaylon Gibson from Grace Christian in Raleigh, who was offered by Providence in the fall.
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
20:00-15:22: UNC 16, NC State 4
15:22-11:15: NC State 9, UNC 5
11:15-7:31: NC State 14, UNC 10
7:31-3:46: UNC 7, NC State 4
3:46-Halftime: NC State 11, UNC 9
Second half
20:00-15:14: UNC 14, NC State 13
15:14-12:00: NC State 9, UNC 7
12:00-6:06: UNC 9, NC State 5
6:06-3:39: UNC 4, NC State 3
3:39-Final: NC State 10, UNC 9
Plus/minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU. Notably, the five starters were all in the negatives.
• Funderburk +6 (22 minutes played)
• Freshman forward Jericole Hellems 0 (15)
• Beverly -1 (34)
• Sophomore guard Blake Harris -1 (6)
• Johnson -4 (25)
• Fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn -7 (27)
• Redshirt junior wing C.J. Bryce -9 (33)
• Redshirt sophomore wing Devon Daniels -9 (22)
• Redshirt junior center Wyatt Walker -15 (16)
What the loss means
The Pack is 13-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in the ACC. UNC improved to 12-3 and 2-0. Chapel Hill leads the all-time series 157-78 and is 16-4 at PNC Arena.
The game was broadcast on ESPN. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.
- ACC Network Extra: 6-0
- RSN: 3-0
- ESPNU: 2-0
- ESPN2: 2-1
- ESPN: 0-1
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 6-1
- December: 6-0
- January: 1-1
- February: 0-0
- March: 0-0
Other stats of note
• NC State won the battle in the paint, outscoring UNC 44-30.
• The Wolfpack won the turnover margin 23-13, and NC State outscored the Heels in points off turnovers 20-11. That matched UNC’s season high in turnovers in a game.
• The Wolfpack had a 17-15 win in fast-break points.
• Defensively, NC State had eight blocks and 12 steals. UNC had four steals and five rejections.
• UNC had a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass and that led to an 11-8 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Pack bench outscored the Heels’ reserves 43-9.
• UNC led for 39:21 while the game was tied for 0:39. The largest lead for the Heels was 14.
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