Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 86-77 win over Florida International in front of 14,024 fans at PNC Arena Wednesday evening.
Play Of The Game
Florida International came to play Wednesday and led 51-48 with 14:10 left in the game. That is when the Wolfpack went on a 9-1 run to take the lead for good. Included in that stretch was a strong drive to the basket by NC State redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels with 13:42 left in the contest that put the Wolfpack ahead 52-51.
Highlight Of The Game
Wolfpack sophomore forward Jericole Hellems was able to break down FIU’s press, and then he alertly passed to freshman center Manny Bates, who caught and dunked on Florida International senior post player Osasumwen Osaghae with one hand. That tied the game at 44-44 with 16:52 remaining in the contest.
Player Of The Game
There were a few candidates to choose from, but we went with fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce. He finished with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including 1 for 2 on three-pointers. Bryce also tied for team-high with seven rebounds.
Bryce has led NC State in scoring in two of its first three games and was the second-leading scorer in the other contest.
Other Notable Performances
In addition to Bryce, a few of other standout or noteworthy performances:
• Head coach Kevin Keatts has to love to the production he received from his two big men: Bates and redshirt junior DJ Funderburk, who was coming off a suspension and making his season debut. The duo combined to have 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Bates had his first career double-digit scoring game (10 points).
• Daniels made a strong case for player of the game. His assertive drives to the basket helped spark the Pack in the second half, and he finished with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
• NCSU received a huge spark in the first half from senior forward Pat Andree, who came off the bench to score 14 points before halftime, including making four three-pointers. Andree however went 0 for 3 in the second half beyond the arc and was scoreless after the break.
The Rotation Is Fully Set
Odds are good the lineups on the floor you saw Wednesday night will resemble the rotation, at least for the immediate future. Keatts said that fifth-year senior center Danny Dixon has a sore foot, and he did not play against FIU.
Redshirt sophomore forward A.J. Taylor was in street clothes on the bench for the second straight game. Keatts said after the win over Detroit Mercy on Sunday that Taylor was being held out for personal reasons.
The Pack used a starting lineup of senior guard Markell Johnson, junior guard Braxton Beverly, Hellems, Bryce and Bates. Funderburk, Daniels and Andree came off the bench to fill out the eight-man rotation.
Keatts noted it may take a while for the team to gel given the injuries and suspensions that have had to work around. That probably was not a factor in NC State’s cold shooting however. NC State shot just 41.7 percent overall and made only 6 of 23 three-pointers. It was also a less-than-stellar 18 of 28 at the free throw line (68.2 percent).
Slow Start For Markell Johnson
NC State’s expected all-conference contender missed the season-opening overtime loss to Georgia Tech after turning an ankle in practice and has been slow to get started since returning.
Against Detroit Mercy, Johnson made just 1 of 8 shots, including 1 of 6 threes, and finished with only three points. That was offset however by dishing out 10 assists.
Against FIU, Johnson made only 3 of 14 attempts from the field and 1 of 7 on threes. He finished with 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals with only two turnovers, but he also had the second worst plus/minus (minus-5) of all NC State players.
Spotted At The Game
Former NC State players BeeJay Anya and Terry Henderson were courtside for a second straight game.
Also in attendance was the Wolfpack head volleyball coach Linda Hampton-Keith, who is a FIU alum.
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
20:00-15:32: FIU, 11, NC State 4
15:32-11:59: NC State 6, FIU 6
11:59-7:32: NC State 16, FIU 7
7:32-3:55: NC State 6, FIU 2
3:55-Halftime: FIU 11, NC State 5
Second half
20:00-15:36: FIU 9, NC State 7
15:36-11:57: NC State 15, FIU 9
11:57-7:27: NC State 7, FIU 3
7:27-3:45: NC State 11, FIU 7
3:45-Final: FIU 12, NC State 9
Game Scores
Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average.
Funderburk: 14.7
Bates: 12.1
Bryce: 10.8
Andree: 10.3
Daniels: 6.7
Johnson: 4.3
Beverly: 2.1
Hellems: 0.9
Plus/Minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.
• Bates +18 (18:29 minutes played)
• Bryce +15 (36:24)
• Andree +15 (14:24)
• Beverly +14 (25:29)
• Daniels +11 (26:27)
• Funderburk +2 (21:31)
• Johnson -5 (31:40)
• Hellems -6 (25:36)
What The Win Means
NC State is 2-1 while FIU is 1-2. The Panthers earlier in the season lost by eight points at Mississippi State. The Wolfpack improves to 3-0 all-time against FIU.
The game was broadcast on RSN. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.
- RSN: 2-0
- ACC Network: 0-1
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 2-1
Other Stats Of Note
• NC State had a whopping 46-26 edge in points in the paint.
• The Wolfpack had a 19-13 advantage in fast break points.
• NC State won the battle on the boards overall 38-31 and crushed it offensively 18-6. That led to the Pack decisively winning second-chance points 20-7.
• NC State won the turnover margin in significant fashion 22-12, and but only slightly in points off turnovers, 18-17.
• Defensively, NC State had four blocks, altered seven shots and nabbed eight steals. FIU had seven blocks, four altered shots and eight steals.
• NC State led for a season-low 22:07, FIU for 15:16 and the game was tied for 2:37. The Pack’s largest lead was 12 and FIU’s was 10.
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