NC State Basketball

DOWN GOES CAROLINA! NC State upsets #10 UNC 95-91 in OT

Published

6 years ago

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NC State came into this game as 12.5 point underdogs to rival North Carolina, but some big spread never stopped Kevin Keatts before.

NC State played one of the most focused and disciplined games of their season, answering every UNC run and punching back with poise and passion on their way to a 95-91 OT win at Carolina.

Al Freeman was the star. After a long stretch of struggling to find his shot and his confidence. He awoke in a big way when the bright lights came on. The transfer senior went off for 29 points, going 8-11 from the field and an insane 7-7 from beyond the arc. That type of game from Freeman took nearly everyone by surprise.

Except for PackInsider.com 😉

Freeman had one other performance like this when State upset #2 Arizona earlier this season and was due for a big game. However, a game like this, in all seriousness, I don’t think anyone was ready for.

But this wasn’t just the Al Freeman show. This was also a huge game for both Markell Johnson and Torin Dorn. Dorn has been a massive factor in every one of NC State’s big conference wins and he did it again, delivering a late 3 from the corner and playing extremely aggressive down the stretch. He finished with 20.

Johnson finally decided to start scoring. We noted how a scoring Markell Johnson is a very dangerouisMarkell Johnson because suddenly, you have to respect his drive a lot more, giving him even more passing lanes to work with. He finished with 11 assists (which was his 3rd double-figure assist game in a row) but he was NC State’s go-to guy in as regulation was coming to an end and then in overtime. He finished with 20 points on 7-15 shooting and 2-5 from 3.

Then there was Omer Yurtseven. No one had a bigger impact than Yurt. He finished with 16 points and 13 boards, but it was his battling in the paint and tips that kept possessions alive that made the difference. His defense down the stretch was also a huge factor in NC State nailing this one down.

The Pack shot 44.7% from teh floor, 50% from long range, was killed on the boards 48-34 but won the turnover battle 14-9.

Kevin Keatts is now 2-0 vs his crosstown rivals, beating #2 Duke and home and now taking out #10 UNC in their own house. Let me just put this right here.

This win was huge for NC State. All of the sudden they find themselves at 5-4 in the ACC and 15-7 overall. Just 4 wins away from the 9 conference win mark that many believe is the cutoff line for making the NCAA tournament.

Here is the boxscore.

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