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Warren, Wolfpack Come on Late, Topple EKU 75-56

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11 years ago

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After a poorly played first half NC State got it rolling early in the second and never looked back, trampling Eastern Kentucky 75-56.

TJ Warren scored 30 points, added 11 boards and saved State in the second half. EKU obviously knew the scouting report against the Pack. They came out in a zone and really slowed the pace of play. Early on State seemed confused, settling for 3’s and playing tentatively against the zone. Gottfried certainly addressed that at the half and the Pack came out aggressive after the break. Warren led the way, but it was quick ball movement and hitting the gaps in the zone that got them rolling, leading to a 19 point win.

We apologize for the delayed coverage this weekend. All of us here at PackInsider.com are out of town with our families for Thanksgiving. We’ll be back at it on Monday with ‘Out Take’ on the Wolfpack. Thanks for understanding!

In the meantime, here are some quotes from Coach Gottfried:

Opening Statement:
“First off, I think this a good win for our team because that might potentially be an NCAA Tournament team. Obviously, Belmont in their league is very good, but they have a great chance to win their league. They are a really good team with terrific guards. They go a really good job of changing defenses to keep teams off balance. I was really proud of our guys. I thought in the second half we attacked the zone much better. I thought that was the difference in the game. Defensively we are a little bit better. In the first half, we struggled against the zone. We didn’t move it nearly as well as we should have. We didn’t get the ball inside or penetrate the zone very well. In the second half, the ball moved a lot better and we got inside the zone. We attacked pretty well. This is a good win for our team against a good basketball team.”

On attacking the zone:
“They play two different defenses. I thought in the first half we were very cautious. It became paralysis by analysis. We were trying to figure out what defense they were in instead of just playing it. I thought in the second half we were aggressive. We got the ball moving better and our people moving better. Then we were able to find some gaps because we were more aggressive. (In) the first half we seemed real tentative trying to figure out how to attack it rather than really getting the ball moving quicker and getting the zone shifting. In the second half we were a lot more aggressive and much better.”

On T.J. breaking out in the second half after a slow first half:
“I thought he did what good players do. He had that aggressive nature during that stretch when the score was 51-49, he took it over. He did a great job, that is what you want your good players to do, step up and be aggressive and he did.”

On Cat Barber’s growth:
“I thought as the game went on he got better. He is so quick and he can penetrate so well that he got into trouble a couple of times tonight against a team that is leading the country in steals. They are really good at knocking the ball loose if you are loose with it. For every part of the game with him he just keeps getting better and better. He is learning our offense and what to run. He is getting confident. He is starting figure out when to move the ball. That is a feel as a point guard. His quickness and ability to get to the rim is something we want him to use a lot.”

On the expanded role of Jordan Vandenberg:
“We’ll see. I don’t think of it in those terms as minutes. I just want him to be productive. He changes things with his length. Tonight he got his hand on a rebound a knocked it out of there just because he was long enough to put his hand on it. We ended up with a rebound. Our guys have figured out if we put the ball up there by the rim he is pretty good at getting up there and making it. When you look at the way he affects things defensively and the way offensively he scores right around the rim. He made a nice couple of passes and I think he does a good job rebounding too. I think he has given us a great lift these last two games.”

On 3-point shooting:
“I think we are a better 3-point shooting team than we are showing. I think we have guys capable of making them. I like the fact that we are finding ways to score against the zone that is not moving the ball two or three passes and making sure Scott Wood is open. That was a pretty good offense last year. We don’t have that this year. I think our guys are learning they are doing a good job of figuring out how to attack the zone without one of those guys like that. Although we do have some guys that can make 3s. I think Cat, Tyler, TJ, Ralston and Desmond can make them. We just have to find those spots and get better against the zone. We are going to see a lot of zone this year. We better get better at it or we are going to have some long nights.”

On new guys picking up offense quicker:
“I don’t know that I have ever thought about it that way but when you do have guys with you on the floor all summer long, it is different than it was before. But it is different for everybody. Everybody plays with the same rules. I think it helps our guys.”

On defense:
“We are getting there. We are not great but we are better with Jordan because of his length. He can protect some things at the rim. We just have to continue to learn how to defend at our level. Cat has got to learn, which he is. Desmond is also learning. We are just going to keep working at it, but I think we are getting there.”

 

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NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

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13 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

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2 days ago

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July 24, 2024

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

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WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

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3 days ago

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July 23, 2024

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NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

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Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

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1 week ago

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July 18, 2024

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The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

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Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

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