Quick hits and notes from NC State’s mind-numbing 47-24 loss to Virginia Tech in front of 19,500 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh Saturday afternoon.
Play of the game
Redshirt junior center Kerry Blackshear of Virginia Tech took over the game in the second half, and it started when he made a hook shot against the Pack with 18:03 left in the contest. That simple play started a personal 7-0 run by Blackshear to give the Hokies a 29-19 lead.
The Virginia Tech run eventually stretched to 17-1 with Blackshear scoring 11 of those points.
Highlight of the game
Virginia Tech sophomore guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker got free down the lane once for a dunk. Otherwise there was nothing pretty about this game.
Player of the game
Don’t be fooled by the lopsided Hokies win. Virginia Tech did not play well either. The only player on the floor who had a pretty good all around game was Blackshear. He finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds and tied for game-high three assists while also blocking a shot and making a steal in 32 minutes.
Unequivocally brutal
The 24 points were the lowest points total by NC State in the shot clock era. Not only that, according to ESPN it is the lowest points by a ranked team in the shot clock era.
The only time NC State scored fewer points since joining the ACC was a 12-10 win over Duke in 1968. As ESPN’s David Hale noted, NC State has scored 24-plus points in 21 of its last 25 football games.
NC State shot just 9 of 54 from the field for a new program worst-mark of 16.7 percent. It went an amazing 2 of 28 from three-point range. Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly was the biggest, but not lone, culprit. Beverly went 0 for 12 from the field, including 0 of 9 on threes. It is the first time this season Beverly has not made a shot in the game.
His partner in the starting backcourt, junior Markell Johnson, went 0 for 5, all three-pointers. Only one NC State player made at least 1/3 of his shot attempts — freshman forward Jericole Hellems was 2 for 6.
NC State’s 10 second half points and nine made field goals for the game were new PNC Arena stadium records in futility.
Virginia Tech was not much better
What’s crazy is that with marginal offense, NC State probably wins by double digits. Lost in NC State’s record-breaking futility was that Virginia Tech was not much better offensively.
The Hokies were just 16 of 45 from the field for 35.6 percent and turned it over 12 times. It made 7 of 21 three-pointers. Plus it played without star senior guard Justin Robinson, who was in the boot on the sideline and is out indefinitely.
It was a season low in points this year for the Hokies. It was just the second time this year it shot less than 42.9 percent from the field, and its seven made threes matched its third lowest output from long range. It even shot 8 of 13 at the line after missing all five attempts in the first half. The 61.5 percent mark at the stripe was tied for its third lowest effort on the season.
The 71 combined points is (by 12 points) a new PNC Arena for the fewest in a game. The 34 combined points in the first half was a new stadium record for fewest in a half, and the 37 points in the second half tied what was the old record.
The 25 combined field goals made was also a PNC Arena low-mark.
Offense slumps at home
After a three-game road stand, NC State was given three straight home games. It apparently left its offense on the road.
Over the past three games, NC State has scored three of its four lowest points total of the season, and it needed Beverly’s buzzer-beating three against Clemson to prevent it from having its three lowest.
The last two games, Virginia and Virginia Tech, have represented the two worst shooting efforts of the year. The Pack shot just 34.4 percent against the Cavs. NCSU shot only 44.4 percent against Clemson.
Over the past three games, NC State has made just 18 of 78 on threes, or 23.1 percent.
Spotted at the game
Four-star class of 2021 guard Cam Hayes from Greensboro (N.C.) Day was in attendance. Some of the former players included David Thompson, Ernie Myers, Ralston Turner and Jordan Vandenberg. Head coach Dave Doeren was also seen mingling courtside before the game.
Junior guard Jalen Cone from Walkertown (N.C.) High was there, too.
To show that the basketball team was not the only one off its game, the PA announcer inadvertently announced to the crowd, “Welcome back David Thompson!” while the scoreboard was showing Myers.
Former Wolfpack baseball players Trea Turner and Brett Austin were also at the arena.
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
20:00-15:58: NC State 2, Virginia Tech 2
15:58-11:54: Virginia Tech 3, NC State 0
11:54-6:55: Virginia Tech 8, NC State 4
6:55-2:11: NC State 7, Virginia Tech 4
2:11-Halftime: Virginia Tech 3, NC State 2
Second half
20:00-15:38: Virginia Tech 9, NC State 5
15:38-10:45: Virginia Tech 4, NC State 3
10:45-7:52: Virginia Tech 4, NC State 0
7:52-2:48: Virginia Tech 10, NC State 2
2:48-Final: NC State 2, Virginia Tech 0
Plus/minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.
• Redshirt sophomore center DJ Funderburk -9 (11 minutes played)
• Redshirt sophomore wing Devon Daniels -10 (22)
• Hellems -10 (18)
• Fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn -12 (26)
• Fifth-year senior wing Eric Lockett -12 (13 minutes played)
• Redshirt junior center Wyatt Walker -13 (21)
• Johnson -14 (23)
• Redshirt junior wing C.J. Bryce -15 (33)
• Beverly -20 (33)
Game scores
Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10.0 being average.
Walker: 7.8
Dorn: 2.1
Daniels: 0.6
Bryce: 0.5
Funderburk: -0.6
Lockett: -1.1
Hellems: -1.9
Johnson: -2.3
Beverly: -9.2
What the loss means
The Pack is 16-6 overall on the season and reaches the halfway point of conference play 4-5 in the ACC. Virginia Tech is 18-3 and 7-2. The Pack leads the all-time series 40-17, including 23-6 in Raleigh and 6-2 at PNC Arena.
NC State falls to 14-3 at home, 8-1 in day games (tips before 6 a.m.). It is 9-1 on weekend contests and falls to 1-5 when trailing at halftime. It is the first losing streak of the year for NC State.
The game was broadcast on Raycom. 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: 2-2
- Raycom: 3-3
- ESPN: 0-1
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 6-1
- December: 6-0
- January: 4-4
- February: 0-1
- March: 0-0
Other stats of note
• Virginia Tech won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Pack, 14-8.
• The Hokies had a 5-0 win in fast-break points.
• Defensively, NC State had three blocks and fives steals. Virginia Tech had eight steals and three rejections.
• Virginia Tech’s overall rebound advantage was 42-36, although State won 14-10 on the offensive glass. VT still had a 6-2 advantage in second chance points.
• NC State’s bench outscored the Hokies’ reserves 7-5.
• Virginia Tech led for 33:27 and the game was tied for 6:33. NC State never led. The largest lead for VT was 25.
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