NC State Basketball
NC State Rolls Over Montana 85-72, Faces Creighton on Sunday
NC State might be young, but they are quickly showing that they can learn on the fly. On Friday night, they defeated a pesky Montana team 85-72 in the first round of the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas.
Malik Abu scored a career-high 25 points on a barrage of dunks and put backs (and also going 9-10 from the line), while Dennis Smith Jr finally came to live with 21 points.
Abdul-Malik Abu was a one-man dunk show tonight. https://t.co/21KzcNeCvX
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) November 19, 2016
Without Ted Kapita (student visa issues) and Mav Rowan (concussion), NC State was forced to play a 7 man rotation against the Griz of Montana. State came out looking good with Smith and Dorn leading the scoring, but defensively they struggled to stop Montana’s smaller, quicker guards from getting in the paint and creating havoc.
It wasn’t until Markell Johnson turned the tide that NC State started pulling away. When you look at Johnson’s line, it won’t blow you away, but it was pretty impressive. He finished with 9 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and zero turnovers, but his points and assists were momentum changing plays. His two big time dunks, his alley-oops and his nothing bet net three were all plays that really energized the Pack and really shifted them into another gear on both sides of the floor.
Markell. Johnson. pic.twitter.com/Ef5yAt2tyQ
— Wolfpack Fan 101 (@NCSUFan101) November 18, 2016
The lineup that was doing the most damage was the one with both Johnson and Smith on the floor. Johnson’s ability to dictate flow, and limit turnovers coupled with Smiths electric athleticism created a matchup nightmare for the Griz.
The other takeaway was just how good this team looked against the press. When Montana brought out the full court pressure, NC State used their athleticism to not just beat it, but obliterate it. Check out this video for proof:
.@PackMensBball was flying all over the place down the stretch. https://t.co/wCuGAbWlu5
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) November 19, 2016
NC State takes on Creighton on Sunday at 8:30pm on CBSSN. The #22 ranked Blue Jays beat #9 Wisconsin by 12 a few days ago and just smoked Washington St. in the Paradise Jam last night.
I was disappointed that Shaun Kirk did not get any minutes. That kid is the energizer bunny. He would have been really good in the 1st half when the team was getting out-hustled. Typical Gottfried with his limited rotation. This is why his guys are exhausted by tourney time. Also when Terry is shooting so poorly, maybe send someone else in there that can shoot?
I said it from the 1st exhibition game… that Markell Johnson is special. He’s exactly the type of guard that I would want leading my team. He’s unselfish, does not turn the ball over, has great court vision, is a pass-first PG, but can shoot the ball or take it to the rim when needed.
What was really surprising was the box score. Abu looked like he was struggling the whole game and he ends up leading scorer? I had to do a double take.
Abu never really looked comfortable in this one. I couldn’t believe it when I saw he finished with 25. I also was surprised that Johnson only had 9. It was a very loud 9, I guess. To me, he was the guy that made us go in this one and his play should take some pressure off of Smith and allow Gott some flexibility in our backcourt.
Gottfried showed once again that he can make adjustments at halftime but he’s still not a good in-game coach. He really needs to be able to make those offensive/defensive adjustments on the fly to be considered a good coach.
It was hilarious watching Gott’s face change from angry to a smile following that Markell to Dennis alley-oop.