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Lacey’s On-time as State wins 81-80

Published

9 years ago

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Trevor Lacey came up with a dramatic game winner from distance as time expired to save the day as the Pack escaped the Yellow Jackets to earn their 5th ACC win. Early on the Pack raced out to a comfortable lead behind Cat Barber’s outstanding shooting. The sophomore showed off an excellent touch from three as he hit 4 in the 1st half. His hot shooting continued as he finished the half with 18 points on 70% shooting. I cannot express how good this team is when they are running their offense inside and then looking outside to the perimeter. To start the game State had  excellent high low action as Kyle found Abu for a couple beautiful baskets as Abu worked hard off the ball to get position. Just as GT started to collapse on the interior Cat found the touch from the outside. I am not sure what the pregame meal was, but I think it should be on the menu each and every game for Cat. He looked confident and didn’t hesitate. Cat Barber was the reason the Pack held a 9 point advantage at the intermission.

In the second half the Yellow Jackets punished the Wolfpack underneath. In today’s contest NC State was out-rebounded 49-31. That is not a typo. The only reason this game was close was because GT pounded the glass and had an unbelievable 22 offensive rebounds. Our guys must do a better job at putting a body on their man and stop trying to out jump people. All too often the Yellow Jacket big men out muscled us. Cox and Mitchell had 12 offensive rebounds combined for Georgia Tech. This caused the Pack to scramble defensively which led to Georges-Hunt scoring a game high 23 points. It has been a troubling trend for the Pack to allow perimeter scorers to have big night after big night since the FSU game. Someone can earn big time minutes if they can prove to be a lock down defender on the outside.

Coach Gottfried said after the game that he has seen Trevor Lacey come up with big time plays in big moments since high school. The play was similar to the Wofford shot that was a tenth of a second too late. Cody Martin grabbed the rebound off the missed free throw and found Lacey at half court. Trevor then took a couple of dribbles to pull up with a hand in his face…As the ball glided through the air the red light illuminated just before the ball splashed through the net! Trevor unleashed his signature grin as his teammates raced to celebrate the victory. Should this game of been decided by a buzzer beater in OT? Absolutely not, but this could prove to be a great momentum boost for our squad as the season presses on. Any win on the road in the ACC is a good win in my opinion.

State must sure up the boards as they travel to Wake Forest to face the Demon Deacons this Tuesday at 8PM. Standing 5-5 in the ACC with 8 games left leaves the Pack with plenty of opportunities to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. However the Pack must practice good fundamentals if they are going to see their names’ called on Selection Sunday. The only reason we were able to escape with a win today; despite getting hammered on the boards was because Georgia Tech was inferior  to the Pack. We will not be able to secure another signature win against a team of class without playing with a solid effort in all phases of the game. The standings can change in a moment’s notice given the competitive nature of the ACC. Let’s hope the Pack can find a way to navigate their way to the top as the season marches on.

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Real_Pack_Man
Real_Pack_Man
9 years ago

Someone mentioned this in the forums, but it begs repeating here: coming out of a loss to Clemson and close call against GT, a win or loss against Wake Forest may really start indicating our viability as a post-season team.  That’s not a commentary on whether we “belong” in the post season as much as a statement on how good we may or may not do.  That performance against GT showed me that we still have plenty of “melt down” left in us.  By February, I would expect most of the “major moving parts” to be about where we can… Read more »

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

That was a great shot by Lacey and a hard fought win. Takes me back to the Wofford game and that Lacey shot that almost was.  The team stands at 5-5 in the conference. Looking ahead the best case scenario appears to be a 4-4 finish. More realistically 3-5. Which would put this team at 9-9 or 8-10 in the conference. It looks like yet another year where the Pack will have to make a deep ACC Tourney run to even sniff the NCAAs. Would love to make the NCAAs for a 4th season in a row but not feeling… Read more »

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

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16 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.

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Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.

Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.

Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.

The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross.  Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.

With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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2 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

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This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.

James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.

News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.

He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.

James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill is on a Visit to NC State

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2 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.

Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.

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NC State Basketball

What did an ACC Title & Final Four Mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.?

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3 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.

It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!

2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.

DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.

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