Markell Johnson’s triple-double leads NC State past The Citadel
With three days off for Christmas break waiting for N.C. State, Kevin Keatts wasn’t sure how focused his team would be at the start of Sunday’s game with The Citadel.
“This is always the toughest game to play,” Keatts said, “because you just don’t know where their minds are at.”
After a hard-fought loss to Auburn on Thursday, N.C. State was focused on going into the break on the right note. Senior guard Markell Johnson made sure the Wolfpack did.
Johnson’s triple-double led the Wolfpack to an 83-63 win over the Bulldogs. He had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the statistical rarity (only the 33rd one in ACC history).
N.C. State navigated through its most difficult nonconference stretch with wins over Wisconsin and UNC-Greensboro and losses to Memphis and Auburn. Only the Wisconsin game was at home.
There was a win at Wake Forest sandwiched in between. N.C. State needed a breather and got one against the Bulldogs (6-6), who went into the game at No. 303 in the KenPom ratings.
Devon Daniels, in his fourth start of the season, led four scorers in double-figures for the Wolfpack (9-3) with 18 points.
After a tough 79-73 loss at Auburn on Thursday, State needed a chance to play with the lights on but without its workboots.
The Wolfpack jumped out to a 22-5 lead in the first 10 minutes and led 40-22 at the half and 63-40 midway through the second half.
“I feel like we did a good job of staying on track and getting the job done,” Johnson said.
Johnson had 17 points and 10 assists in the Auburn loss but was sidetracked by foul trouble and a technical foul in the second half. He took the loss particularly hard.
“You can’t dwell on it,” Johnson said. “We know the opportunity that we had. Like coach said, we are going to get better from it.”
Keatts was encouraged in how his senior point guard processed the Auburn disappointment.
“He took the loss hard and it was good to see that,” Keatts said. “I thought he responded well.”
The Bulldogs are on the opposite end of the athletic spectrum from Auburn but they are scrappy.
Les Robinson, who was the coach and athletic director at both schools, was there on Sunday to watch two of his former schools. The Bulldogs kept scratching and clawing, against long odds, in the second half in a way that Robinson — who as N.C. State’s coach for six seasons in the 1990s — could appreciate.
Junior guard Kaiden Rice led the Bulldogs with 19 points. Junior forward Alex Reed, who helped Garner High win a state title in 2015, added 10.
The Citadel whittled what was a 23-point margin in the second half to 72-60 with 5 minutes to play but N.C. State was able to close the game with an 11-3 push.
And one
Sophomore forward Jericole Hellems snapped out of a recent funk with 13 points and five rebounds. Hellems, still dealing with the effects of a concussion suffered at Wake Forest on Dec. 7, had more fouls (four) than points (three) at Auburn.
Lane violation
Johnson subbed out of the game with 3:07 left but needed one rebound for the triple-double. He came back in 7 seconds later and then got a defensive rebound with 1:54 left. C.J. Bryce almost grabbed the rebound and spoiled the moment.
“I was about to go up and get it but then I saw him and moved out of the way real quick,” Bryce said.
ICYMI
The only potential issue for N.C. State was the health of Braxton Beverly. The junior guard injured his back while trying to get a rebound. He checked out of the game at 12:16 in the first half in noticeable pain.
He went back to the locker room for the remainder of the half but watched the second half from the team bench.
“Hopefully he’ll be fine by the time we play (Appalachian State),” Keatts said.
Making sense of the numbers
3 Freshman walk-on Chase Graham made a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left for his first college points.
3 Johnson is the third different N.C. State player to record a triple-double, joining Julius Hodge (who had one in the 2002-03 season) and Dennis Smith (who had two during the 2016-17 season).
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 7:56 PM.
