Disjointed schedule gives NC State plenty of time to think

N.C. State’s basketball schedule feels more like a football schedule.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, not during the holiday lull of December, but it’s not really a good thing, either.

The Wolfpack wrapped up its nonconference schedule on Sunday with a 72-60 home win over Appalachian State.

It played last Sunday and then this Sunday but won’t play again until Saturday. Since a mid-week trip to Auburn on Dec. 19, it has been one game a week.

Some Wolfpack players are indifferent to the disjointed schedule.

“I really don’t worry too much about the schedule,” junior guard Devon Daniels said. “Whenever the game is, I’m going to try to be ready.”

Daniels was ready on Sunday. He had 18 points, 11 rebounds and four steals in 36 minutes. He was dominant against the Mountaineers. For N.C. State to return to the NCAA tournament this season, Daniels needs to figure out how to translate his Sun Belt prowess to the ACC.

Other players, as you might expect, prefer to play more games.

Duh.

“I don’t like it at all,” senior guard Markell Johnson said.

Johnson nearly backed up his triple-double in last Sunday’s win over The Citadel with another. He had 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

N.C. State has one more Sunday game scheduled this season. Mark your calendar for Johnson’s triple-double watch at Boston College on Feb. 16.

Even Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts isn’t a big fan of the stop-and-go. There is some break to be expected for the holidays and exams.

The blame falls on the 20-game ACC schedule with two of those already out of the way there’s no room this week for a midweek tilt.

N.C. State will resume its league schedule, and from here on out play only league games until the postseason, with a trip to Clemson on Saturday.

As much as Keatts likes practice (all coaches do), even he’s ready to get back in the midweek game/weekend game flow of the season.

“It’s a little weird,” Keatts said of his schedule to close out the 2019 portion of the season. “It’s hard. I hope it’s just this year.”

With 20 league games, there’s bound to be some quirks. Throw in the hoops the ACC has to jump through with the NHL to square the PNC Arena calendar and it’s probably not going to be a one-off.

But classes will be back soon and the schedule will pick back up. After 11 games outside the ACC (and a 9-2 record in those games), Keatts feels good about where his team is with 2020 on the horizon.

“I like our nonconference schedule,” Keatts said. “I thought we got something really good out of it. We are prepared to go into ACC play. ACC play is tough. Our guys have to be physically and mentally ready to play.”

They’ve had plenty of time to think about it.

This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 8:01 PM.