No Duke encore. NC State falls to Florida State
N.C. State had a five-point lead at halftime against Florida State on Saturday.
The Seminoles, No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the NET rankings, were able to ride an early surge in the second half to a 67-61 road win.
How? Depends who you ask.
N.C. State (17-10, 8-8 ACC) came out sharp after Wednesday’s dominant win over No. 6 Duke. The Wolfpack controlled the first half. Then the Seminoles (23-4, 13-3 ACC) took over control of the game.
FSU pointed to its switch to a zone defense and being more aggressive in both driving the ball to the basket and on the offensive glass. N.C. State guard C.J. Bryce noted the rebounding issue and guard Markell Johnson said the zone slowed the Wolfpack offense down.
But Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts, who picked up his first technical foul of the season in the second half, had a different thought.
“It’s going to be really hard for us to beat any team when they take 16 more free throws than we do,” Keatts said.
FSU took 24 of its 29 free throws after it fell behind 42-37 at the half. For the game, FSU was 18 of 29 from the foul line. N.C. State was 9 of 13. Twelve of FSU’s 24 second-half attempts came in the final 1:37 of the game, though, when N.C. State was trying to foul.
Part of the discrepancy can be chalked up to FSU’s decision to take the ball to the basket instead of settling for 3-point attempts.
“It’s understanding a lot of guys on our team can really drive the ball, big strong bodies,” said FSU guard M.J. Walker, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half. “We’ve got to take advantage of that. We’ve got to make sure we’re aggressive and making plays out there.”
The Noles were definitely aggressive, a little too aggressive on the defensive end for Keatts’ liking. When Johnson drove to the basket, at 9:22 in the second half, and was challenged by FSU forward Malik Osborne but there wasn’t a foul called, Keatts got a technical foul.
Referee Lee Cassell called the technical on Keatts and Patrick Williams made both free throws that went with it to give the Noles a 55-48 lead.
At 8:08, Keatts called a timeout to try to settle down but he spent the bulk of the stoppage staring at Cassell from just outside the huddle.
During the break, Keatts shouted to Cassell: “Nine to two,” which was the foul count, in FSU’s favor, at the time.
For the game, N.C. State was called for 21 fouls, compared to 15 for FSU. The Wolfpack was called for five fouls in the first half, compared to 10 for FSU.
“I’m going to fight for my guys every time,” Keatts said. “I didn’t think that we got the same call that they got. I’m not accusing anybody of cheating, I’m not doing that, but the bottom line is I had two guys foul out of the game.”
Cassell, standing about 20 feet away, never looked at Keatts. The Noles didn’t look back, either.
And one
Junior guard Devon Daniels led the Wolfpack with points (18) and floor burns. He was all over the place and playing with a reckless abandon. He also had nine rebounds for the second straight game.
Lane violation
Johnson and forward D.J. Funderburk had some foul issues and neither was as involved as they were in the Duke win. They combined for 49 points and 18 rebounds against Duke. They had 16 points and six rebounds on Saturday before they fouled out.
Funderburk’s fourth foul, at 16:54 in the second half — with N.C. State up 35-34 — was a game-changer.
FSU had an 8-4 advantage on the offensive glass in the second half and 23-17 overall. When the second-half rebounding numbers were pointed out to Keatts, he said: “It’s hard for us to get offensive rebounds when our best rebounder is on the bench with 16 minutes to go. D.J. Funderburk is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league and he’s sitting there. It’s a big difference.”
ICYMI
Sophomore forward Jericole Hellems had an active game with 14 points and seven rebounds. It was the third time in the past four ACC games he has come off the bench and scored in double-figures. He was the main reason N.C. State’s bench played FSU’s to standstill (22 points each).
Making sense of the numbers
17-35 FSU made 17 of its 35 2-point attempts (48.5 percent). It was a smart move to attack the basket more in the second half. The Noles were only 5 of 19 on 3-pointers (26.3 percent).
5 Bryce finished 2 of 12 from the floor and with five points. After scoring 15-22-19-15 in consecutive games, Bryce has 12 in the past two games and made only 5 of 22 shots.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 6:04 PM.
