NC State sloppy in frustrating loss to UNC Greensboro 81-76

This was a dangerous game from the get-go, but the Spartans dictated pace and were the more disciplined team, helping them to a 81-76 win in Raleigh.

NC State shot 62% in the first half, but only entered the break up 2. The reason for that was the 10 offensive boards and 6 second chance points in the first 20 minutes by the Spartans.

UNCG opened things up in the second half with a 13-0 run, which threw the State into a tailspin..

The real story of this one was the UNCG 2-3 zone. It ruined the Wolfpack. Instead of working it around, probing the seams and playing inside-out, the Pack took the easy road and heaved up 3 after 3.

The Wolfpack guards (A.Freeman and Beverly) combined to go 9-26 (34.6%) while the frontcourt (Yurtseven, L. Freeman and Abu) once again was near flawless from the field, going 12-13.

This has been the story for each one of NC State’s losses. Poor volume shooting from the guards and an unwillingness to play through their post guys.

NC State did storm back at the end to make this one exciting, but the major flaws we were already aware of, reared their head once again.

Markell Johnson was suspended indefinitely for a violation of student-athlete code of conduct and his absence was felt. UNCG shot 51% from the floor and only were forced into 13 turnovers.

The Wolfpack wants to play uptempo, but without Johnson and Batts out there, NC State’s personnel sure seems to lend itself to more of a halfcourt team. Guys like Beverly, Hunt, Yurtseven and L. Freeman aren’t built to run and pushing the tempo seems to end up with guards taking more contested shots, and bigs only getting touches when nothing else is there.

NC State needs to sure up things by Tuesday when they face Robert Morris.