NC State Basketball
NC State’s 2nd Half Meltdown Leads to 86-95 Loss to BYU in Vegas (Box Score Included)
What a meltdown. NC State led against BYU for 29:21 out of 40 minutes, but ultimately fell to the Cougars 86-95.
For the first three quarters of this game, NC State was leading against BYU, but the unraveling began earlier in the 2nd half.
Vanderbilt lives and dies by the three point shot. In the first half, the Wolfpack held them to 26% shooting from beyond the arch. In the 2nd half, they shot 60% from three-point land. Most of these three-pointers were uncontested, because NC State was unable to push through screens, over pursued the passing lanes, ultimately leaving BYU shooters open on skip passes.
Also, BYU shot an insane 70% in the 2nd half. Yes, the Cougars were shooting lights out, but the Wolfpack started taking ill advised shots, and didn’t feed Burns or take high percentage shots as BYU started cooking, making it difficult to squash their momentum.
Look, I could talk about the referees. In fact, lets do that for a second. The ejection of Ben Middlebrooks and KJ Keatts was bizarre. Dennis Parker Jr. was simply trying to help up his fallen teammate, but was forcibly blocked by BYU players, who wouldn’t let him through their barricade. A media timeout was called, and the coaches and players started walking onto the court, while simultaneously tensions were rising a few feet away. As a result, Middlebrooks and Keatts were ejected for leaving the bench during an on-court scuffle.
Then in the final minutes, Jayden Taylor was issued an odd technical foul for trying to get through a screen, which seemed like a makeup call from him being chatty with the refs earlier. Then, he somehow was issued a technical foul from the bench a few plays later, and head coach Kevin Keatts was somehow ejected after one technical, for passionately expressing his dislike for the ejection of Taylor.
Father and Son ejection. Someone figure out the last time that happened in college basketball.
Silly stuff happening in Vegas.
Despite the unraveling, the way NC State played against a quality opponent away from home for 3/4 of a game was impressive. Unfortunately, it takes 4/4 of a game to win.
Let me throw out some props, since this has been laced thick with frustration.
Senior Guard Casey Morsell had 28 points, which was a career high. Morsell shot 10 of 17 from the field, 3 of 6 from three, and led the team with 4 steals.
Junior Guard Jayden Taylor had 17 of his own, shooting an impressive 6 of 10 from the field and 3 of 6 from three.
Senior big man DJ Burns was able to score with ease when given the ball (If you can’t tell, I think our unraveling was due to guards forcibly taking poor shots instead of feeding Burns.), scoring 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Burns also led the team with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Senior Guard DJ Horne also had 14 points, hitting 4 of his 7 three-point attempts, though he only shot 5 of 14 from the field. Horne was 1 of 7 on 2-point field goal attempts.
The Wolfpack only turned the ball over 9 times, and turned BYU over 17 times. They took 2 more free throw attempts than the Cougars.
Simply put, BYU couldn’t miss in the 2nd half. It wasn’t a lack of effort on the defensive end by NC State, but a lack of discipline on the defensive end.
This sounds cliche, but this put a lot on film to learn from, and there’s a lot to learn. This team has a lot going for it, but many of these players are new to each other, and that showed in the final 10 minutes of the game. A lack of cohesion and chemistry was revealed under pressure, but I expect this team to grow in these areas. Their effort was never in question.
NC State will head down to Mississippi to play Ole Miss in the ACC/SEC challenge next Tuesday night at 9pm.
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.
The Pools for the 2024 ACC Baseball Tournament Have Been Set
#17 NC State’s Late Game Heroics Strike Again, Defeating #8 Wake Forest 9-6 to Complete the Sweep
With a Win Today, #17 NC State Will Secure a Top-4 Spot in the 2024 ACC Baseball Tournament
NC State Hosting a Regional in the 2024 NCAA Tournament is Looking Likely
#17 NC State Walks-It-Off for the 2nd Night in a Row Against #8 Wake Forest, Winning 2-1
NC State’s Current 2024 Football Scholarship Breakdown
NC State Makes Top-4 for Georgia Transfer Center Frank Anselem-Ibe, Decision Coming Tuesday
Georgia Center Transfer Frank Anselem-Ibe Visited NC State this Week
Former NC State Forward Ernest Ross Commits to UTSA
Colorado NT Chazz Wallace Commits to NC State!
2024 NC State Commit Trey Parker Finishes 2nd in OTE Dunk Contest
VIDEO BREAKDOWN: Was BYU 3 point barrage unstoppable, or was NC State’s defense to blame? You decide.
VIDEO: Terquavion Smith GOES OFF in G-League Debut with 37 points & 8 Boards
NC State lands combo guard DJ Horne from the portal
Where are you, thenewclass13? Did you watch the game last night. See any improvement in discipline of the players or coaches? Depth is still missing in areas of need (ie, bigs). Undisciplined defense is what I saw after the first 10 minutes of the game. Same crap from KK. How long is the Pack Nation going to support this fool?
The criticism Keatts receives is wild. A majority of this team is new to State. They were undefeated until last night. They showed a lot of skill and determination throughout the entire game. Are there areas of improvement? Of course, but to lay this terrible reffed and street ball game that BYU got away with at the feet of Coach is insane. People that want Keatts gone expect a coach like K. Lets be better and support a team that is doing better than they have in years instead of crying for one iffy quarter of the game.
You know as well as I do KK can’t coach the style of basketball that it takes to win important games. This AAU style is not going to work when you don’t have the bigs to protect the basket. You either do one of two things like cover the three and not the rim or protect the paint and give up the three. Recruiting is the key and keeping good players at State.