Jericole Hellems lifts NC State to ‘Challenge’ win over Wisconsin
Wisconsin kept leaving Jericole Hellems open.
The N.C. State sophomore just kept making shots. One after another, he popped in four 3-pointers and a career-high 23 points in the Wolfpack’s 69-54 win over the Badgers.
It was a bit of revenge for the Wolfpack (6-2), who lost at Wisconsin last year in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
A complete team defensive effort and a hot-shooting hand from Hellems gave N.C. State the win this time.
Hellems was not a scouting-report priority for the Badgers (4-4). The 6-7 sophomore from St. Louis didn’t blame them. He only had two points in 10 minutes against Wisconsin last season.
“I think last year they didn’t see a lot in my game,” said Hellems, who finished 8 of 13 from the floor and added four rebounds. “This year they got to see a little bit.”
Actually it was a lot. Hellems matched his season total in 3-pointers made. He eclipsed his career-high in scoring for the second straight game.
He was N.C. State’s best player in its 83-78 loss to Memphis on Thanksgiving. He had a career-best six assists in the game before the Memphis loss.
Hellems has a knuckle-ball jumper but also a knack for being in the right spot on both ends of the floor.
“He just plays hard,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said. “A lot of his stuff is coming because he has bought in on the defensive end.”
N.C. State limited Wisconsin to 21.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line for the game and 24 points in the second half.
A halfcourt buzzer-beater from guard Markell Johnson 12 points) was the only difference between the two teams at the half. The Wolfpack led 32-30 at the break and then Hellems made his first 3 of the second half.
The Badgers, normally noted for their defense, were giving Hellems room to shoot and he made them pay. Hellems went into the game shooting 23.5 percent (4 of 17) from the 3-point line. He finished 4 of 6 on Wednesday night.
“That is the best I have ever seen Hellems play, especially in the way that he shot the ball,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “He hit a couple of easy ones early, which then made the harder ones that followed come easier and more makeable.”
Hellems had some help. Junior guard Braxton Beverly had a key sequence where he made three straight baskets. His layup at 13:27 put the Wolfpack up 48-39. They kept their cushion for basically the rest of the way.
And One
Freshman forward Manny Bates only scored two points but he held his own against Wisconsin’s top scorer, Nate Reuvers (11 points).
Bates blocked three shots and adds an element on defense that had been missing from Keatts’ first two teams. He was a plus-15 in 19 minutes on the floor.
Lane violation
Hellems went 4 of 6 from the 3-point line but the rest of the team was 4 of 16.
ICYMI
C.J. Bryce didn’t start for the first time this season. He came off the bench at 17:12 in the first half and finished with 11 points in 31 minutes. Keatts said the reason Bryce didn’t start was because had missed a film session on Tuesday night.
“I thought he handled it,” Keatts said. “I wanted to see if he would pout about it and I don’t think he did.”
Making sense of the numbers
1 That was N.C. State’s first win over a major conference opponent and first over a top-75 team in the KenPom rankings.
1-3 N.C. State’s record vs. Wisconsin. The Badgers beat the Wolfpack in two previous ACC-Big Ten Challenge meetings and in the 2005 NCAA tournament.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 11:08 PM.
