UNC 81 NC State 79 — The Day After

The N&O’s headline read something like — ‘Close Call. Familiar Result.’ Can’t argue that.

 

Slow Start

Of their various articles, the N&O focused on how State’s slow start doomed the Pack. They’ve got that partly right. Unfortunately, a major part of the slow start can be attributed to the fact that Ralston Turner sat on the bench for much of the first half with three fouls. State was +12 points against Carolina for the game when Turner was on the court…so, his absence in the first half was HUGE.

The Wolfpack (12-6, 3-2 ACC) was sluggish in the first half, “in slow motion” is how Gottfried put it. N.C. State shot 33.3 percent and worse, allowed the Tar Heels (13-4, 3-1) to make 58.3 percent of their shots.

“I was disappointed at halftime,” Gottfried said. “I didn’t think in the first half that we had the movement, the quickness.”

UNC led 32-26 at the half and then made six of its first eight shots to start the second half.

But N.C. State found a spark in the second half on offense. Junior guard Trevor Lacey had 17 of his 19 points in the second half. The Wolfpack shot 51.5 percent in the second half and scored 53 points. It’s the most points N.C. State has scored in a half this season, topping the 50 it had in the second half of Sunday’s 87-75 win against Duke.

 

Defense

State’s defense left a lot to be desired on Wednesday night. A LOT. Coach Gottfried commented after the game that the difference on Wednesday was UNC-CH’s SEVENTEEN field goals in the paint by their post players. Can’t argue that. While State has to get better defensively inside, the perimeter players have to do a better job stopping penetration from the guards to make it harder to get the ball down low.

 

Ineffective Point Guard Play

Without being too critical, what can be said about Cat Barber’s struggles to find his rhythm running the Wolfpack’s offense? For the second game in a row, State’s offense functioned significantly better with Cody Martin on the floor and Trevor Lacey running the point guard position with Barber on the bench. At the end of last season, Barber’s emergence as an effective offensive contributor made a HUGE difference in State’s late season emergence as a better team. We can only hope that Barber can find his gear and find a way to contribute 8 to 12 “free” points a game that we simply aren’t getting today.

 

Officiating

I can’t believe that I’ve seen so many CAROLINA fans complaining about the officiating from last night. Really?

The first half was a pretty evenly and consistently officiated affair. But, as is often the case with ACC referees, the second half seemed to be a completely different ball game. In the end, State didn’t get robbed like we did last year…because, who can forget this:

…but, it sure did suck to have so many KEY calls go against us while it felt like the Carolina side of the equation was never that impactful. I guess the fact that they were holding the lead played a role in this.

Multiple fouls on BeeJay Anya — particularly the important 5th foul (see below) — were awful. Please tell me what might have happened if Anya’s wingspan had been available to the Pack to (a) tip that last free throw in and and force overtime, and (b) to help defensively at the end of the game and make scoring a different story for the Tar heels.

5th foul on BeeJay Anya https://t.co/akRdsEGFCl

— Pack Pride (@PackPride) January 15, 2015

UNC basketball made more tackles vs NC State tonight than their football team.

— Wuf (@OneManWufpack) January 15, 2015

 

The Future

Now that all is said and done with the murderer’s row of Virginia-Duke-UNC, the Pack would REALLY benefit by winning at least one of the next two at Florida State and/or Miami. Of course, a sweep in Florida would propel State into a comfortable zone regarding NCAA Tournament positioning.

NC State sits at #43 in the RPI having played the 6th toughest schedule in America.

— statefansnation (@statefansnation) January 15, 2015

Of the Pack's 13 remaining games, Pomeroy is predicting that eight will be decided by 3 points or less. Fun.

— Austin Johnson (@austin_johnson) January 15, 2015

 

Highlights

The following are some highlights from the exciting game. Even if you aren’t dying to relive the past, go ahead and click on it and let it run so that we can deliver “watches” to our sponsors. Thanks.