Here are some the thoughts from those who covered NC State Wolfpack basketball's 80-69 win at Notre Dame Wednesday evening.
Hayes led all scorers with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 3-of-6 mark from behind the three-point line. He also added four rebounds, three assists and two steals with only two turnovers.
Despite the career performance, his individual production was not even the most surprising contribution from the young Wolfpack backcourt.
Redshirt freshman guard Dereon Searbon also achieved new career highs, producing 17 points and a team-best 13 rebounds, four of which on the offensive glass. The 6-7 Swiss Army knife also stuffed the stat sheet with three blocks, two assists and one steal with just one turnover.
“We're finding ways to win,” Keatts said. “The last game it was the veterans. In this game I thought our young guys came out and played well.”
Freshman guard Shakeel Moore chipped in an efficient eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, including a 2-of-3 clip from beyond the arc, in 17 minutes on the floor. He also produced three assists, two rebounds, one block and one steal with no turnovers.
The dazzling performances followed up an underwhelming outing from the freshmen against Pittsburgh Sunday.
In the three-point win over the Panthers, the three freshmen guards scored a combined 11 points on 2-of-13 shooting (15.4 percent) with six assists and four turnovers. They also had a combined plus-minus rating of -9 in the home win over Pitt.
Wednesday night, the rookie trio combined for 45 points on 18-of-29 shooting (62.1 percent), 19 rebounds and eight assists with just three turnovers.
“I would be lying to you if I told you I knew that both Cam Hayes and Seabron were both going to have career-highs,” Keatts said. “They both have prepared the right way. Both of those guys, and even Shak, all of those guys realized they didn't have their best performances [against Pitt], and those guys have a sense of pride about them.
“It was good to see them have the ball go in, and it was good to see them play aggressive. They all wanted it more than they did the last game.
• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Quick hits from NC State's win at Notre Dame
Here are some interesting numbers from the five-game winning streak:
• In the 74-73 win at Pittsburgh on Feb. 17, NC State led for 36:02 compared to Pitt's 3:19, and the Panthers never led by more than two points.
• In the 80-62 win at Wake Forest on Feb. 20, NC State led for 32:05 and Wake Forest for 4:29, and the Deacons never led by more than three points (at 13-10 in first half.
• In the 68-61 win at Virginia on Feb. 24, NC State led for 35:08 and Virginia for 48 seconds, and the Cavaliers never led by more than two points (led only once, at 35-33 in the second half).
• In the 65-62 win vs. Pitt on Feb. 28, NC State led for 37:04 and Pittsburgh for 30 seconds, and the Panthers never led by more than two points (when it was 2-0 and 4-2).
• In the 80-69 win at Notre Dame on Wednesday evening, NC State led for 38:21 and Notre Dame for 19 seconds, and the Irish's only lead was 2-0.
If this was in fact the final regular-season game of the year for N.C. State, then the Wolfpack ended things with a bang.
N.C. State extended its winning streak to five games, defeating Notre Dame 80-69 in South Bend. The five-game ACC win streak is the first of its kind for the Wolfpack since 2004. N.C. State has now won four in a row over Notre Dame.
“Man, I’m pumped,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “Our guys played extremely well on the road again.”
N.C. State has won five straight ACC road games dating back to a win at Boston College on Feb. 6. The Wolfpack was supposed to end the regular season at home against Virginia Tech on Saturday, but that game was canceled earlier on Wednesday.
School officials said they would try to schedule a makeup game for Saturday. If that’s not done, Keatts probably will have no issue ending the regular season the way his team did in South Bend.
N.C. State (13-9, 9-8) trailed for all of 11 seconds before blasting out the gates for an 11-2 run. Notre Dame would battle back to tie the score at 11, but a 7-0 run, sparked by freshman Shakeel Moore, was the final push the Wolfpack needed.
Moore and classmates Cam Hayes and Dereon Seabron put on their best performance, combining for 45 points. Junior wing Jericole Hellems continued to step up since the injury to Devon Daniels in January, scoring 13 points. Hayes scored a career-high 20 points and Seabron scored a career-high 17 and pulled down 13 boards.
“Last game it was the veterans,” Keatts said. “This game I thought our young guys came out and played well.”
Hayes has now scored in double figures in four of the past five games and led the team in scoring for the second time in the last three games. He tied his season-high with three made three-pointers and his play early sparked Seabron, who has started five consecutive games now, improving with the extending minutes.
“Me, Cam and Shak, we just go out there and play our hardest,” Seabron said. “If we see someone playing (well), we just pick up off their energy and keep bringing it.”
The NC State men’s basketball traveled to South Bend, Indiana and defeated Notre Dame 80-69 Wednesday, March 3, to win its fifth straight game, its longest ACC win streak since 2004. The trio of freshman guards, Cam Hayes, Shakeel Moore and Dereon Seabron, combined for 45 points on the night to lead the way for the Wolfpack.
“When it's clicking, you want it to be clicking in March,” said NC State head coach Kevin Keatts. “I’m happy with where the team is at.”
After losing redshirt senior guard Devon Daniels and now redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen for the season, more opportunities were offered for younger players to produce. The play of these freshmen is a big reason why the Wolfpack is playing its best basketball at the right time.
Both Hayes and Seabron had career highs in scoring with 20 points and 17 points, respectively. Moore had eight points off the bench with two made 3-pointers.
“The game is slowing down for me,” Seabron said. “With the more minutes I am getting on the floor, I’m getting more comfortable.”
• Joe Giglio, WRALSportsFan.com — NC State downs Notre Dame, extends winning streak to five
It’s not when NC State wanted to end its regular season, but the Wolfpack can’t complain about how it will go into the ACC tournament next week.
Cam Hayes scored a season-high 20 points and Dereon Seabron added 17 to give NC State a 80-69 road win over Notre Dame on Wednesday.
The Wolfpack (13-9) won its fifth straight game to close the ACC schedule at 9-8. It’s NC State’s first five-game ACC winning streak since 2004 and the first time it has won five straight ACC road games in the same season since 1974.
"Man, I’m pumped," NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. "Our team played extremely well on the road again."
Notre Dame allowed some students into Purcell Pavilion for the first time this year and sold out of its roughly 400 tickets in eight minutes. They provided a consistent soundtrack, but a “Fire Brey” chant from a couple of them in section 115 made its way through the arena as the final seconds dripped off the clock.
Mike Brey was asked about it afterward.
“I’m committed here, and I’m certainly committed to this group, how it finishes for us this year,” he said. “We have a good group coming back and a good big guy coming in. I’ve thought about that a lot. I’m also realistic about the big picture things too. You want to continue to be effective here. I don’t need to be told if I’m not being effective. I’m a pretty good judge of that. That was well-warranted by our students. That was a poor performance, and they should’ve been on me.”
Added guard Cormac Ryan: “That’s not even being considered in our locker room. We’re playing for each other. We know we have each other’s backs.”
It came tumbling from the upper rows of Purcell Pavilion, from a section of students fed up during the closing seconds of another Atlantic Coast Conference game that again went sideways for Notre Dame.
On Wednesday, a select few fans (497) were allowed to watch an Irish basketball home game for the first time this season. It felt different and good and energizing to have them back in the building. Their usual chants —“DEE-FENSE! “Let’s Go Irish!” — made it seem like everything was back to normal.
Until the end, when a chant that likely wasn't on the cheer card commenced. With a fourth straight lackluster effort of a loss about 20 seconds and counting away — 80-69 to North Carolina State — the section of students did something that it never before has done. It turned on the head coach. It turned on Mike Brey.
Thus, the weighted words from Section 115.
“Fire...Brey!”
“Fire...Brey!”
Had students not been allowed in Wednesday, Brey and the Irish (9-14 overall; 6-11 ACC) would’ve walked off the floor to only the hum of the generic crowd noise piped through the arena speakers.
Had this been a normal home game in a normal world with close to the 9,149 capacity in the blue seats, that chant would’ve been drowned out by the band and other catcalls from the remaining crowd. Heck, had this been a normal game in a normal time, the students would've long ago left, likely when the Irish deficit hit 19 in the second half.
Instead, they stayed and their chant was a whole lot loud and a whole lot uncomfortable. Anyone who insists they didn’t hear it or couldn’t tell what the students were saying wasn’t there. Or listening. The fans heard it. The players heard it. The media heard it. Brey heard it.
“Fire...Brey!”
“That was well-warranted by our students,” Brey said with his usual candor. “That was a poor performance. They should have been on me.”
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