Your “And Then, Depression Set In” Miami Open Thread

Wow, that was an ugly 8+ minutes, huh?

75-59, 8:45 (give or take) to play.

At Home.

We Gott dis.

We don’t Gott dis?

John Gillon – 43 pts

Instant reactions: NC State drops overtime loss to Syracuse (NewsObserver.com)

1) John who?

John Gillon spent a year at Arkansas-Little Rock and three at Colorado State before transferring to Syracuse this year. The 6-foot point guard had played in 117 college basketball games before Wednesday night and never scored 30 points in a game.

Gillon had 43 in Syracuse’s 100-93 overtime win at N.C. State. He was an incredible 9 of 10 from the 3-point line and perfect 14 of 14 from the foul line. Gillon also threw in nine assists for good measure.

He entered the game with an 8.9 scoring average but did have 21 points and 11 assists in Syracuse’s win over Florida State on Saturday. Still, in Syracuse’s first nine ACC games, Gillon was 12 of 38 from the 3-point line. He nearly matched that total on Wednesday.

Crazy to think I’ve seen Steph Curry score 40 points here in an NCAA tournament game (on eight 3s) and Marcus Paige light the place with seven 3s in a half but Gillon’s performance topped them all.

2) Rolling hot, stopped cold

N.C. State couldn’t have played any better than it did in the first 12 minutes of the second half. Dennis Smith Jr. (15 assists) was dealing, Maverick Rowan (31 points) and Terry Henderson (16 points) were both hitting from outside and forward Abdul-Malik Abu was scoring inside.

[snip]

The problem for N.C. State is the mathematical reality of the situation. At 3-7 in the ACC, the Wolfpack is more than likely going to be playing on Tuesday in the ACC tournament. That’s not good.

There are no gimmes left and they can’t take care of business at home (losing to Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and now Syracuse). That’s not good either.

‘Nuff said.

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Miami at NC State

I don’t have much to say about Miami or this game. We already made them look like world beaters once this season. You ‘member that, right?

Hopefully we don’t do it again. But also we might do it again.

Tipoff: Saturday, February 4th, 3pm

Coverage: ACCNetwork (Locally on WRAL5)

Other Affiliates

Three to know: Miami at N.C. State (FayObserver.com)

1. We gotta guard them, too

When the story of this season is written, the lack of improvement on the defensive end will likely be what’s pointed to as this team’s fatal flaw. It was a worry when, in nonconference play, small-conference schools kept pace with the Wolfpack and name-brand foes had scoring binges.

It’s only gotten worse in ACC play. Conference opponents are shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Wolfpack’s league foes are averaging 86 points per game.

Overall, N.C. State ranks 199th out of 351 teams in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com.

Too often, the Wolfpack seems to lack effort when playing man-to-man and cohesion when it goes to any zone look. That showed on Wednesday night when Syracuse’s John Gillon, who scored a PNC Arena record 43 points, had no trouble getting open and almost single-handedly brought the Orange back from a 16-point hole to win 100-93 in overtime.

2. Return match

The Wolfpack and Hurricanes have already tangled once this season with Miami taking an 81-63 win on Dec. 31 in Coral Gables.

Led by forward Kamari Murphy, who had a double-double, the Hurricanes outrebounded the Wolfpack 41-33 and notched 40 points in the paint.

But the most intriguing part of the game was the matchup between Fayetteville freshman Dennis Smith Jr. and Miami’s Ja’Quan Newton. In his ACC debut, the Wolfpack’s point guard didn’t disappoint, putting up 21 points and five rebounds. But Newton was up for the challenge, registering 21 points of his own.

Miami Hurricanes at North Carolina State: Live Streaming and Game Info (CanesWarning.com)

Miami and North Carolina State previously met in the ACC opener on New Year’s Eve at the Watsco Center. The Hurricanes doubled a nine point halftime lead in the second half on their way to an 81-63 victory.

Newton lead Miami with 21, Reed had 20 and Brown 17. Kamari Murphy also finished in double figures with 11. The Hurricanes shot 47.7 percent from the floor and held NC State to 38.9 percent. The Wolfpack did make 10 of their 23 three-point attempts. Miami was also dominant on the boards with a 41-33 advantage.

Lack of scoring outside the big three and turnovers have plagued Miami all season. In the last meeting, the Hurricanes committed only eight turnovers against the Wolfpack. If they can keep the turnovers down and dominate the rebounding, they should be in the game late.

North Carolina State has great balance with five players averaging in double figures. They are led by freshman sensation Dennis Smith Jr. Smith averages 18.7 points per game, 6.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals. He is listed as the consensus fourth pick in the NBA draft in June according to NBADraft.Net.

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