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Wofford Irks Out Upset Over State 55-54

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9 years ago

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NC State’s Trevor Lacey hit a game winner with .01 on the clock. The replay confirmed it. The only problem was that the replay was wrong. FoxSport’s clock on-screen was a frame behind. Realtime told a different story. After NC State celebrated, the refs went back to the monitor to see that the ball was on Lacey’s fingertips when the clock hit 0. Another chapter to add the the “You’ll never see that again as long as you live” type back luck that the Wolfpack has endured over the past 25 years. Now, it’s been happening less and less lately, but tonight was a simple reminder that the players have changed, the coaches rotate, but you’re still watching NC State basketball.

At this point your probably wondering why State was even in a close game with Wofford. We’ll get into that in a second. First, I think it’s important to realize that this, while still a loss, is not a loss that is going to really hurt the Pack. This Wofford team won the Southern Conference Tournament last season and returned all of their starters. This is a veteran group that is going to be right up there again and should have a pretty healthy RPI this season.

Now, let’s get into tonight game.

– State’s bigs were just bad tonight. They combined for only 11 points in this one and although they finished tied on the glass with 33 boards, they were beat on the offensive glass 9-3. That was huge. State had very few second chance points and just seemed timid against the Wofford bigs. Kyle Washington couldn’t hit a shot, Beejay got his blocks and rebounds but that was it, and Freeman just was plain off tonight.

– Turnovers. State only coughed it up 11 times, but that’s not very good when you only turn the other team over 4 times. Now, Wofford is a veteran team and a calling card to most veteran teams is the ability to protect the basketball, but the Wolfpack is long, strong and should have dominated Wofford on the defensive end.

– Speaking of defense. The Pack was decent at best in this game. They were pretty good on the ball, but their help side was weak and they allowed far too many easy baskets in the paint. Again, A lot of this had to do with the bigs just not showing up tonight.

– No reinforcements. I’m not sure what happened tonight, but Gottfried just did not seem to want to explore his bench when his starters weren’t getting it done. Caleb Martin, who scored a career high 17 last time out only logged 11 minutes and was never allowed to get into any sort of rhythm. We didn’t even see any of Cody Martin in this game.

– Karl Hess. Who let this guy back on the floor? Hess was banned from reffing State games after throwing out Googs and Corch at a game a few years back. All of the sudden he’s back and within 5 minutes of play he gives Gottfried a technical foul for what just seemed like normal coach/ref banter after a questionable call. Quick-Whistle Karl obviously was trying to establish some sort of dominance again and put the Pack in the hole early. Those 2 free points that Wofford got ended up costing State this game.

– Now for the bright spots. Trevor Lacey was once again awesome down the stretch. He finished with 18 points and hit a huge jumper to put State in the lead after Wofford took the lead in the last minute then the would-have-been game winner. The kid has ice in his veins and you just wish he’d have taken over sooner. This kind of is reminding me of Warren last year. During the beginning of the season he tried to play as unselfishly as possible until he realized that he needed to be the offense for this team to win. Lacey is in the same situation. Sure, he has other weapons but he needs to realize that he is option A-1 and should be getting up 16-20 shots per game.

– I also thought Cat improved in this game. He still had a few moments of indecision which resulted in poor shots, but overall he played better basketball. He is trying as hard as he can to pick his spots and to run the offense and I think  you’re seeing that. Remember, he’s still only a sophomore in the beginning of his second season. I just think people, us included, thought he’d be coming in here college ready. Athletically he was ready, but he’s learning how to play PG at this level and there’s certainly been a learning curve there. His line wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. 10 points, 3 assists and 5 boards…all with no turnovers.
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State better shake this one off because Tennessee is up next this Wed. at the PNC.

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nedmorlef
nedmorlef
9 years ago

I have issue with biased refs on the court. Especially when the bias is open and well known. Thye ‘re not hurting NCSU as much as they’re hurting the game, the league and the fans. This is as inexcusable as the loss.

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

I’ve said it before and my opinion remains unchanged… this is a very average team. There are some above average players (e.g. Trevor Lacey) but the team as a whole is average. We will lose more games this season than fans would like. As great of a job as Gott has done on the recruiting trail since he joined the Wolf Pack, where is falls short is evaluating key skills.  Looking at Barber for instance, he is as oft mentioned quick like a cat. However, he has limited court vision and decision making skills. Kind of the opposite of Tyler… Read more »

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NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

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20 hours ago

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April 26, 2024

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Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar (6’4″) has verbally committed to NC State for her final year.

Weimar took an Official Visit to NC State a little over a week ago.

She is the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, and has been named Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She has earned 1st Team Patriot League Honors the past two seasons.

This year, Weimar averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a Junior, she averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 55.5% this year, and 59.7% last year.

With the exodus of River Baldwin, picking up a commitment from Weimar is massive.

With the addition of Weimar, NC State now has 2 scholarships available heading into the 2024-25 season.

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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2 days ago

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April 25, 2024

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) has committed to NC State!

Hill took an Official Visit to NC State this past weekend.

This past season, Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #81 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

Even though 247Sports and ON3 consider Hill a Shooting Guard, NC State is recruiting him as a Point Guard.

Hill is the 4th player to transfer to NC State this offseason, joining Louisville’s Brandon Huntley-Hatfield & Mike James, and Georgetown’s Dontrez Styles.

With the addition of Hill, NC State now has 1 scholarship remaining for next season.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

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3 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.

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Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.

Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.

Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.

The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross.  Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.

With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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4 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

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This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.

James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.

News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.

He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.

James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.

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