Markell Johnson’s Half Court Dagger Beats UNCG at the Buzzer, 80-77

Senior Point Guard Markell Johnson likes half court shots, hitting 2 in the past 3 games.

After sinking one at the buzzer against Wisconsin heading into the half, the Wolfpack took the lead, and would never lose it.

Today, responding to Isaiah Miller’s basket to tie the game at 77, Johnson inbounded the ball with 2.1 seconds left, and heaved the ball from a couple of yards behind the half court line, and the ball touched nothing but net, securing an 80-77 victory for the Wolfpack.

Johnson finished with 19 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs, shooting a clean 8 of 14 from the field. This was another example of “2nd Half Markell”, scoring 14 of his 19 points after the break.

The Wolfpack led every minute of the first half, but they allowed the Spartans to make it a tight game at the break. After leading by 12 points with 6 minutes to go in the half, NC State allowed the home team to make it a 1-point game at the break.

The story was the same in the second half. The Spartans took the lead quickly at the start, leading for the first three minutes (by 5 points at one point), but the Wolfpack quickly grabbed control again, leading by 13 points with 10 minutes left. Unfortunately, they didn’t do what was necessary from keeping the scrappy home team from  creeping back into the game.

NC State didn’t maintain fundamentals, failing to block out UNCG all game long, allowing the Spartans to grab 18  offensive boards, compared to only 2 of their own. UNCG scored 17 second chance points, compared to NC State’s 4.

If it wasn’t for the sharpshooting of the Wolfpack, this could have been a very different game. NC State shot an impressive 57% from the field, 46% from three, and 100% from the charity stripe. UNCG got to the free throw line more, out rebounded the Wolfpack (37/23), and turned the ball over less (12/13).

Redshirt Senior Guard C.J. Bryce quietly did what he’s done all year, scoring 17 points, on 6 of 10 shooting (2-4 3PT).

Graduate Senior Pat Andree had the hot hand at the beginning of each halves, connecting on 5 of his 8 three-point attempts, finishing with a season-high 15 points in his second start of the year.

The Wolfpack improved to 8-2, and will play at #10 undefeated Auburn on Thursday night.