NC State Falls to UNC 67-55

NC State switched it up by starting Cody Martin in place of his brother Caleb, whose struggles have been well documented. Cody’s solidity in comparison gives Gottfried more flexibility. In the first half alone Cody helped the Pack stay with the Heels as they found themselves knotted up 29-29 at half. By starting the game with Cody, Coach Gottfried sent a message to his team that he is favoring effort and aggression.

This message was heard by everyone. State played with a little more edge and hustle than a normal game, but accumulated more fouls than normal. Early in the second half State was running low on options in the paint as both Abu and Anya had 3 fouls before the first media timeout in the second half. On the day UNC had more depth than State, playing 10 different guys, compared to the Wolfpack’s 7.

By and large NC State played a great game defensively as they forced UNC into tough shots and held them to a low percentage. For the game the Tarheels only shot 37%. However State could not overcome 18 turnovers, which resulted in extra possessions for the Heels. Not only did the turnovers give UNC extra chances, but so did giving up 21 offensive rebounds.

State hung around but could not get over the hump. One reason was a subpar showing from Barber who had been magnificent thus far. Cat looked timid and had many more turnovers than usual (5). This anomaly continued as he didn’t even look for his shot and was consistently a step slow. If State was going to win at the Dean Dome they had to get an All-American performance out of the leading scorer in the ACC.

Glancing at the final stat sheet I would of liked NC State’s chances as they held Marcus Paige to 3 points, Bryce Johnson to 6 points, and Justin Jackson to 6 points. The reason State lost is because they could not score and they allowed Meeks to score 23 points (18 in the second half) and Joel Berry pitched in 14 on the day. State had a chance but it just wasn’t in the cards.

We will have more to come later…