NC State would have liked to win out and secure a double-bye for the ACC Tournament, but that won’t be entirely up to them anymore. NC State fell to Georgia Tech 78-75 on Thursday night.
NC State was the aggressor off the bat, coming out and controlling pace and jumping out to a quick lead while turning Georgia Tech over 6 times before 5 minutes had gone off the clock. But midway through the first half, things changed.
All of the sudden Ted Valentine and his crew decided to take matters into their own hands.
First, the phantom technical on Dorn…
Then this…
and this..
followed by this…
This little run by Teddy V and company completely changed the game.
NC State started racking up fouls and their defensive pressure let up. Suddenly, the Pack was on the defensive.
Meanwhile, on the other end, State couldn’t buy a whistle. They went into half up 7 but feeling like they were fighting an uphill battle the whole time.
In fact, in the second half as the lopsided calls continued, Kevin Keatts got into the action and got himself a technical for arguing. This was NC State first two technicals of the season. Both on the same night.
No one is saying that a few of the calls weren’t close calls, it was about the consistency. It was about the timing and the momentum shift that they created.
NC State was never the same after that and Georgia Tech started to believe they could win.
Ben Lammers had a career night finishing with 20 points, 9 boards and 7 assists, while Jackson and Okogie combined for 40 points. Georgia Tech shot 52% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc. You read that right, the leagues worst shooting team lit up the Wolfpack.
For the Pack, Al Freeman led the way with 19, Dorn had 18, Beverly had 13 and Yurt had 17. Markell Johnson really struggled in this one as he attempted to force the issue off the pick and roll a few too many times. He finished with 5 points, 5 assists but 5 turnovers. Keatts had him on the bench a lot more than normal in this one.
Now NC State has a must-win game against Louisville on Saturday if they want a chance for the double-bye in the ACC tournament. As of now, NC State’s best finish would be 11-7. You should be rooting for Duke to beat UNC, Clemson to lose at Syracuse and Virginia Tech to beat Miami. This would assure NC State the 4th slot in the tournament.
