Halfcourt buzzer-beater pushes NC State basketball team past UNCG
All good shooters have their own “spot.”
Markell Johnson’s just happens to be at halfcourt.
The N.C. State senior guard made another halfcourt shot, this one at the buzzer to beat UNC-Greensboro 80-77 on the road on Sunday.
“It just felt like it was right,” Johnson said of his buzzer-beater, which gave the Wolfpack (8-2) its third straight win.
It was the second loss at the buzzer on a halfcourt shot in the past month for the hard-luck Spartans (8-3), who lost the same way to Montana State.
Johnson made a similar shot before the end of the half in N.C. State’s win over Wisconsin on Dec. 4. He usually ends practice by taking a halfcourt shot.
“I haven’t made it in practice since the Wisconsin game,” Johnson said.
He was just saving it for the game. It was needed for a hard-fought win over the Spartans. UNCG fell behind by double-digits in each half and both times rallied back. Junior guard Isaiah Miller (26 points) made a tough shot in the lane over Johnson with 2.1 seconds left to tie it up at 77.
Then Johnson went to work. He got a quick inbounds pass from Jericole Hellems and then took one dribble. He stepped into the game-winning shot, which was on line the whole time and swished through the net. Johnson’s halfcourt shot against Wisconsin banked in.
“It’s the second time this year I’ve drawn up a play for Markell Johnson to make a (halfcourt) shot,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts joked. “So I’m a heckuva coach for that.”
Forward Pat Andree, who made five conventional 3-pointers and had a season-high 15 points, said the rest of the N.C. State players felt oddly confident when Johnson launched the shot.
“We’ve seen him do that,” Andree said. “It’s crazy to hear all of the guys on our team and he can throw up a 50-, 60-footer and we’ll all still think it’s going in.”
The ACC tournament will be here in March and more than good vibes for that return trip, N.C. State was hoping to continue its recent stretch of improved play.
With Hellems banged up at the end of a 91-82 win at Wake Forest on Dec. 7 and missing most of practice this week recovering from a concussion, Andree filled in his spot in the starting lineup.
The graduate transfer had started the opener, an 82-81 loss to Georgia Tech on Nov. 5, but hadn’t quite found his niche since.
He was a pure shooter at Lehigh the past two seasons, making 42.5 percent of his 3s, and Keatts had hoped that Andree would be able to do the same for the Wolfpack.
“It was my job to come in and step up,” Andree said. “Cole has been out for a little bit, obviously with what happened last week. It was my job to come in and be a graduate senior, bring some leadership and hit some shots when I’m open.”
Andree buried his first two 3-pointers of the game and N.C. State never trailed in the first half. It led by as many as 12 points, but Kryin Galloway (13 points) and Keyshaun Langley (12) were able to lead a surge for the Spartans.
Galloway’s 3 at 18:51 in the second half gave UNCG a 43-38 lead. The Spartans would make only one more 3-pointer the rest of the game.
N.C. State took UNCG’s punch and answered back. Andree made two more 3s and then a D.J. Funderburk dunk at 11:55 gave the Wolfpack a 61-51 lead.
UNCG, which won at Georgetown on Nov. 30, didn’t go away. Miller kept the Spartans within striking distance but Galloway missed an open 3 with 18 seconds left.
“There were ups and downs in the game,” Keatts said. “I thought we made some big plays down the stretch.”
And one
Senior guard C.J. Bryce had 17 points, none bigger than a corner 3 with 3:47 left to put N.C. State up 75-71. Bryce also had three steals, including a key one with 1:04 left.
Lane Violation
N.C. State was out-rebounded 37 to 23 and had only two offensive rebounds. Freshman forward Manny Bates blocked three shots but he struggled with only one rebound in 27 minutes while mostly matched up with James Dickey, an athletic senior.
ICYMI
Devon Daniels got a technical foul from referee Brent Hampton at 9:34 in the second half. N.C. State was up 65-54 before the call. The Spartans whittled the margin down to four points over the next 3 minutes.
“Whatever happened, he shouldn’t have said anything,” Keatts said. “I don’t know what he said. I don’t know when he said it but that’s not us.”
Making sense of the numbers
1 UNCG made one of its final 11 3-point attempts but finished 11 of 24 for the game.
61.5 N.C. State made 16 of 26 shots in the second half and was 7 of 14 from the 3-point line.
This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 5:06 PM.
