NC State Basketball
NC State Falls 58-69 on the Road Against Duke, Losing 2nd Straight
#6 NC State’s week couldn’t have gone much worse. After losing to rival UNC 70-80 on the road on Thursday, the Wolfpack lost 58-69 to Duke on the road this afternoon. Quite a few bracketologists were projecting NC State as a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before the back-t0-back losses, making two straight losses to rivals even more agonizing.
Offensively, NC State has been awful in both losses. After shooting 35.2% at UNC, the Wolfpack shot 33.3% today at Duke.
The Blue Devils dominated this game, leading every second, and managed to shoot 47% from the field.
Senior Center River Baldwin had a double-double of 14 points (4-12 FG) and 10 rebounds.
Junior Guard Aziaha James managed to score 15 points, but it wasn’t pretty, making 5 of 16 from the field. She did shoot well from deep, making 3 of 6 from three.
Junior Guard Saniya Rivers was efficient, scoring 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting. She also snagged 8 boards.
Freshman Guard Zoe Brooks was the 4th NC State player in double figures, scoring 10 points (3-9 FG). The Wolfpack were +3 with Brooks on the field, which led the team.
NC State has now lost 3 straight games to the Blue Devils. Duke had 32 points in the paint, compared to the Wolfpack’s 20.
NC State will host Syracuse on Thursday at 7pm on ACCNX.
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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Man what a bad time to finally collapse. Lose a few more and you will find yourself on the road in the NCAAT. Rivers and James need to re-evaluate their shot number and selection.