Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 95-64 win over St. Francis Brooklyn in front of 4,774 fans at historic Reynolds Coliseum Saturday afternoon in Raleigh.
Play Of The Game
NC State set the tone right out of the gate in the second half, showing a noticeable uptick in energy after going into the locker room with a 10-point, 44-34 advantage. Before nine minutes had gone past in the second half, NCSU had outscored St. Francis 27-7.
Helping to jumpstart that stretch was a nifty 3-on-1 fast break layup by senior guard Markell Johnson.
Highlights Of The Game
NC State redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels had a nice steal and then finished at the rim strong with a one-handed dunk to give NC State a 23-15 lead with 11:36 to go in the first half.
Shortly after that, redshirt freshman center Manny Bates showed his unique combination of height, length and bounce to go high above the rim for an alley-oop dunk, putting the Wolfpack up 27-18.
Player Of The Game
For the third time in four games, fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce gets our nod for top performer for NC State. Bryce finished with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds and made 7 of 12 shots from the field during the win.
It was Bryce’s second double-double of the season and seventh of his career. Bryce has led NC State in scoring in three out of four games.
Outclassing St. Francis In The Paint
NC State has not necessarily shot the ball well from the perimeter in its early games. After going a respectable 7 of 16 from beyond the arc against Georgia Tech, it is just 19 of 68 over the past three contests, or 27.9 percent.
Against St. Francis Brooklyn, NCSU made just 3 of 16, but it did not matter. The Pack outscored the Terriers by a whopping 60-32 in the paint. In its previous three games, NC State had not scored more than 46 points in the paint. The 60 points Saturday was more than the Georgia Tech and Detroit Mercy (56 points) combined.
Outclassing St. Francis In The Open Court
NC State forced the Terriers into 20 turnovers, while NC State had just 12. It is the second straight game where the Wolfpack’s opponent had more than 20 turnovers (Florida International had 22).
That led to NC State having a 29-17 edge in points off turnovers and 20-10 advantage in fast break points. Both margins were easily new season-highs.
Updates On Injuries
NC State fifth-year senior center Danny Dixon and redshirt sophomore forward A.J. Taylor both missed the contest. Dixon is nursing a sore foot. While he was dressed for the Florida International game, he did not play. On Saturday, Dixon was in street clothes.
Keatts had described that Taylor was going through personal issues when he missed game two against Detroit Mercy, but on Saturday the head coach clarified that Taylor is being bothered by a persistent knee injury. He will be re-examined soon, and it is possible he could miss the remainder of the year.
Spotted At The Game
Players from Moravian Prep in Hickory, N.C., were in attendance, including five-star forward Josh Hall and three-star guard Shakeel Moore. Both are believed to be NC State leans, and Moore could be making his decision Saturday night. Hall will be announcing on Monday.
Also at the game, interestingly, was four-star forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton, a Toronto native playing at Andrews Osborne Academy in Willoughby, Ohio. Ambrose-Hylton is believed to be down to Alabama and NC State, although he also took official visits to Arkansas, Dayton and Southern Cal. He will announce his choice Sunday.
NC State’s first year director of athletics Boo Corrigan was also seen courtside.
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
20:00-14:32: NC State 15, St. Francis 9
14:32-11:26: NC State 8, St. Francis 6
11:26-7:44: St. Francis 7, NC State 6
7:44-3:45: NC State 11, St. Francis 4
3:45-Halftime: St. Francis 8, NC State 4
Second half
20:00-15:25: NC State 14, St. Francis 3
15:25-11:34: NC State 9, St. Francis 4
11:34-6:54: NC State 15, St. Francis 8
6:54-3:14: NC State 7, St. Francis 7
3:14-Final: St. Francis 8, NC State 6
Game Scores
Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average.
Bryce: 23.4
Redshirt junior center D.J. Funderburk: 15.8
Bates: 10.3
Daniels: 9.1
Sophomore forward Jericole Hellems: 6.7
Johnson: 5.5
Junior guard Braxton Beverly: 3.5
Freshman Max Farthing: 2.2
Senior forward Pat Andree: 0.6
Freshman Chase Graman: -0.7
Plus/Minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.
• Beverly +26 (24:25 minutes played)
• Hellems +24 (19:31)
• Bates +24 (18:33)
• Bryce +23 (28:15)
• Johnson +23 (27:44)
• Andree +16 (21:15)
• Daniels +15 (28:36)
• Funderburk +8 (21:15)
• Farthing -2 (6:53)
• Graham -2 (3:13)
What The Win Means
NC State is 3-1 while St. Francis is 1-3. It is just the second time these two programs have met. The Wolfpack won 86-61 in 2016. The Pack improves to 12-1 all-time versus teams from the Northeast Conference.
The game was broadcast on ACC Network Extra. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.
- RSN: 2-0
- ACC Network Extra: 1-0
- ACC Network: 0-1
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 3-1
Other Stats Of Note
• NC State won the battle on the boards overall 49-38 and offensively 18-15. That led to the Pack winning second-chance points 16-13.
• Defensively, NC State had three blocks, altered five shots and nabbed nine steals. The Terriers had five blocks, three altered shots and five steals.
• NC State led for 38:32, St. Francis for 51 seconds and the game was tied for 37 seconds. The Pack’s largest lead was 35 and St. Francis’s was two.
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