With 44 seconds left on the clock, and the Wolfpack only trailing 81-84, NC State’s Al Freeman and Markell Johnson trapped Miami’s Chris Lykes at midcourt.
Johnson smacked the ball out of the hands of Lykes.
Freeman picks up the ball and heads down the court for an easy 2-point basket.
The whistle blows and a mysterious timeout was called by Miami, nullifying the steal.
It was hard to tell who called the timeout in the midst of the commotion, but the ACC has clarified that they believed Miami’s Lykes called timeout while being trapped while he had possession of the ball.
You be the judge.
Normal shot of the Chris Lykes timeout; Roger Ayers clearly awards it to Lykes. pic.twitter.com/bw2oZf9cc3
Kevin Keatts reaction to the call can be seen in the photo at the top of the article.
The video of the play was quickly sent to ACC officials after the game, and they stood by the call that was made.
NC State Athletic Director Debbie Yow didn’t shy away from sharing her opinion via these Twitter posts.
The ACC was told the player w the ball called a TO. We have been in touch w the league office about this, as u would expect, since the play was critical. Have asked for their feedback after they view video.
ACC officials have seen the double team/steal play, when a TO was indicated by an official, which negated the steal. They will stand by the explanation offered, that the Miami player in the double called a TO. As for us, we believe the video speaks for itself.
What ensued as a result of the timeout was Miami running 22 seconds off of the clock and scoring 2 points.
Look, NC State lost the game for a variety of reasons yesterday. They were reckless with the basketball. They tried played bad off-the-ball defense. They allowed Miami to blister the nets. They forced things that simply weren’t there at times.
With that being said, this timeout blunder is on the list of reasons NC State lost the game, and this one was out of their control.
Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is on a visit to NC State currently, according to a source.
Indiana State Transfer Ryan Conwell was on campus last week, but he just committed to Xavier.
From what I hear, the staff preferred James over Connell anyway. A plus with James is he has 2 years of eligibility, whereas Conwell has 1.
News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.
Rivals ranked James as the #71 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class, and ESPN ranked him as the #7 prospect in the state of Florida.
After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years. This year, he averaged 12.6 points and 5 rebounds.
For a more extensive look at James’ game, click here.
Rivals ranks James as the #77 overall player in the Transfer Portal.
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is a priority for NC State, according to a source.
News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.
After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.
This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.
James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.
He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.
Prior to this season, the record for most games started in a single season in NC State history was 37, with three Wolfpack players doing so: Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, CJ Williams.
Morsell now sits atop the list, and a fellow teammate, DJ Burns ranks second, with 40 games started this season.
Styles was the 2nd leading scorer for Georgetown this season, averaging 12.8 points per game, while grabbing 5.8 boards. He shot 36.8% from three.
Originally, Sytles was a consensus 4-Star prospect in UNC’s 2021 recruiting class. 247Sports ranked him as the #62 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina, playing for Kinston High School.
After two seasons with the Tar Heels, Styles entered the Portal, and took an Official Visit to NC State and Georgetown, and ultimately chose the Hoyas.
ON3 ranks Styles as the #104 overall player in the Portal.
With his final year of eligibility, Styles’ made the right choice this time.
NC State now has 2 scholarships remaining after Styles’ commitment.