NC State Basketball
DJ Burns Leads NC State to Their 1st ACC Win, Defeating Louisville 76-64
NC State picked up their 1st ACC win of the 2022-23 season against Louisville tonight, defeating the Cardinals 76-64, improving to 11-3 on the season.
Louisville shot the ball better (51.1%/41.9%), grabbed more boards (38/35), and shot more free throws (24/21), yet the Wolfpack found a way to win the game.
How?
Well, for starters, the Cardinals had 17 turnovers, compared to NC State’s 9.
As bad as the Wolfpack shot, they managed to get up 17 more field goal attempts than Louisville.
What really killed the Cardinals was a 17-0 run by NC State in the 2nd half, and it ended up digging a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
On an impressive note, all 5 of NC State’s starters scored in double digits. For the 2nd straight game, it was the play of DJ Burns and Casey Morsell that propelled the Wolfpack to victory.
Burns is easily my favorite NC State post player in years. His old school post play is so efficient. His 17 points led the way, and he shot an insane 8 of 10 from the field. He also had 6 boards.
Casey Morsell is establishing himself as one of the best three point shooters in the nation. He scored 15 points tonight, with all of his points coming from three point buckets, hitting 5 of 7. Morsell is now shooting 48.8% from beyond the arch on the year.
Jack Clark and Terquavion Smith both scored 14 points, though neither one of them shot particularly well. Clark was 4 of 11 from the field, and 1 of 7 from three. On brand for Clark, he found other ways to contribute, leading the team in rebounds and assists, with 8 and 6 respectively. Smith was 4 of 14 from the field, but his 3 three’s (3-6) were the spark to the Wolfpack’s big run in the 2nd half. He also had 5 assists.
Jarkel Joiner also didn’t shoot well (4-11), but managed to score 13 points, hitting clutch free throws down the stretch.
The Wolfpack was a 17-point favorite, failing to cover the spread. NC State has covered the spread in only 1 of their last 8 games.
Four Factors Breakdown (NC State/Louisville)
Effective Field Goal%: 50%/55.6%
Turnover%: 11.2%/23.43
Offensive Rebound%: 37.5%/20%
Free Throw Rate: 33.9%/53.3%
NC State will play at Clemson next on December 30th at 4pm on the ACC Network.
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.
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Bonner said Mahorcic could return as early as mid January. I call bovine excrement! But if he can come back, the sky is this limit for this team.
Keatts called timeouts at critical times and the team responded. Louisville shot lights out in first half but our defense and Morsell and Burns kept us in the game. Really poured it on in 2nd half. If not for foul troubles we could have covered the spread. Winning is all that counts. A real team effort tonight. Glad to see Clark hit some shots. I love Burns. Smith dribbles me crazy. Morsell is just as valuable as Joiner.
Morsell is one of the most valuable players in the ACC, but he’s probably not going to get that recognition.
This was a critical win.
Agree on Morsell. He’s so consistent and reliable. He doesn’t force the issue. Allows the game to come to him. I love Smith but have always said, that young stallion has to get control. I want to see the same consistency and reliability from Smith. His game would be above and beyond anything that we’ve seen here in quite some time if he gained those intangibles. I would say Burns has also become (been) very reliable and consistent. He’s impressed me as well.