NC State Basketball
Wolfpack squeezes out sloppy win over Pitt 72-68
NC State trailed for a majority of the game, but a late surge by Torin Dorn and a 15-2 run down the stretch helped State come from behind and eek out a win over Pitt 72-68.
.@PackMensBball ends the game on a 15-2 run to earn a 72-68 win over Pittsburgh! #GoPack pic.twitter.com/MB3QoYWTmM
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) January 25, 2018
NC State shot 33.8% from the field and a disgraceful 25.7% from long range in the victory.
Omer Yurtseven scored a team-high 16 points on 6-7 shooting, but the Pack struggled to get him the ball against the Pitt zone. Torin Dorn got hot down the stretch and finished with 12 points.
NC State escaped an embarrassing loss in this one and it wasn’t because Pitt did anything out of the ordinary. Sure, Pitt made some shots, but what do you expect when they are getting wide open looks thanks to absurd overplays on the pick and roll. Jared Wilson-Frame scored a career-high 22 and at times seemed unstoppable against the soft Wolfpack defense. Pitt as a team shot 41.8% from the field but really went cold in the 2nd half as NC State stepped up the defense, shutting out Wilson-Frame from the 15-minute mark on.
For State, they really can’t afford to have Braxton Beverly and Sam Hunt doing combining to go 6-26 (23%) from 3 point range against a team that has no defensive stoppers in the paint. They also had Al Freeman go 3-13, meaning those 3 guys, by themselves, went 9-39 from the floor (23%) and that’s just unacceptable.
The good news was that Markell Johnson finished with 12 assists and only 2 turnovers. His ability to share the basketball has really helped this team and was a difference in this one as the clock winded down. NC State also didn’t quit. They were down as many as 15 in this game and they never gave up. That fact needs to be credited. This is a game that Wolfpack teams from recent years would have lost, but this group scrapped out a W.
NC State won the battle of the boards and forced more turnovers, which in the end seemed to be the difference in this ugly performance.
But hey, a win is a win and this was NC State’s first road win their last 5 tries. The win also brings NC State to 4-4 in the conference and puts them in the thick of the ACC standings with a matchup at UNC on the horizon.
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.
