NC State’s OT Win Over #16 Miami By The Numbers

NC State’s Men’s Basketball team picked up a tremendous win over #16 Miami in overtime this afternoon, defeating the Hurricanes 83-81. You can check out the Box Score here. You can check out the Highlight Reel and Condensed Game here.

Here’s a look at the victory By The Numbers.

First off, everything finally clicked today for Sophomore Forward Ernest Ross. He had the game of his young collegiate career, scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 boards. He was an incredible 8 of 10 from the field.

DJ Burns flirted with a triple double, with 13 points, 9 boards and 7 assists. Not to mention, he also had 2 blocks. The Wolfpack was +13 when the big fella was on the field, which led the team.

Terquavion Smith had a team high 20 points (7-20 FG) and 2 steals.

Jarkel Joiner was the 4th player in double figures scoring, chipping in 11 on a poor shooting night (4-14).

Greg Gantt also had 7 points and 6 boards.

Alright, those are the individual numbers. Let’s look at some team stats.

How did NC State win a game in which Miami shot 56.9% from the field, and the Wolfpack shot 44%?

Well, for starters, turnover margin. The Wolfpack turned over Miami 17 times, and only turned the ball over 4 times themselves. Incredible.

Secondly, the offensive glass. NC State had 15 offensive rebounds compared to Miami’s 4. Ernest Ross had 6 and DJ Burns had 5. Brutal.

Despite not shooting as well as the Hurricanes, between turnovers and offensive boards, the Wolfpack took 14 more shots than the Hurricanes.

If you aren’t shooting better than your opponent, you have to win the turnover margin, and dominate the offensive glass, and they did.

NC State scored 23 points off of turnovers compared to Miami’s 7. The Wolfpack scored 16 second chance points compared to Miami’s 3.

That my friends was the difference in the ball game.

Also, remember when NC State wasn’t getting any production out of their bench? Those days seem to be over. The Wolfpack had 35 points from their bench (Ross – 17, Burns – 13, Thomas – 5), compared to Miami’s 20.

The Wolfpack picked up a much needed Quad 2 win over #16 Miami today, and they will look to keep the momentum going at Georgia Tech on Tuesday night at 7pm on ACC Network.