NC State Basketball
Hurricanes Rally to Beat Pack 65-60
NC State used a breakout performance by Malik Abu (career high 19 points) to hold a 33-26 advantage at the half, but came out flat to start the second half. There were too many similarities between this game and their last game against FSU. In our last game State came out and looked great only to falter in the second half, unfortunately this happened again. The difference tonight came down to the quality of the opponent. The Hurricanes were much more focused and played with outstanding energy that allowed them to battle back. Rodriguez and McClellan out performed our dynamic duo of Turner and Lacey.
Rodriguez used his handle and quickness to penetrate inside where he drew a number of fouls. On the night he finished with 14 points with 8 of those coming from the charity stripe. McClellan was a nightmare for the Pack as he used his athleticism and strength to beat whoever was guarding him. He finished with 16 points on 50% shooting and was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. To add insult to injury McClellan added 10 rebounds to help the Canes win the battle of the glass, they out-rebounded State 26-24.
A major reason why the Wolfpack didn’t come away with the win is because we were not the aggressors in the second half! I love Trevor Lacey and believe he is one of the most talented scorers in the ACC; however, he needs to be in full attack mode the entire time he is on the court. Too often he is passive for long stretches and waits until the game is close to try and takeover. He needs to come out of the gate in the second half with the mindset to push the game out of reach for the opponents. Tonight was the perfect time for NC State to display a killer instinct. On the road against a good Miami team we were up by 7 and had all the momentum, but somehow we came out lethargic which gave Miami hope. Trevor and Ralston must shoulder the burden and fire up the younger guys.
Our team only goes as far as these two guys will take us. Tonight they were subpar and the result was a loss. Winning on the road is no easy feat in the ultra competitive ACC. This is why we can’t allow golden opportunities pass us by like we did tonight! Hopefully our guys are learning the hard way. The good news is you always have a great bounce back game in the ACC. Sunday the 13th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish visit PNC Arena. We must put this loss behind us and be ready to play this weekend.
Side Note: Malik Abu is getting more and more comfortable with each outing. Tonight he was excellent as he used great awareness and spacing to free himself from defenders. Abu also showed a nose for the basket as he was able to read Lacey on an outstanding ally late in the second half. Look for Abu to get major minutes down the stretch and be a key contributor going forward.
wormncsu Read my post carefully. I did not say fire Gottfried. And I acknowledge the fact that he is the best coach since Valvano. And I didn’t forget that we struggled to find a coach. We should not have tried to go after all the BIG name coaches in the first place. NC State is not the destination for top tier coaches at big name programs. I can live with that. That’s why our next coach will most likely be from a smaller program. Valvano was from a smaller program. If the fans want to return to winning championships Gottfried… Read more »
Wolfer96 Your posts are usually a very interesting read. But on the whole Gottfried thing I have to wonder if you have forgotten that after Sidney Lowe no one of prominance wanted the state job. Most coaches for whatever reason don’t want to butt heads with UNC and Duke. Gottfried is truly just now getting a team full of his recruits. Three straight trips to the NCAA tournament is why better than years past. Also on the barber note you seem to want to see Lacey at point guard, I wonder did you also want to see t j at… Read more »
I’m not saying fire Gottfried. After all he is the best coach we’ve had since Valvano. Having said that, this does not look like the guy that will get us back to prominence. He’s just not that great a coach. For those who want to defend him, compare him to Bennett at UVA. Came in around the same time and took a team that has not had success in decades and made them into the #2 team in the country. Gott’s preached the high post offense and then almost totally went away from it this year. But one thing that… Read more »
I thought there were about 3 foul calls that we should have gotten that were not whistled. And I thought Miami got about 2 foul calls that they didn’t deserve. So yes if those 5 calls went our way we could have won. However, coming out flat to start the 2nd half was mostly to blame. And we were fouling quite a bit. Especially Cody and Kyle. They were playing a bit out of control. Once we lost the lead, it was back to playing Hero ball for State. Pretty much jacking up bad shots and not moving the ball… Read more »
I agree that the Pack could have and should have won, but a 21-10 foul difference? The refs didn’t even call the fan for pushing Cat! That was bias towards the home team in the extreme. The loss is still on State, but still