NC State pastes Boston College to close out regular season
N.C. State needed that.
After Wednesday’s last-second loss to Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack needed a “get right” game. Everything that went wrong against Georgia Tech went right against Boston College on Saturday.
The Wolfpack closed out the regular season with a 73-47 road romp of the Eagles at Conte Forum. It was N.C. State’s largest margin of victory in an ACC road game since a 76-40 win at Wake Forest in 2012.
“I think it’s good for us to get a win of that nature, running away like that and just really showing what we can do,” said senior Torin Dorn, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. “We’ve been in a little slump, as of late, so it was good to play like that.”
N.C. State (21-10, 9-9 ACC) had lost six of its previous 10 ACC games but pasted the Eagles (14-16, 5-13) to pick up a “Quadrant 2” win, by the NET rankings. The Wolfpack, fighting for one of the final at-large spots in the NCAA tournament, improved to 6-0 in Q2 games and 8-8 in what the NCAA selection committee considers the toughest games on its schedule.
Either way, the convincing road win was exactly what N.C. State needed to feel better about its postseason chances. It was a much better way to finish out the regular season than Wednesday’s painful 63-61 home loss to Georgia Tech.
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts isn’t quite sure what to make the NCAA’s new NET rankings or the different quadrants but he did like the way his team performed on Saturday.
“I can’t figure out, and I don’t think anybody else will, but I do know this: finishing 9-9 in this league and having 21 wins overall, that says a lot about our program right now,” Keatts said.
With the win, N.C. State finishes conference play as the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 seed Clemson (19-12, 9-9) in the ACC tournament in Charlotte on Wednesday. That game will potentially go a long way in determining N.C. State’s fate. If it can play the way it did Saturday, the Wolfpack will be in good shape to return to the NCAA tournament for the second time in as many seasons under Keatts.
“We played with a different passion and energy,” Dorn said. “Any time we play with fire like that, it is good for us.”
C.J. Bryce led the way with 14 points but it was really a group effort, including perhaps N.C. State’s most dominant half of the ACC season. After stagnating and struggling against Georgia Tech’s zone, N.C. State carved up Boston College’s attempt at replicating the Jackets’ defense.
Forward Wyatt Walker got open for a dunk on the first possession of the game, after Markell Johnson (six assists) drove to the basket. The 3-pointers, after a 8-for-35 effort against Georgia Tech, were falling, too.
Guard Braxton Beverly recovered from an 0-for-8 outing by hitting his first three 3s. A 3-pointer by freshman Jericole Hellems started a 19-2 run by the Wolfpack to break the game open. State was down 13-12 before Hellems’ 3 at 11:47 in the first half. After a short jumper by Dorn at 5:16, the Wolfpack had a 31-15 advantage.
The carnage continued in the second half with N.C. State playing the way it did earlier in the season getting out in transition and creating points with its defense. All nine players scored and eight of the nine players either had a steal or block.
Boston College actually shot worse than any of the earl-season fodder teams on N.C. State’s much-maligned nonconference schedule. The Eagles shot 26.7 percent (16 of 60), which eclipsed Maryland-Eastern Shore’s 31.5 percent effort from Nov. 10 for a season-low by a Wolfpack opponent.
“I thought this was out best defensive effort all year long,” Keatts said. “I thought our guys were completely locked in.”
And at the exact time when N.C. State needed it the most.
This story was originally published March 9, 2019 at 3:46 PM.
