Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 81-70 loss on the road at Littlejohn Coliseum at Clemson Saturday afternoon.
Play Of The Game
NC State could never get over the hump Saturday during a game that it never led. The final blow to its hopes came after it had cut Clemson’s lead to 61-58 following a bucket from redshirt junior center D.J. Funderburk with 5:46 left in the contest.
Clemson answered with a reverse layup from senior forward and Alabama grad transfer Tevin Mack. Wolfpack senior Markell Johnson was then fouled, but his recent struggles at the line continued. Johnson missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Clemson received a corner three-pointer from senior guard and Tulsa grad transfer Curran Scott that gave the Tigers a 66-56 lead with 4:53 to go in the contest.
That was the first time Clemson led by more than seven points in the second half.
Highlight Of The Game
Redshirt freshman center Manny Bates went high above the rim and finished strong with a two-handed dunk off a missed shot with 11:33 to go in the first half.
Player Of The Game
Clemson junior forward Aamir Simms did a little bit over everything for the Tigers. He finished with a game-high 17 points and also added a team-high five assists and grabbed four rebounds. The versatile post player also was a key cog in a huge effort at the line from the Tigers, making 8 of 9 at the line.
Buried At The Line
Coming into Saturday, Clemson was 11th in the 15-team ACC in free-throw shooting. Against the Pack, the Tigers shot 26 of 31 for 83.9 percent. In addition to Simms, freshman guard Al-Amir Dawes was 9 for 10.
Clemson had shot more than 75.0 of the line only twice in its first 12 games and only once above 80 percent (made 19 of 22 for 86.4 percent in a loss at Colorado). The 26 made free throws also passed the total against the Buffaloes for the most it has made in a game this year.
NC State conversely was 13 of 19 at the line, going under 70.0 percent for the fourth time in the past five games. The 13-point differential is the highest in a game going against NC State this season.
Of particular concern is Johnson’s continued free throw struggles. He went 4 of 11 at the line last time out against Appalachian State and was 0 for 3 Saturday. Over his past four contests, Johnson is 9 of 26 there, and he has dropped below 50.0 percent on the season at 19 of 40 overall.
Other Offensive Issues
NC State made just 5 of 21 three-pointers against Clemson, or 23.8 percent. Over the past three games, NC State is just 18 of 72 on threes, or 25.0 percent. Every player other than Bates tried at least two threes, but none made more than one.
Overall, NC State shot 44.1 percent from the field, tying for its third lowest of the season. Ironically, all four of NC State’s losses have come in the games in which it has shot its four worst shooting percentages.
Defensive Issues
The 81 points scored by Clemson was the most in a game for the Tigers since it scored 87 against Alabama A&M on Nov. 21. In its prior 13 games, Clemson had scored more than 70 points just four times and not since that win over Alabama A&M. Over its past eight contests, it had scored 68 points or fewer each time.
The Tigers had also turned it over at least a dozen times in three of its past four games, but only had 10 on Saturday.
Spotted At The Game
The rarest of rare sights for NC State under third-year head coach Kevin Keatts: a zone defense.
Not spotted was fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce. NC State’s leading scorer missed his second straight game with a concussion.
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
20:00-15:33: Clemson 11, NC State 7
15:33-9:45: Clemson 10, NC State 9
9:45-8:17: Clemson 3, NC State 0
8:17-3:57: Clemson 10, NC State 7
3:57-Halftime: NC State 12, Clemson 7
Second half
20:00-14:50: NC State 8, Clemson 7
14:50-11:55: NC State 6, Clemson 5
11:55-7:55: Clemson 4, NC State 3
7:55-3:57: Clemson 9, NC State 6
3:57-Final: Clemson 15, NC State 12
Game Scores
Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average for an NBA player.
Funderburk: 9.7
Senior forward Pat Andree: 8.5
Bates: 7.5
Redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels: 6.7
Junior guard Braxton Beverly: 4.3
Sophomore forward Jericole Hellems: 3.4
Johnson: 2.3
Plus/Minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.
• Bates -2 (23 minutes played)
• Hellems -5 (20)
• Beverly -7 (34)
• Andree -7 (25)
• Funderburk -9 (24)
• Daniels -12 (38)
• Johnson -13 (35)
What The Loss Means
NC State is 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, and Clemson is 7-7 and 1-3. The Wolfpack now leads the all-time series 103-54 but the Tigers break the tie in games played at Clemson (now 34-33 in the Tigers’ favor) after winning for the fourth times in the last five games between the two teams there.
The Pack is 2-3 away from home overall, including 2-2 in true road contests. The Pack is 6-2 in day games (played before 6 p.m.) and 0-3 when trailing at halftime. NCSU falls to 0-2 when trailing with five minutes left.
The game was broadcast on ACC Network. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.
- ACC Network Extra: 3-0
- RSN: 2-0
- ESPN+: 1-0
- ACC Network: 3-2
- ESPN2: 1-2
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 5-2
- December: 5-1
- January: 0-1
Other Stats Of Note
• NC State won the battle in the paint, 36-26.
• Clemson outscored the Pack 6-0 in fast-break points.
• State’s bench beat Clemson’s reserves, 24-21.
• The Pack had the edge in turnover margin 10-9, but Clemson had, more importantly, a bigger advantage in points off them, 16-10.
• Clemson won the battle on the boards, 34-30 overall, while State had an 8-6 edge on the offensive glass. Clemson had a small win in second-chance points, 10-8.
• Defensively, NC State had three blocks and nabbed three steals. The Tigers had three blocks and six steals.
• Clemson led for 39:09 and the game was tied for the opening 51 seconds. The Tigers’ largest lead was 14 points during the first half.
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