Sure, NC State entered the game 6-0, but they mainly had been competing with themselves up to this point. The trip to #22 Wisconsin was their first road game and their first true test as a team. Although they lost, they passed.

Wisconsin’s All-American big man was the difference maker
Everyone knew that NC State was going to have those games where they’d struggle in the paint. Wyatt Walker is their only true big-bodied center at 6’9, and even then, he doesn’t have great length or is very athletic. Then you have DJ Funderburk, who has the height but just is too thin to bang with a true back to the basket center.

Don’t get us wrong, Walker did all he could last night, but Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ is a 6’10 reigning AP All-American.  The Badgers game plan was to jam it down the Wolfpack’s throat and they did just that. Happ touched the ball on almost every possession, and because of the mismatch in the middle, State was forced to pick their poison.

The Pack used different looks and certainly neutralized Happ for stretches, but once he got going in the second half State had to adjust.

Keatts wanted to see if his guys could guard Happ 1-on-1 and I thought for the most part they did pretty good. Happ, however, adjusted in the second half and was a bit more patient with his footwork and back to the basket moves. He started to get things going, and that’s when the wheels started to come loose for the Wolfpack. (He finished with 19 points and 11 boards)

With Happ either scoring at will or drawing fouls, the Pack was forced to used their guards to dig down and get him to pick u his dribble or kick it out. That’s a good plan if the team your playing doesn’t have a bunch of sharp-shooters camped out around the 3 point line. This was simple inside-out basketball and with Wisconsin hitting 52% of their 3s, it was nearly unstoppable.

Not many bigs this talented in college basketball
The good news is that there might not be a more skilled back-to-the-basket big man that State plays all season long. The fact that this type of player with this type of skill-set is a rare commodity these days is the main reason Keatts feels comfortable building his team small, fast and versatile. On most nights State has the advantage with their lineup, but every now and then they’ll come up against a team who has a big that will cause them problems. That was the case with Happ.

This was also the type of game that State could have used Ian Steere (who transferred after the first game). He could have come in, provided some muscle, given them 5 more fouls to use (Happ shoots slightly above 50% from the line) and allowed State to give Wisconsin some different looks that didn’t include leaving shooters.

Markell Johnson, Torin Dorn and CJ Bryce looked great
Remember the Markell Johnson that dismantled UNC down the stretch of NC State’s 95-91 OT win last season? That is the Markell we’re starting to see night in and night out. The junior PG is becoming the scoring PG that Keatts has challenged him to become.

Wisconsin really didn’t have an answer for Johnson (other than getting half a body in front of him flying backward for a suspect charge call). He went off for 21 points on 9-17 shooting and added 5 assists.

Meanwhile, Dorn was just out there being Dorn. Another ho-hum double-double. 14 points and 11 boards. At this point, do we expect anything less? The guy is the heart and soul of this Wolfpack team and his physicality and grit set the tone once again in this one.

The bigger takeaway here was just how good CJ Bryce was. We knew he’d fit well on this team, but just how much would he be able to provide at the highest level of college basketball? He answered that in his first true test, going for 18 points and adding 7 boards.

Out-bigged, but not out-worked
The numbers we were concerned about going in were the rebounding numbers. We were wrong. This team crashed the boards and were extremely physical and aggressive going after rebounds. Despite the 6’10 and 6’11 duo that Wisconsin rolled out there, the Pack won the battle of the boards 36-30. This was a very positive development and one we hope continues to carry over as the season progresses.

Learning to play at this level
Yeah, we were disappointed in the loss, mainly because State led most of the game. At the same time, you have to understand that most of this team are completely new to this level of basketball or. Aside from Dorn, Markell, Beverly, and Daniel, this team is all either first-year guys or mid-major transfers. That means there is going to be a learning curve, but if almost beating a top 25 team on their court in your 7th game of the season is part of that curve, then you have to be excited.

Let’s examine how it played out.

• Blake Harris (transfer sophomore) has played a ton of minutes in the first 6 games, but he only played 4 minutes last night. The kid is talented and a great defender, but he made a few mistakes that made Keatts sit him down. He’s learning and he’s close to becoming a real contributor to this team, but it might take a few more games of working out some of the kinks that come from learning to play at this level and being asked to almost play mistake-free basketball.

• DJ Funderburk (playing his first big game in D1) only played 7 minutes. This is the Pack’s only other big and he showed that he has a ways to go when it comes to being able to defend top-tier bigs. In his short time on the court, he racked up 4 fouls. He’s going to be a major contributor this season, but again, you only saw him for 7 minutes in this one.

• Jerricole Hellems (Freshman) was aggressive, but missed a few defensive assignments and took a few quick shots. He’s shown that he is going to be a star at NC State one day, but like all-freshman, once real competition hits, there is a little learning to be done.

• Devon Daniels (transfer sophomore) was thought to be one of NC State top scorers, but he finished with only 6 points in 16 minutes. He’s actually struggled more than most to settle into his role with this team. He’s reminding us a lot of Al Freeman from last season. He’s got a scorer’s mentality but is trying to figure out what that means in an offense like this. It took Freeman half the season to really understand how to best use his talent to help the team, and it looks like that might be the case with Daniels. There is no doubt that by season’s end Daniels’ will be an elite playmaker for the Pack, but in this one Keatts didn’t have the luxury to let him work through the process.

The point of listing all of those guys is that these are all major pieces to this year’s success and we’ve already seen their potential. None of them really played a role in this one and NC State still almost beat the #22 team on their own floor in a matchup that really was the worst case for the build of their roster.

Stock is rising
Yeah, they lost, but look closer and the takeaways are very positive. You could hear it in Keatts’ postgame comment. He was pleased, and the fan base should be too.

As the season progresses they will start getting more from their younger guys and they won’t have to face many more All-American bigs. The type of heart, hustle and desire this team showed last night is a tell-tale sign that you’re watching a successful basketball team. We are disappointed that they had to put a tally in the L-column, but the future is bright for this Wolfpack squad.