NC State ranks 327th in defensive 3pt%
This stat shows that teams shoot better from 3 against NC State than almost vs. almost any other team in the nation. There are only 358 Division 1 teams, so State is really toward the bottom of the barrel here. And I know there have been a few nights when teams were just hot, but it’s more than just bad luck at this point. We made that clear in our piece from yesterday.
NC State ranks 300th in opponent offensive rebounding %
Again, NC State is amongst the nation’s bottom 58 teams in a stat. This one is a little more explainable seeing as they have three 4-star bigs on the shelf and now Dowuona joins them. They’ve been depleted in the middle all season long, so this is a sad stat, but it may not be too avoidable given the circumstances.
Since 12/29 vs Miami, Breon Pass is leading NC State PGs in Assist/Turnover ratio at 2.5.
The freshman PG has done enough in our eyes to start earning some more minutes. He’s starting to knock down shots, he’s defending well and he’s the best on the team at setting his guys up and not turning it over. During the same time span, Seabron has a 1.34 ratio and Hayes has a 1.28 ratio. Sure, Pass is doing this in limited minutes, but hell, he’s doing it. What more does he need to do before he starts beating out Hayes and Allen as the first guard off the NC State bench? During that span he’s 8-19 from the floor (42%) and 5-12 from 3 point range (42%). For the season, Hayes is shooting 32% from the floor and just 20% from 3. Meanwhile, Allen is shooting 38% from the floor and 32% from 3. What’s holding pass back? It’s not the numbers, that’s for sure.
Casey Morsell is leading NC State in 3pt %
Morsell looked like a pretty decent offensive player early in the season. Then he got hurt and lost his mojo. Now that he’s fully back, he’s been on fire. Morsell now leads NC State in 3pt %, shooting 43% from long range. He’s not a volume shooter, but they don’t need him to be, they have Terquavion Smith for that. Morsell is taking good shots and knocking them down. He is also their best defender. Morsell needs to be on the floor as much as Seabron and Smith are. He’s that important. That means 35+ minutes per game.
Terquavion Smith is averaging 18ppg, shooting 43% from 3pt range in ACC play, and is on track to become the highest-scoring true freshman in NC State history.
Yeah folks, that’s a freshman. Smith is averaging 15.7ppg this season, which is the highest in history for a true freshman in the NC State record books (Dennis Smith Jr’s records have been vacated). Brandon Costner averaged 16.8 ppg as a redshirt freshman in 2006-07, and even that number is reachable for Terquavion.
Now, as for total points, that’s a little more complicated. Costner finished with 605 points on the season. However, he played 36 games that season. State made a deep run in the ACCT and then a deep run in the NIT. Costner also wasn’t a true freshman that season, he was a redshirt.
Dennis Smith Jr. finished with 580 points in 2016-17, but again, his records have been vacated due to the NCAA sanctions.
Terquavion Smith has 361 points. He’s guaranteed 9 more games. If he continues his ACC average over those 9 games, he’ll finish with 523 points. That will be well ahead of JJ Hickson’s 458 total points as a freshman and would give him the crown for most points scored in by a true freshman in the history of NC State Basketball.
I think that was Costner’s sophomore season he had 16.8ppg?
The gaping hole in our interior coupled with youth on the exterior are simply a recipe for trouble. It is nice to see Pass coming along and starting to figure things out, that’s all you can ask of a freshman that wasn’t expected to see much court time at the start of the year. We are just going to have to scrap and claw out the rest of the season, hopefully get on the up side of some of these close games. I’d love to see Hayes find his shot. I’d love to see Gibson figure out how to finish… Read more »
Gibson started out playing guard in High school. Then he grew like 6 to 8 inches in two years. Like you pointed out, I think he gets a bad rap because he is not really even a power forward but, a 6’10” small forward. Too many of our player look like Wiley Coyote, which way did he go?, on defense. So there is that. However, His numbers on offense sure looked good against Cuse.