Jericole Hellems leads NC State basketball to easy win over North Florida
Kevin Keatts took Devon Daniels out of the starting lineup versus North Florida.
Jericole Hellems started in his place and picked up where Daniels left off on Wednesday. Hellems, the junior making the 17th start of his career, scored 17 points to lead the Wolfpack to a 86-51 win over North Florida on Friday.
Daniels scored a career-high 29 points against Charleston Southern in the opener, but was the first man off the bench against the Ospreys (0-2). Hellems picked up the scoring slack, giving Keatts, the Wolfpack coach, another offensive option the rest of the season.
“Coach talked to us about coming on and off the bench,” Hellems said. “It doesn’t necessarily matter, it just matters what you do while you’re on the court. I was just worried about producing and helping the team win.”
It was the 21st game in Hellem’s career that he scored 10 points or more.
Hellems got plenty of help from freshman guard Cam Hayes, who scored 13 in just the second game of his Wolfpack career. The Greensboro Day product had a quiet four points in the first half, but went on a personal 7-0 run in the second half to push the N.C. State (2-0) lead to 24.
The Wolfpack defense continued to impress. After forcing 32 turnovers on Wednesday, N.C. State held North Florida scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half. That allowed the Wolfpack to build its lead to 18.
“I thought we got better,” Keatts said. “What I wanted to see is if we could put together a couple of halves where we played extremely hard, and I think we did. In these last couple of games the good thing is we’ve been able to show our depth.”
Nine Wolfpack players played 12 minutes or more
The Ospreys never led in the game, but did make it interesting a few times in the first half. Led by guard Carter Hendricksen, North Florida scored enough in the first half to keep it close, pulling to within three at the 11:55 mark. But Hellems and company wouldn’t let the Ospreys get any closer. The Wolfpack went on an 11-2 run to go back up by double digits and finished the half strong, sparked by a three from Hellems and an old-fashioned three-point play from senior forward D.J. Funderburk.
Thomas Allen and Hellems started the second half with consecutive buckets before N.C. State missed its next three from the floor. That’s when Hayes found his groove. He knocked down a wide open three, then scored on a pair of impressive step-back jumpers from just inside the three-point line.
“I think it was confidence,” Hayes said. “I played hard the last game, but my shots weren’t falling. Once that first one went in I felt more confident shooting the ball today.”
Hayes shot 6-of-8 from the floor and also led the team in assists with six.
On Wednesday, the Wolfpack had three players finish in double-digits. Keatts had four on Friday, led by Hellems, who connected on seven field goals. Hayes had 13, Funderburk finished with 11 and Manny Bates had 10 to go along with six blocks.
The Wolfpack defense locked in on Hendricksen in the second half, holding him scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting from the field.
N.C. State has outscored its two opponents 96-53 in the second half through two games.
AND ONE
N.C. State is 33-6 against non-conference opponents under Keatts.
LANE VIOLATION
North Florida had double-digit turnovers for the second straight game. The Ospreys had 21 on Wednesday and 19 versus the Wolfpack.
ICYMI
True freshman Nick Farrar missed his second straight game. He didn’t dress out on Wednesday, but was in uniform and warmed up with the team on Friday. Farrar is expected to be available to play on Monday versus William & Mary.
MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS
22-2: N.C. State’s record at Reynolds since the start of the 1999-2000 season.
14-1: N.C. State’s all-time record against the Atlantic Sun conference.
6: Number of blocked shots by Wolfpack sophomore Manny Bates.
51: Number of turnovers N.C. State has forced in two games.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 7:29 PM.
