NC State came out firing. They looked like a team that just convincingly beat Duke and then took UNC to the wire. They were hungry on defense, they were knocking down shots on offense. It looked like we were about to witness a pretty bad beat down, but then things got weird.

FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes got hot and knocked down a few contested jumpers, but instead of locking down, refocusing and competing, it was like the Wolfpack just went into coast mode. They stopped running the offense, they started taking poor shots and they stopped playing physical. FSU climbed all the way back from a 19 point deficit to tie the game at 60 late in the second half before Ralston Turner hit a 3 that gave the Pack the lead for good.

Let’s take a look at what happened:

State Needs Barber
Cat was in street clothes due to the death of his younger brother. He had only found out the night before the game, so it makes sense that he probably was not mentally ready to take the floor. But make no mistake, State needs this kid. Barber hasn’t quite been the dominant PG State fans were hoping for (yet), but he’s gotten better as the season has progressed. He’s started to understand his role and that is a role that the Pack has no backups for.

Lacey was given the reigns at PG in this one but as you could see, that’s not where he’s most comfortable. To be honest, I don’t really think Gottfried wants him to get comfortable there. Coach has worked hard to turn Lacey from a pass first makeshift point guard into one of the top scoring shooting guards in the country. With Cat out he struggled to find the balance between scorer and creator. This was apparent when shots stopped falling as the Pack was never really able to get into their offense to get the bigs some easy looks.

Ralston Turner Has Arrived
Turner has always been a good shooter, but this year he’s turned the corner. Turner has become elite. He’s asking for the big shot and knocking it down. He’s hitting 41% of his 3s this season which is about the career number Scott Wood finished at. Turner has become a guy you not only expect to knock down shots but also someone this team counts on and needs to be successful. As teams start to scout him and attempt to take away those looks, he’s moved his range out further, quickened his release and even added a mid range jumper. Ralston Turner has been and will continue to be a huge piece of the puzzle for the Pack.

Against FSU he was as advertised. He can get a bit streaky, but seems to focus in and hit shots when State needs him to. Case in point, FSU has mounted a big comeback and the Pack looked lazy, tired and without answers as the Noles tied it at 60. That’s when Gottfried turned to Turner to end the drought. They found him in the corner and with hands in his face he hit the shot that stopped the bleeding. That 3 gave State the momentum they needed to close this one out.

Where is the Defense?
Washington had 8 and 6, Freeman had 7 and 6, and Anya finished with 7 and 5. The FSU bigs had a total of 17 points (thats all 5 of their bigs combined). State out-rebounded FSU 38-34. The bigs pulled their weight in this one.

Sure Lacey had 17 and Ralston added 15, but the FSU guards went for 20, 11 and 15. They were killing State all night. Now maybe this was all due to the fact that State really didn’t have any depth at the guard position with Barber out. Maybe they were tired and therefore allowing open looks and allowing their men to get into the paint. Maybe that is why then went zone, to conserve energy.

Whatever it was, they need to fix it. Their zone is weak, soft and full of holes and if the FSU guards can expose it, anyone can. Their guards are decent, but Lacey, Turner and Lee needed to do a better job of limiting open looks. This, again, is one of those little things you don’t realize that Cat does. he limits drives and limits open looks that his man gets. Lacey and Turner looked too slow, or too tired to do that in this one.

To their defense, Turner was being asked to guard someone quicker than he usually does (a 2 guard), and so was Lacey (a PG), this seemed to create a lot of mismatches, but State needs to figure that out if they are going to go far this season. They can’t be just one injury away from collapsing.

Martins Maturing
These kids looked great again. They still need that offensive refinement, but overall they are hustling, making plays and defending as good as anyone on this roster. They combined for 15 points and 4 boards while also providing good defense most of the game.