Did that really happen?
So it definitely wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination, but I must say watching NC State beat FSU Tuesday night was just what I needed. Tuesday’s performance by the Wolfpack proves what I’ve thought all season, NC State does in fact have the ability to compete with pretty much anybody in the ACC if it plays well. Combine that with the fact that the ACC is down, and you have the opportunity for NC State to win some games (even on the road) that some people think it shouldn’t.
That being said, here’s some highlights from the game.
- Scott Wood poured in a career-high 31 points while going 7 of 11 from behind the arc. He also pulled down seven big rebounds during his 37 minutes (wow!). If Wood can keep his shot going and start to score more consistently, it could be huge for the overall success of the offense. As teams continue to try and shut Tracy Smith down, Wood and others on the outside are going to have to continue to shoot well.
- NC State shot nearly 83% from the free throw line. Didn’t think I would ever see that this season, but once again this proves that the ability is there. Not a ton of excuses moving forward.
- Jordan Vandenberg and Richard Howell combined for 11 rebounds off the bench and Howell scored seven points.
Although most of what you can say about Tuesday’s win is positive, there are some points where NC State can improve. The most important one is turnovers. The Pack had 18 TOs Tuesday and Javi Gonzalez had six. This has to stop, soon.
One other thing I’d like to see is the ability to get the ball to Tracy Smith in different ways because teams are going to continue to double and hope other guys don’t make shots. Smith went 1 of 8 from the field and only scored seven points. Eventually there will come a time when Smith is being doubled and Soctt Wood or someone else is clanging shots off the backboard. Versatility is always good.
For those interested, here’s the box.
Also, thanks to those of you who joined the LiveBlog chat we did via Cover It Live. We had nearly 300 readers in the chat room and it seemed like there were about 50 guys typing feverishly during NC State’s win. It makes the game fun to watch, IMO. I’m going to keep working at trying to integrate the chat box into the main site rather than having a link that takes you somewhere else. We’ll do it again.
It’s amazing how much better winning feels. Especially compared to this…
Sorry, couldn’t help it.
