NC State 54 #7 UNC 67: BY THE NUMBERS (they were ugly)

NC State lost to their rival #7 UNC this evening in PNC Arena, falling to 11-4 overall, and 3-1 in conference play. Below is a look at the Wolfpack’s loss BY THE NUMBERS.

• Sometimes the numbers are plain and simply ugly.
• NC State shot 26.9% from the field. You can’t beat anyone shooting that poorly.
  • I know the Wolfpack recently beat Notre Dame shooting 28.8%, but that was one of the most unlikely wins in college basketball in recent years.
  • UNC’s has been playing lockdown defense as of late, and it continued tonight.
  • NC State’s field goal percentage of 26.9% is the lowest they have shot since they shot 16.7% in a 24-47 loss to Virginia Tech in 2018-19.
• The Wolfpack shot 9.5% from three. 2 of 21.
  • Last time NC State shot that bad from deep? That would be the same game cited above against the Hokies in 2018-19, making 7.1%, making 2 of 28.
• As crazy as it might sound, looking at the atrocious statistics, this game was close for over three quarters of the game.
  • With 8:52 left in the 2nd half, UNC led by 4 points.
  • Then, over the next 4:46, UNC would proceed to go on a 15-2 run, making it a 17-point lead with 4:06 left.
  • Don’t get me wrong, the Wolfpack kept it close for over 3/4’s of the game, but UNC led for 28:44 out of 40 minutes.
• This game didn’t come down to Turnovers or 2nd chance points.
  • NC State turned the ball over 10 times, and UNC turned it over 12 times.
    • The Wolfpack scored 7 points off of turnovers and so did the Tar Heels.
  • NC State scored 8 second chance points, and UNC scored 6.
• Believe it or not, UNC didn’t win this game at the free throw line.
  • NC State shot 76% from the charity stripe, making 16 of 21.
  • UNC shot 60% from the free throw line, making 12 of 20.
• Outside of the fact that NC State shot poorly, they were fairly solid defensively against UNC.
  • The Wolfpack held the Tar Heels to 39% shooting from the field.
  • NC State’s weakness defensively against UNC tonight was being lackadaisical in stopping the Tar Heels on the break.
    • UNC scored 18 points off the break, compared to NC State’s 8.
• The Wolfpack’s leading scorer DJ Horne couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting 2 of 16 from the field.
  • You could tell he desperately wanted to help his team win, but so many of his shots were not high percentage shots, attempting to force something to happen that simply wasn’t there.
• DJ Burns was NC State’s most effective offensive player, scoring 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting.
  • UNC adjusted and managed to double team Burns, limiting his offensive production.
• Casey Morsell led the Wolfpack with 12 points, though he made only 3 of his 12 shots.
  • Morsell crossed the 1,000 career point threshold in this game.
• Coming into this game, I felt like it was going to be important for Morsell and Horne to shoot well. If the didn’t, it was going to be tough sledding.
  • The two combined to shoot 5 of 28.