Red-hot Jericole Hellems leads NC State past Louisiana Tech
NC State senior Jericole Hellems left PNC Arena with a sour taste in the Wolfpack’s last game.
Hellems and the Wolfpack were playing Texas Southern last Sunday, and he picked up his fourth foul with 15:13 left in the game. He then said some magic words to the official and received a technical foul, which was his fifth personal foul, and he fouled out. Texas Southern split the free throws and led 39-37, and the Wolfpack’s lone senior could only cheer on his teammates.
NC State ended up defeating Texas Southern 65-57, and Hellems waited a week to play in a game again. He exploded for a career-high 31 points and hit 6 of 8 on three-pointers to power NCSU to a 90-81 win over Louisiana Tech at PNC Arena on Saturday.
“It was good to get out there and make some shots,” Hellems said. “I want to try and help my team as much as I can. I thank them for finding me and getting me open. It is good to see the ball go in.”
NC State improved to 5-1 overall and host Nebraska on Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on ESPNU.
“I thought our guys responded, but you never know what you get from a team after a week off,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “Our bigs got better in a week and they will continue to grow.
“Jericole Hellems, tremendous. He played as a senior, but give credit to his teammates for finding him and making sure he got the basketball.”
Hellems was in need of that outburst, and to not foul out. He has fouled out of three games this season already, and entered the contest shooting 33.3 percent from the field this season.
“I think I’ve been in a little slump as far as fouling,” Hellems said. “I let my offense kind of determine my game.”
This wasn’t the version of Hellems the Wolfpack were expecting after he averaged 12.9 points per game last year, and picked up some of the scoring slack after wing Devon Daniels got hurt.
“I thought he let the game come to him,” Keatts said. “You look at the six games we’ve played, sometimes as a senior, you start pressing because you are trying to figure out your next step [professionally].”
NC State needed all of Hellems’ 31 points to overcome the textbook low-post game of Louisiana Tech sophomore Kenneth Lofton Jr. The 6-7, 270-pounder put on a clinic with career highs with 36 points, 18 rebounds and four assists. He went 14 of 19 from the field and the lefty made 8 of 11 at the free-throw line.
“I don’t know if we had a game plan,” Keatts joked. “He was tremendous. He was over there near the sideline when he checked in and said, ‘I need to get two more rebounds.’ I was like, ‘We aren’t giving you two more.’ Give credit to him. One of the best players in the country and one of the best posts in the country.”
The combination of Hellems’ play, and the team shooting 11 of 23 from three-point land and have just six turnovers helped overcome Lofton’s performance.
Sophomore center Ebenezer Dowuona had his hands full with Lofton, but also played with some spirit and assertiveness in making all five shots for 10 points, plus six blocked shots.
"As a big, I take pride in going against other good bigs," Dowuona said.
Dowuona was second on the team with a plus-10 plus/minus, and got involved in the offense right off the bat.
“I think he watched a bunch of Manny Bates highlights,” Keatts said. “If we can get that kind of production inside, this team is growing and has a chance to be a good team.”
Nebraska is off to a 5-2 start with losses against Creighton and Western Illinois. NC State will be the Cornhuskers first game from a Power Five Conference.
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