NC State basketball’s season ends with loss to Colorado State in NIT quarterfinal
Somehow, someway, N.C. State had a chance.
Despite playing a poor second half against Colorado State in the NIT quarterfinal, the Wolfpack found itself with the ball, down two with 22.6 seconds left.
It got a clean look from the top of the key, a 3-pointer off the curl from Jericole Hellems. The shot bounced off the rim and so ended N.C. State’s season, a 65-61 loss to the Rams on Thursday night.
The Rams (20-6) closed the game out at the foul line, getting two big free throws from Kendle Moore.
N.C. State ended the year at 14-11 and missed out on a chance to rally against Colorado State despite struggling most of the night.
“Hats go off to Colorado State,” N.C. State head coach Kevin Keatts said. “I thought they played well. They made some plays down the stretch. I feel bad for our seniors, but at the end of the day I told those guys I love everybody for their fight.”
Hellems and Shakeel Moore scored six straight for N.C. State to make it a four-point CSU lead with 4:22 remaining. Cam Hayes hit four free throws and Hellems hit a 3 from the corner to make it a two-point CSU lead. But the Rams answered with a turnaround jumper from David Roddy with 1:17 left in the game.
Hayes hit three straight foul shots to pull within three with 3:27 remaining. But Manny Bates was called for goaltending on the other end, extending the Rams’ lead to five.
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It was that kind of night for N.C. State. Colorado State, looking for an upset over an ACC team, played with more fire in the second half. The Bates’ goaltending play came after an air ball from Isaiah Stevens and James Moors came out of nowhere for the putback.
N.C. State started the game by scoring the first seven points, all from senior forward D.J. Funderburk. The Rams started the game 0 of 5 from the field.
Funderburk made it a two-point game with a dunk with less than a minute to play. Stevens missed a driving layup, giving the ball back to the Wolfpack with 22.6 left.
The 6-11 Funderburk had 11 points in the first half, but went missing in the second. He finished with 13 points after it appeared he was the best player on the floor in the opening minutes of the game. Funderburk and Manny Bates combined for 26 points.
Going back to the Davidson game in the opening round of the NIT, the inside duo shot 27 of 31 from the floor. But the Rams made an adjustment to keep the ball from getting inside. CSU was willing to let the rest of the Wolfpack beat it and the supporting cast wasn’t up to the task.
“They (CSU) made adjustments,” Keatts said. “Without Braxton Beverly we lost one of our shooters, so it’s easy to sag off those guys who don’t shoot the ball as well. They packed the paint a little bit in the second half.”
Hellems finished with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He was 2 of 8 from 3, including the last attempt where he was the first option. Keatts leaned heavily on the freshman trio of Dereon Seabron, Shakeel Moore and Cam Hayes with Beverly missing the game, but the rookies were a combined 6 of 25 from the field. They had almost as many turnovers (12) as combined points (17).
“I’m not going to define them because they didn’t have great games,” Keatts said. “I’m glad we came to the NIT; I think we learned a lot from it. Now we have to build on it.”
CSU shot 1 of 15 from 3 in the first half, but shot 60% from the floor in the second half, outscoring the Pack 40-33 after intermission.
Stevens, who had six points in the first half, finished with a game-high 18, one of three Rams in double figures. Moore (16) and David Roddy (16) also shook off slow starts, rallying in the second half to send N.C. State home.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 7:03 PM.
