NC State overpowers undermanned Boston College in 16-point rout
Boston College was woefully undermanned, and N.C. State basketball was searching for its first win since the loss of senior guard Devon Daniels to an ACL injury.
The result? A lopsided 81-65 win for the Wolfpack on Saturday, as N.C. State used a massive 37-3 run in the first half to bury the Eagles, who were playing their first game in three weeks and had just six scholarship players available.
“It was a great game, because we needed to win, especially because I wanted these guys to be to able to feel good about themselves,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts told reporters. “And then obviously, it was great because we got the big lead and I was able to get some of those younger guys some playing time at the end.”
BC was actually the team that seized the early lead, jumping out to a 5-0 advantage as the Wolfpack missed their first three shot attempts. But redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen got State going with a jumper nearly three minutes in, and from there, the Wolfpack seized complete control, a reversal from the teams’ first meeting that went down to the final minutes before N.C. State pulled out the 3-point win.
On Saturday, Boston College needed more than 12 minutes to score another six points after that 5-0 start and missed 10 consecutive 3-point attempts. And on the inside, the Eagles had no answer for N.C. State’s frontcourt of redshirt senior D.J. Funderburk, junior Jericole Hellems and redshirt sophomore Manny Bates. The Wolfpack fed them inside, and they consistently drew fouls or finished layups and dunks.
“Leading up to the game, I think coach Keatts did a good job about just burning it into our guards’ heads that we need to look in the post,” Funderburk said. “We looked at film probably like five or six times in two days to just figure out where we can get the ball to me (Jericole) and Manny, and just kind of put the team on our back as far as us three. It was just better for us to get the ball inside just because it was a size difference.”
Even a late surge from Boston College wasn’t enough to cut the State’s lead below 20 points before halftime, and the Wolfpack came back from the break and immediately went back to work, ripping off a 9-0 run to help ensure the team’s biggest ACC win of the year.
As a whole, N.C. State outscored Boston College in the paint 42-22, led by 14 points and seven rebounds each from Funderburk and Bates, as well as 11 points from Hellems.
But it was true freshman guard Shakeel Moore who led the way — in the first alone he had 11 points shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. He extended that to 19 points on 75% shooting in the second half, both career highs, while adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“Shak did a tremendous job. I asked him today to be a paint touch guy,” Keatts said. “We lost our guard who could get to the rim in Devon Daniels, and really the next guy in line who can really get to the rim and make something happen is Shakeel Moore and he went out there and he tried to execute what I wanted him to do.”
“Just felt a lot of confidence,” Moore said of his hot-shooting night. “I’ve seen the first two or three go in, playing to my strengths ... and it just built that confidence in me to keep going.”
NC STATE’S NEXT BASKETBALL GAME
Who: NC State (8-7, 4-6 ACC) vs. Syracuse (10-5, 4-4 ACC)
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
Watch: ACC Network
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 1:49 PM.