Key Moments In NC State’s Victory Over UNC

Dez Lee’s Foul Shots
When Carolina finally made their run things got very interesting. All of a sudden it was like the confidence has been sucked out of the Wolfpack. The UNC fans were deafening and urging their team to push past the Pack. State missed jumper after jumper and it seemed as if nobody wanted to take the next shot. We’ve been saying this over and over in our articles, but the best way to squash the momentum of your opponent is to get to the foul line. Pound it inside, get your defender off their feet and draw the contact. As Carolina mounted their comeback, the Wolfpack was jacking up 3s and tossing up ill-advised shots. It seemed like things where getting away from them and State fans were left to just sit there and hold their breathe. That was until Dez Lee was put into the game and promptly did what he does best. Lee drove to the basket, gave up his body, and got to the foul line. He knocked them both down and quieted the fever pitch of the UNC faithful. This was huge. Had Lee jacked up a shot or the refs decide not to call that foul, there’s no telling how big that Carolina run would have been. Props to Dez, and to all of those people who have been saying he needs a few more minutes per game.

Ralston Turner’s 3s
 While Lee’s foul shots calmed down the crowd a bit, it didn’t shut them up. Carolina came back with 4 more points after that (all Kennedy Meeks) and looked like they were settling into a rhythm they could sustain. That’s when Ralston Turner got open for a 3. With the Heels only down 2 and seemingly about to take their first lead since the 15 minutes mark in the first half, Turner hit what may have been the biggest 3 of the year. That 3 put the game back to 5 and took some wind out of the UNC sails. After a Hicks turnover and a Tokoto missed layup (followed by a Turner 2), the Pack has regained the momentum they carried until the final buzzer.

Trevor Lacey’s Shot-Fake, And-1
We have never criticized Lacey for taking too many shots. He’s State’s leading scorer, the nations best isolation scorer and the cog that keeps this machine running. One thing we have said is that we’d like to see Lacey take it to the rim a little more. Teams are always scouting and if you watch Lacey’s tape you see that more times than not he’s going to rise up in your face and take a jumper. This is great because it’s his strength but as teams begin to key on his tendencies he needs to adapt. Over the last few games he’s done just that. A shot fake from a deadly shooter is probably the most unstoppable move in basketball. The defense is forced to press up and get a hand in his face if they want to have a shot at altering his release. With 1:30 left and UNC still within striking distance (down 5) Barber was doubled off of a screen and found Lacey. Trevor saw the help closing out too fast and instead of taking the contested jumper (which, sure, he could have made) he decided to shot fake, got the defender off his feet and had a clear lane to the basket. He was fouled on top of the layup and State quickly put the nail in the coffin as they went up 8.

Keys To The Wolfpack’s Win

Cat Barber’s Face Guarding of Marcus Paige
Apparently this idea was brought to the table by Coach Bobby Lutz. If that’s the case then Lutz is a mastermind. Not that it’s any mystery that Marcus Paige is who makes UNC go, but having Barber hound him, never help off of him and just stand right in his face all game (on the ball or off) was perfect. All of a sudden you take Paige out of the game. Sure, others can drive without help-side but Carolina doesn’t have many guys that can take advantage of that. Tokoto is athletic but he’s not a strong ball handler on drives. They tried to use Nate Britt to do this, but Britt just isn’t really a scoring threat that requires help. When the dust settled Paige only had 7 points on 8 shot attempts. Credit Lutz on the plan and Barber on the execution.

State’s Interior Defense
I couldn’t help but keep saying how strong this State team looked. They were physical, they were initiating contact and they were playing with some nasty. It was a beautiful sight to see and it was a huge reason that State was able to control the tempo of this basketball game (we’ll get to that later). State not only out-rebounded a Tar Heel team that usually eats on the boards (41-38) but they also beat them on the offensive boards where they are thought to be the best in the ACC. Some of this was thanks to game planning and knowing your opponents tendencies, but a lot of it was just good old fashion physicality. Carolina rarely got easy looks in the paint and the ones they got up were more times than not being erased by Beejay Anya (who swatted 6 shots). Credit Freeman, Anya, Abu and Washington for their fight and hunger in the paint.

Cat Barber’s Constant Attacking
If you’ve played competitive basketball and defended a quality opponent, then you know how annoying it is when you man is in attack mode all night. Every time he touches it he attacks. This means zero lapses in concentration and a huge physical drain on the defensive end. This was Cat Barber last night. Every time he touched the ball he was looking to attack. This really wore out the Carolina defense and really, in our opinion, wore down Marcus Paige. Barber’s new found scoring ability has teams trying desperately to keep him out of the lane, but his motor keeps going and he wasn’t going to be denied last night. His 15 points and 4 assists were huge in the Wolfpack’s win, but him being in attack mode every time he touched the ball was even bigger.

Overall ‘Want-To’
They just cared more. I don’t know what to say other than, they came with a lot more ‘want-to.’ It’s not that UNC didn’t care, but State simply stole their souls on this night. They wanted to do certain things and State just wouldn’t allow it. Like a parent denying their child a certain toy or not allowing them to go out and play, UNC simply went in the corner and cried. UNC usually has a lot more fight, a lot more heart, but on this night they just seemed like they were going to suck it up and accept their punishment.

Game Slow Down
Gottfried has never been one to slow thing down and he’s always talking about run, run, run, so it was surprising to see State really slow things down and challenge UNC to a half court matchup. To be honest, man for man, State is the more talented all around team and by taking Paige out of that half court game the Carolina offense was rendered useless. Unbelievable for sure, but it really shows Gott’s ability to adapt and to win at all costs. We saw how good UNC was in transition when they went on that massive run, but in the half court set they were mere mortals and honestly, looked pretty pedestrian.