Quick hits from NC State's win at Boston College

Quick hits and notes from NC State Wolfpack basketball’s 81-65 win at Boston College inside of Conte Forum in Chestnut Hills on Sunday afternoon.

When freshman guard Cam Hayes made an open three-pointer at the top of the key behind a screen set by redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates, the floodgates had just opened. The Wolfpack tied the score at 5-5 after Boston College scored the first five points of the contest.

Hayes' three was part of a monster 37-3 run over almost 12 minutes that put the game way out of reach.

On one end of the court, redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen timed a fast break layup attempt by Boston College guard Rich Kelly perfectly, rejecting the shot off the backboard.

The loose ball was eventually run down by freshman guard Shakeel Moore, who then faced little resistance on his way to the basket on the other end for a layup that put the Wolfpack up 15-7 with 12:39 left in the first half.

Moore must like playing against Boston College.

In his first meeting between the two teams, on Dec. 30, Moore scored 12 points, most notably a jumper with 26.9 seconds left to put the Wolfpack up 77-76 in what would be a three-point NC State win.

The stakes were not as high in this game as NC State led comfortable throughout, but Moore still finished with a career-high 19 points by making 8 of 12 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 three-pointers. It is the first time Moore has scored in double-digits since that win over BC.

Moore added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

NC State went on that huge 37-3 run to take a 37-8 lead, and between that point and until there was 7:21 to go, the lead was between 20 and 32 points. When redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen made a three-point play with 7:21 remaining, the Wolfpack led 74-42 and seemed on the verge of delivering perhaps the most lopsided ACC win in head coach Kevin Keatts' four years in Raleigh.

Keatts played a freshmen-dominated lineup most of the rest of the game, always having at least four on the floor and much of the time going with five. That may explain why Boston College closed the contest on a 23-7 run to make the score look much more respectable.

Here are the five largest margins of victory over an ACC opponent under Keatts

The elephant in the room is that this was an Eagles' squad devastated by COVID-19 and emerging from a three-week pause clearly not ready to be playing ACC basketball. BC head coach Jim Christian was using eight players in the rotation prior to things being shut down in his program. Two starters and two reserves from the eight that played against NC State in Raleigh did not suit up this time:

• Second-leading scorer and guard Wynston Tabbs

• Guard Maka Ashton-Langford, who had started every game he's played this year and was their fifth-year leading scorer at 9.3 points per game and also led the team in steals.

• Guard DeMarr Langford Jr., who had started five of the 13 games he has played and was averaging 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds.

• Key reserve James Karnik, who was contributing 6.6 points per game and was third on the team in rebounding at 5.2 a contest. Karnik (6-foot-9) was the tallest player that Christian used regularly in his rotation.

For some perspective, the four that were out combined for, in the first loss to NC State, 38 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and a blocked shot. The four from that previous game that were available for the rematch combined for, the first time around, 38 points, 24 rebounds, four assists and one steal.

As implied above, all of the NC State freshmen played in this game. That was not new for Hayes, Moore and redshirt freshman wing Dereon Seabron, but this game represented a chance for extended playing time for center Ebenezer Dowuona, forward Nick Farrar and forward Jaylon Gibson.

• Gibson had a nice dunk off a missed shot for his first points in an ACC game. His eight minutes of playing time were the second most in a league contest after the 11 he had in a lopsided loss at Florida State and just the second time he played more than two minutes. Gibson also added a pair of rebounds.

• Dowuona played for just the fifth time this season and second in an ACC game (also at FSU). He played seven minutes and scored for just the second time in a contest, making 1 of 2 free throws. Dowuona also had two rebounds.

• Farrar's four minutes joined the five he played at FSU as the only time he has gotten off the bench in league play. He missed his one shot attempt.

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

First half

20:00-15:48: NC State 5, Boston College 5

15:48-11:03: NC State 16, Boston College 2

11:03-7:48: NC State 7, Boston College 1

7:48-3:18: NC State 14, Boston College 7

3:18-Halftime: Boston College 9, NC State 2

Second half

20:00-14:19: NC State 12, Boston College 7

14:19-10:01: NC State 11, Boston College 6

10:01-7:21: NC State 6, Boston College 5

7:21-1:53: Boston College 17, NC State 5

1:53-Final: Boston College 6, NC State 3

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

• Bates: +36 (23 minutes played)

• Beverly: +31 (26)

• Allen: +22 (26)

• Funderburk: +22 (21)

• Hellems: +8 (20)

• Moore: +1 (23)

• Hayes: 0 (23)

• Farrar: - (4)

• Seabron: -6 (18)

• Gibson: -11 (8)

• Dowuona: -15 (7)

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

Moore — 16.7

Funderburk — 14.7

Bates — 12.8

Hayes — 7.6

Allen — 6.9

Hellems — 6.6

Seabron — 2.5

Beverly — 2.2

Gibson —0.6

Dowuona — -0.9

Farrar — -0.7

NC State improves to 8-7 overall and 4-6 in the ACC while Boston College is 3-11 and 1-7. The Wolfpack is now 2-5 on the road (1-5 in true road games) and 4-2 in day games (tipoff before 6 p.m.). NC State is 2-3 in weekend contests.

The Wolfpack leads the all-time series against the Eagles, 15-12, and has now won 14 of the last 19 meetings between the two. NC State is 5-7 all-time at Conte Forum.

This game was televised on ACC Network. Throughout the year we will keep track of the Pack's record on the different channels:

• ESPNU: 1-0

• ACC Network: 6-4

• RSN: 1-2

• ESPN: 1-0

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

• November: 2-0

• December: 4-1

• January: 1-5

• February: 1-1

• NC State crushed the points in the paint, 42-22.

• NC State had the edge in fast-break points, 13-7.

• The Pack bench outscored BCs reserves, 39-6.

• Both teams had 15 turnovers, but NC State still had a decisive 23-12 edge in points off them.

• NC State won on the boards, 40-27 in overall rebounds and 10-6 on the offensive glass. The Pack had a 19-4 advantage in second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had four blocks and 11 steals. Boston College had three blocks and added six steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was 32 points and it led for 35:47. BC's largest advantage was five points and it led for 2:13.

——

• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook