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NC State Falls 58-69 on the Road Against Duke, Losing 2nd Straight

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#6 NC State’s week couldn’t have gone much worse. After losing to rival UNC 70-80 on the road on Thursday, the Wolfpack lost 58-69 to Duke on the road this afternoon. Quite a few bracketologists were projecting NC State as a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before the back-t0-back losses, making two straight losses to rivals even more agonizing.

Offensively, NC State has been awful in both losses. After shooting 35.2% at UNC, the Wolfpack shot 33.3% today at Duke.

The Blue Devils dominated this game, leading every second, and managed to shoot 47% from the field.

Senior Center River Baldwin had a double-double of 14 points (4-12 FG) and 10 rebounds.

Junior Guard Aziaha James managed to score 15 points, but it wasn’t pretty, making 5 of 16 from the field. She did shoot well from deep, making 3 of 6 from three.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers was efficient, scoring 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting. She also snagged 8 boards.

Freshman Guard Zoe Brooks was the 4th NC State player in double figures, scoring 10 points (3-9 FG). The Wolfpack were +3 with Brooks on the field, which led the team.

NC State has now lost 3 straight games to the Blue Devils. Duke had 32 points in the paint, compared to the Wolfpack’s 20.

NC State will host Syracuse on Thursday at 7pm on ACCNX.

Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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wolfpack74
wolfpack74
2 months ago

Man what a bad time to finally collapse. Lose a few more and you will find yourself on the road in the NCAAT. Rivers and James need to re-evaluate their shot number and selection.

NC State Basketball

Guard Mike O’Connell Announces He Will Play His Final Year of Eligibility at NC State

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Guard Michael O’Connell announced today that he will be playing his final year of eligibility at NC State next season.

 

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Today was the final day graduate players could enter the Portal.

This past season, O’Connell averaged 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Wolfpack, starting 22 of the 41 games he played in.

O’Connell took over as NC State’s starting Point Guard on January 30th in a win against Miami.

He only scored in double figures in 9 of his 41 games this season, but 6 of those came in postseason play (5 in the ACC Tournament). O’Connell took things to another level in the ACC Tournament, playing aggressive on the offensive end, looking for his shot, and attacking the rim.

NC State played it’s best basketball of the season when O’Connell was running the show. He ranked 3rd in the ACC in Assist/Turnover Ratio (2.5).

Heading into next season, with a lineup filled with new faces, having the calming presence of a veteran leader like O’Connell is reassuring.

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NC State Basketball

ECU Transfer Forward Ezra Ausar to NC State is Trending Up

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ECU Transfer Power Forward Ezra Ausar (6’9″/240) was on an Official Visit to NC State yesterday, and according to analysts at ON3 and 247Sports, things are trending in the right direction for the Wolfpack.

Jamie Shaw of ON3 submitted a prediction for Ausar to eventually commit to NC State yesterday morning.

Cory Smith of 247Sports submitted a crystal ball projection for Ausar to run with the Wolfpack this morning.

Ausar just wrapped up his Sophomore season in Greenville, averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds, shooting 51.4% from the field. As a Freshman, he was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team, averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Ausar is a consensus 4-Star prospect in the Transfer Portal, and ON3 ranks him as the #60 overall player in the Portal and the #10 Power Forward.

Originally from Atlanta, Ausar played his Senior Season of High School at Liberty Heights Athletic Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. ON3 ranked Ausar as a 4-Star prospect coming out of high school, the #94 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina.

Ausar has visited Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, met over Zoom with Georgetown, and had an in-home visit with Utah. John Calipari and his staff at Arkansas have been in touch with Ausar, as well as Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, West Virginia, Iowa State and St. John’s. (Link)

At this point, it’s good news that Ausar has no visits scheduled after the visit to NC State.

Ausar has 2 years of eligibility remaining, and NC State currently has 1 scholarship remaining.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Signee Zamareya Jones Showed Out in the McDonald’s & Jordan All-American Games

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NC State 2024 signee Zamareya Jones has played in the McDonald’s All-American game and the Jordan Brand Classic over the past month.

In the McDonald’s game on April 2nd, Jones had 13 points, helping her East squad defeat the West.

 

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In the Jordan Brand Classic on April 21st, Jones had 15 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. She also hit the game winner for Team Flight.

Jones is a 5-star prospect in the Wolfpack’s 2024 recruiting class, ranked 21st overall nationally by ESPN.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Kevin Keatts and DJ Burns Sounded the Siren at the Canes Game Tonight

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NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts and the beloved DJ Burns were both Siren Sounders for the Canes this evening, with Carolina defeating the Islanders 6-3, winning the Round 1 series 4-1.

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