NC State Basketball
DJ Burns Leads NC State to Their 1st ACC Win, Defeating Louisville 76-64
NC State picked up their 1st ACC win of the 2022-23 season against Louisville tonight, defeating the Cardinals 76-64, improving to 11-3 on the season.
Louisville shot the ball better (51.1%/41.9%), grabbed more boards (38/35), and shot more free throws (24/21), yet the Wolfpack found a way to win the game.
How?
Well, for starters, the Cardinals had 17 turnovers, compared to NC State’s 9.
As bad as the Wolfpack shot, they managed to get up 17 more field goal attempts than Louisville.
What really killed the Cardinals was a 17-0 run by NC State in the 2nd half, and it ended up digging a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
On an impressive note, all 5 of NC State’s starters scored in double digits. For the 2nd straight game, it was the play of DJ Burns and Casey Morsell that propelled the Wolfpack to victory.
Burns is easily my favorite NC State post player in years. His old school post play is so efficient. His 17 points led the way, and he shot an insane 8 of 10 from the field. He also had 6 boards.
Casey Morsell is establishing himself as one of the best three point shooters in the nation. He scored 15 points tonight, with all of his points coming from three point buckets, hitting 5 of 7. Morsell is now shooting 48.8% from beyond the arch on the year.
Jack Clark and Terquavion Smith both scored 14 points, though neither one of them shot particularly well. Clark was 4 of 11 from the field, and 1 of 7 from three. On brand for Clark, he found other ways to contribute, leading the team in rebounds and assists, with 8 and 6 respectively. Smith was 4 of 14 from the field, but his 3 three’s (3-6) were the spark to the Wolfpack’s big run in the 2nd half. He also had 5 assists.
Jarkel Joiner also didn’t shoot well (4-11), but managed to score 13 points, hitting clutch free throws down the stretch.
The Wolfpack was a 17-point favorite, failing to cover the spread. NC State has covered the spread in only 1 of their last 8 games.
Four Factors Breakdown (NC State/Louisville)
Effective Field Goal%: 50%/55.6%
Turnover%: 11.2%/23.43
Offensive Rebound%: 37.5%/20%
Free Throw Rate: 33.9%/53.3%
NC State will play at Clemson next on December 30th at 4pm on the ACC Network.
Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.
Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.
For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.
247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.
According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.
What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.
It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!
2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.
DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.
NC State’s DJ Horne played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this weekend, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
In 3 games, Horne averaged 14.3 points, shooting 41.5% from the field, and 30% from three.
Horne’s Portsmouth Partnership team made it to the finals, but lost to Jani-King 68-75.
The Portsmouth Invitational is an annual pre-draft camp that has been showcasing College Seniors to professional scouts since 1953.
NC State has reached out to Utah Transfer Guard Deivon Smith (6’0″/173).
Utah guard Deivon Smith tells @LeagueRDY he’s hearing from these schools since hitting the portal:
Kentucky
Villanova
Florida
Creighton
St. John’s
Miami
Wake Forest
NC State
Kansas State
Washington
Louisville
VCUIn his first season with the Utes, Smith averaged 13.3PPG,… pic.twitter.com/jvJI7Yahfw
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) April 20, 2024
Smith filled up the stat sheet every game this year, averaging 13.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.3 rebounds, shooting 46.7% from the field and 40.8% from three for Utah. He earned All-Pac 12 Honorable Mention this season. Smith had 8 double-doubles and 1 triple-double this year.
Wherever Smith lands, this will be his 4th college. He started at Mississippi St., starting in 8 of the 33 games he played in, averaging 22.5 minutes per game. Smith went on to spend his next two seasons at Georgia Tech. Year 1 in Atlanta, Smith started in 5 of the 24 games he played in, averaging 19.7 minutes per game. In Year 2, he carved out more of a role, starting in 13 of the 24 games he played in for the Yellow Jackets, averaging a career high 24.8 minutes per game.
At Utah this year, Smith broke out and had a career year in every possible way.
NC State is familiar with Smith, offering him back when he was a 4-Star prospect out of Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia. Rivals ranked Smith as the #53 overall player nationally in the 2020 recruiting class. ESPN ranked him as the #5 player in the state of Georgia. 247Sports ranked him as the #11 Point Guard in his class.
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Bonner said Mahorcic could return as early as mid January. I call bovine excrement! But if he can come back, the sky is this limit for this team.
Keatts called timeouts at critical times and the team responded. Louisville shot lights out in first half but our defense and Morsell and Burns kept us in the game. Really poured it on in 2nd half. If not for foul troubles we could have covered the spread. Winning is all that counts. A real team effort tonight. Glad to see Clark hit some shots. I love Burns. Smith dribbles me crazy. Morsell is just as valuable as Joiner.
Morsell is one of the most valuable players in the ACC, but he’s probably not going to get that recognition.
This was a critical win.
Agree on Morsell. He’s so consistent and reliable. He doesn’t force the issue. Allows the game to come to him. I love Smith but have always said, that young stallion has to get control. I want to see the same consistency and reliability from Smith. His game would be above and beyond anything that we’ve seen here in quite some time if he gained those intangibles. I would say Burns has also become (been) very reliable and consistent. He’s impressed me as well.