McMahon, No. 6 Louisville blast NC State
N.C. State was playing Louisville, the first-place team in the ACC and No. 6 in the country, even for about 13 minutes on Saturday.
Then Ryan McMahon happened.
The wispy, 185-pound fifth-year senior had made a total of five 3-pointers in the previous five games. With hobbled N.C. State guard Braxton Beverly trying to check him, McMahon made a career-high seven 3s to lead Louisville to a 77-57 win over N.C. State on Saturday.
McMahon made six 3s in the first half, including his first six attempts, and finished with a season-high 23 points. It wasn’t until the final seconds of the half that he had an attempt so much as touch the rim. That seventh attempt bounced in and out but by that point the Cardinals (19-3, 10-1 ACC) had built up a 41-26 lead.
“Ryan McMahon came out and hit some great shots and we really didn’t have an answer for that,” said N.C. State forward D.J. Funderburk, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Senior guard C.J. Bryce led N.C. State (14-8, 5-6 ACC) with 15 points after going the previous two games without scoring.
The first 13 minutes of the game were positive for the battered Wolfpack, which was coming off of back-to-back disappointing ACC losses.
N.C. State was trading punches with the Cards as they struggled to take care of the ball (11 turnovers in the first half). The Wolfpack had a 21-19 lead with 6:53 left in the half after a layup by Funderburk.
But McMahon caught fire as Beverly, who has been playing with a balky back, struggled to keep pace. N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts called Beverly “probably the toughest guy” on the team.
“What he’s got going on with his pain, most guys would sit out for three to four weeks,” Keatts said. “He just won’t do that. He wants to give to his team.”
McMahon entered the game shooting 42.9 percent from the 3-point line but was a combined 5 of 14 in the previous five ACC games. He averaged 7.3 points in conference play before Saturday’s outburst.
“He shot the heck out of the basketball. We knew coming into the game that he could make shots but some of the shots he made in the first half were pretty doggone good,” Keatts said.
Bryce pumped some life into the building after a four-point play at 14:34 cut Louisville’s lead to 48-43. N.C. State got as close as four points in the second half but McMahon provided the dagger with a 3 at 10:01 to put the Cards up 63-52.
“I liked my team’s fight,” Keatts said.
And one
Junior guard Devon Daniels continued his recent trend of good games for N.C. State with 12 points and five rebounds.
Lane violation
There have been plenty of undersized guards for Beverly to defend in the past five games (Virginia’s Kihei Clark, Georgia Tech’s Bubba Parham, UNC’s Andrew Platek) but Beverly hasn’t been able to hold his own. A lingering back injury has limited Beverly in practice, Keatts said.
ICYMI
Bryce made a jump shot at 7:45 and got a standing ovation. It was his first basket since the win at Virginia on Jan. 20. He went scoreless against Georgia Tech and UNC.
“I never lost any confidence in my game,” Bryce said. “Coming off of a slump, it was good for me to see the ball go in the hole.”
Bryce finished 6 of 14 with a pair of 3-pointers. he also had four rebounds in 35 minutes.
Making sense of the numbers
43-5: Louisville’s bench had a 38-point advantage with McMahon’s shooting efforts leading the way.
58.6 N.C. State’s scoring average in the past five games (it has a 2-3 record in those games).
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 4:04 PM.
