With CJ Bryce and defensive tenacity, NC State bounces back in ACC win over Miami
C.J. Bryce’s return was the most notable development for N.C. State on Wednesday night against Miami.
But the Wolfpack’s renewed defensive tenacity was the most important part of a 80-63 home win over the Hurricanes.
The Wolfpack (12-5, 3-3 ACC) got its leader back in Bryce, who missed four games with a concussion. Bryce scored six points and had five assists but N.C. State turned in its best defensive effort since a home win over Wisconsin on Dec. 4.
The Wolfpack gave up 82 points in a road win over Wake Forest, 81 in a road loss to Clemson, 68 in a home win over Notre Dame and 72 to Virginia Tech. The Wolfpack had no answer for Virginia Tech star Landers Nolley in a 72-58 loss this past Saturday. Miami (10-6, 2-4 ACC) got 20 points from guard Chris Lykes but the rest of the lineup was mostly held in check.
Miami shot 3 for 16 from the 3-point line and the Canes’ leading scorer, Kameron McGusty, was limited to a season-low two points.
“We relied on our defense, even though our offense wasn’t scoring,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said of his team’s slow start on the offensive end.
Miami led 25-23 before N.C. State closed the first half with a 10-0 run to take a 33-25 lead at the break. With 19 points from D.J. Funderburk and 15 from Devon Daniels, N.C. State was able to push its advantage to double-digits by the 16:18 mark and keep the Hurricanes at bay.
Bryce, playing for the first time since Dec. 22, came off the bench at the first media timeout but was limited to 5 minutes in the first half because he picked up two early fouls.
He did make his first shot attempt, a jumper from the foul line, at 12:10 in the second half, to give the Wolfpack a 52-40 lead. Bryce finished 3 of 5 for six points with two rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes.
It was the second time Keatts has had his full lineup in six ACC games. Bryce got hurt before the Dec. 29 home win over Appalachian State and the team went 1-2 in ACC games without him.
“It was good to have a full team,” Keatts said.
And one
Daniels had his best ACC game with 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting and two steals in 29 minutes. Daniels was instrumental in holding McGusty to 13 points below his season average.
Lane violation
Junior guard Braxton Beverly missed his first five shots but finished 2 of 10 with six points. Beverly has struggled with his shot recently but is still shooting 37.9 percent from 3 in ACC play.
ICYMI
After shooting 33.3 percent in the first half (11 of 33), N.C. State made 64.3 percent of its shots (18 of 28) in the second half. Getting the ball to the basket, and feeding Funderburk inside (12 of his 19 points came in the second half), helped jolt the offense.
Making sense of the numbers
11.5 In the past two ACC home games, sophomore forward Jericole Hellems averages 11.5 points per game — both N.C. State wins. In the past two ACC road games, Hellems has added 7.5 points per game — both N.C. State losses.
17 N.C. State won by 17 points. It had three ACC wins by double digits last season, all after January. Wednesday was N.C. State’s first double-digit ACC win of the season.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 8:59 PM.
