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OUR TAKE: On NC State’s impressive 84-64 win over Abilene Christian

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9 months ago

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A few years ago, no one would have batted an eye at Abilene Christian coming to Raleigh to take on the Wolfpack in an early-season duel.

But anyone paying attention recently knew that the Abilene Christian matchup could be dangerous.

The Wildcats had made national news in 2021 when, as a #14 seed, they upset #3 Texas in the NCAA Tournament. And just this past week they upset Oklahoma State on their home court, 64-59.

None of that mattered to NC State, who handled their business on Friday night 84-64.

Here is our take:

– As I said last time, NC State’s defense is going to be the best we’ve seen under Keatts. Jayden Taylor is an absolute ball hawk, DJ Horne is feisty, Morsell is and elite and physical defender, and you have a 6’10, long and agile guy at the 4 in Diarra. Abilene Christian struggled to get anything going offensively. They shot just 35% and 29% from 3 and not a single player reached double figures for them.

– Jayden Taylor is really good. I guess I’ll continue hyping up Taylor. He deserves it. The kid is not just our best on-ball defender, he’s also very athletic, very slippery, and has a great shot. When he gets in his comfort zone, State fans are going to love him. Last night he was extremely aggressive and Abeline Christian had no answer. He was just too quick, too shifty and got to the basket at will in the first half (drawing fouls most of the time. But in the 2nd half, he found his stroke and started dropping 3s. Taylor finished with a game-high 22 points on 5-12 shooting and 3-4 from long range. On paper you’re going to wonder why I’m so excited about a 5-12 shooting performance, but watch the game and you’ll see. All of his misses were early in the game, and most were chip shots he won’t miss on a normal basis. He took good, smart shots, attacked the hoop with aggression, and played a real nice style of basketball. If he’s going to be this team’s top scorer, then fans are going to love his style. Very team-oriented, hard worker, but still gets buckets when needed.

– Diarra almost had a quiet double-double. I re-watched the game to see how I missed Diarra’s 9 points and 11 rebounds, and when I finished watching the 2nd time, I realized why. It wasn’t flashy, he didn’t score in spurts, he didn’t even take a 3. He just played his role and let his 6’10 frame do it’s work. It will be interesting to see how Diarra fares against bigger teams and if this type of performance is something he can continue to replicate, but as of now, he’s really filling that 4 spot better than anyone Keatts has had. He’s rebounding at a double-digit rate, and he’s providing a shot-blocking presence in the paint.

– Nice, efficient game from DJ Horne. I guess I was worried when we got Horne that he would play like Joiner or Smith. Not that I had anything against those guys. They were awesome. But, I know that if NC State is ever going to go anywhere, they need to learn to play team basketball and get away from this 1 on 1, isolation stuff we’ve seen during the Keatts era. Horne has been a pleasant surprise, because, while he can create off the dribble, he’s definitely a guy who plays within the offense and looks to pass when nothing is there. That’s the takeaway with Horne, for me. He had a really efficient 15 points on 6-11 shooting and 2-5 from 3. And that is great, but we know this guys is going to be a high-end scorer. What we didn’t know is how well he’d fit within the team framework, and we’re finding out that he’s going to fit just right.

–Morsell bounced back with 16 points. Casey still hasn’t found his shot (he was 1-4 from 3pt range), but it’ll come. He’s a little excited, the shot is a little flat, and I’m sure that’ll be corrected as we get a few more games under our belt. He’s continued to be a physical presence, a great defender, and he’s been attacking more off the dribble, which, with his frame, puts a lot of pressure on the defense.

– DJ Burns did his thing again. I could just copy and paste my Burns take every game. He’s one of the best offensive bigs in the nation. He’s definitely a Top 1 or 2 guy in the ACC, and he showed it again. State didn’t need him to dominate, as Abeline Christian kept sending double-teams to stop him. It didn’t matter, he still had 12 points, 7 boards and 4 assists.

– Quiet night from the bench. O’Connell wasn’t as effective against the smaller, faster Abeline Christian guards as we mentioned might happen after the Citadel game. Middlebrooks played pretty well, adding 5 points and 4 boards in 15 minutes. And Dennis Parker Jr. never really got going, playing 14 minutes but only scoring 1 point and grabbing 2 boards. Parker is going to be a factor, but he’s still feeling out his role on this team, which is expected for a freshman.

– State moves to 2-0, gets a week off, and comes back next Friday against Charleston Southern.

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A pasta eatin', Wolfpack lovin' loudmouth from Raleigh by way of New Jersey. Jimmy V and Chuck Amato fanboy. All opinions are my own and you're gonna hear'em.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

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19 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

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NC State Basketball

NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

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2 days ago

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July 24, 2024

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

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WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

Published

4 days ago

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July 23, 2024

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NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

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Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

Published

1 week ago

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July 18, 2024

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The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

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Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

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