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NC State Basketball

Wolfpack grinds out victory over Charleston Southern 78-56

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NC State fought off fatigue and a feisty Charleston Southern team as they improved to 2-0 in the Kevin Keatts era with a 78-56 victory.

The Pack, once again, used a balanced attack (5 guys in double figures) to propel their offense.

Al Freeman – 18 pts
Torin Dorn – 14 pts
Markell Johnson – 12 pts
Omer Yurtseven- 11 pts
Sam Hunt – 11 pts

NC State’s defensive intensity wasn’t quite as good as it was in the opener, but with that pace of play and a quick two-day turnaround, it should have been expected.

Offensively, NC State struggled to get things going. Although they forced 24 turnovers, they weren’t really able to play as fast as they did against VMI. This allowed Charleston Southern to get set in their defense and really pack the middle.

Lucky for NC State, Al Freeman and Sam Hunt were able to stretch the defense enough to keep the offense rolling.

The Wolfpack shot 48% from the field, but only  59% from the FT line (we’ere looking at you Dorn .. 3-7) while holding the Buccaneers to only 40% shooting

State shot 39% from beyond the arc, which is pretty good, but all of that was thanks to Al Freeman’s 3-5 and Sam Hunt’s 3-8.

Markell Johnson just missed a double-double for the second straight game. He finished with 12 points and 9 assists, however, he coughed it up 7 times, which is not going to sit well with Keatts.

Charleston Southern did a good job of slowing down the Wolfpack and clogging up the lane. Lennard Freeman ended up with 7 points and 8 boards, but only finsihed with 2 FGs (he was 1-2)

Omer Yurtseven’s second game was much like the first. He finished with a nice stat line of 11 points (on 5-8 shooting) and 4 boards, but you couldn’t help but notice his struggles to corral rebounds or fight through contact. We don’t want to keep harping on this because Yurt is putting up some solid stat lines, but it’s just that this is going to be an issue down the road for NC State. These teams have very weak front lines and they are still outmuscling the 7-foot sophomore. Yurtseven has NBA level talent. He is showing that he can be a big factor knocking down the 10 footer, or hitting his defender with a quick little hook shot, but this team needs to be able to win battles in the paint if they are going to win in the ACC and they also need Yurts height in the middle. It’s going to be up to Keatts to teach him how to throw his weight around and invite contact from the blocks.

At the end of the day, this was still a 22 point win. It wasn’t pretty and it probably didn’t please Kevin Keatts, but it was a win. It’s no wonder that Keatts preaches conditioning. His teams go 100% all the time, and when you have a 2-day turnaround, the guys are bound to be a little heavy in the legs.

Now, the bad news is that they have another two-day turnaround coming up. They will face Bryant on Tuesday, followed by yet another two-day turnaround where they will face Presbyterian.

These aren’t big names teams, but this will be a trying stretch for a Wolfpack team just learning how to sustain effort night after night.

 

NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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