NC State Basketball
NC State 87 Old Dominion 50: BOX SCORE with Notes
NC State improved to 12-0 last night, defeating Old Dominion (8-2) 87-50 on the road. Below is the Box Score, with some notes underneath.
The Wolfpack spread the wealth last night, with 6 players scoring in double figures.
Senior Madison Hayes led the Pack with 17 points, on 6 of 9 shooting from the field, and 4 of 5 from three. The 17-points were a season high for Hayes, who has now led NC State in scoring on three occasions. She also had 3 steals, which led the team, and snagged 7 boards, which ranked 2nd on the team.
Junior Aziaha James chipped in 16 points, despite shooting poorly, making only 4 of her 15 field goal attempts.
Freshman Zoe Brooks has strarted the past three games with Junior Saniya Rivers out with a back injury. In her first game starting, she recorded the 2nd Triple-Double in school history, and last night she had another double-double, with 13 points and 11 assists. Brooks becomes the first player in at least 15 years to have two games with double digit assists in a single season.
Senior River Baldwin almost had a double-double of her own, with 12 points and 9 boards. She shot 6 of 7 from the field, and led the team with 4 blocks.
For the first time this year, Senior Mimi Collins didn’t start, with Freshman Maddie Cox starting in her place. Collins still finished with 10 points off of the bench. Freshman Laci Steele’s 11 points tied a career high.
As a unit, NC State shot an impressive 53.7% from the field, and held ODU to a dismal 25.4%. The Wolfpack also made 10 three pointers, shooting 55.6% from beyond the arc. 18 assists on 29 field goals is unselfish basketball.
One of the only negatives worthy of drawing attention to, is the fact that the Wolfpack turned the ball over 16 times, which is the second most in a single game this season. Fortunately for NC State, the Monarchs only scored 7 points off of those 16 turnovers.
For the 5th time in school history, NC State has gone undefeated in non-conference play.
The Pack will be back in action on December 31st at UVA for their ACC opener, making it three consecutive games on the road.
According to reports, NC State is adding UMASS’ Brett Nelson as an Assistant Coach.
Sources: Brett Nelson is leaving UMass to join Kevin Keatts’ staff at NC State as an assistant.
Matt Figger — who worked for Frank Martin at both South Carolina and Kansas State — will replace Nelson in Amherst.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2024
Nelson was only at UMASS for 1 season under Frank Martin. Prior to that, Nelson was the Head Coach at Holy Cross for 4 seasons, posting a 27-84 record.
Prior to taking the Head Coaching mantle at Holy Cross, Nelson was at Marquette for 5 seasons, spending the first 3 as an Assistant Coach, and the final two as an Associate Head Coach. Prior to Marquette, Nelson also served as an Assistant Coach at Ball St., Drake, Arkansas and Marshall.
Before coaching basketball, Nelson played for the University of Florida from 1999-2003. He was All-SEC twice, and earned Third Team All-American honors. When he left Gainesville, he was the Gators’ all-time leader in three pointers made, and ranked 2nd in steals.
As a Senior in High School, Nelson was a McDonald’s All-American.
Power Forward Ernest Ross announced this morning that he is returning to NC State for his final year of eligibility.
View this post on Instagram
Last Friday, Ross committed to UTSA after entering the Transfer Portal on April 17th, but it looks like he had a change of heart over the past couple of days.
NC State has been in desperate need to add a Big out of the Portal. They have hosted ECU’s Ezra Ausar and Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe, but neither of them have found a home yet. With the addition of Ross, NC State has added depth in the Frontcourt, and unless something changes, their roster is full with 13 scholarship players.
Ross played in 14 games this past season, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in NC State’s 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.
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