N.C. State basketball falls to Richmond in Charlotte, 83-74. Here’s what we learned
It appears it’s never going to be easy for N.C. State.
Not against Purdue, or Bethune-Cookman, or Richmond. Regardless of the opponent, it seems every night is an uphill battle for the young and undermanned Wolfpack.
Most nights, N.C. State’s opponent will be bigger, deeper, older. Richmond was all three and it showed. The Spiders used all of those things to their advantage Friday night in the Spectrum Center. Richmond won its fourth game and it’s first ever over the Wolfpack, 83-74.
N.C. State trailed by 10 before rallying to cut the deficit to two, 72-70, after a dunk from Dereon Seabron. But Richmond big man Grant Golden answered on the other end. Seabron had a chance to cut into the lead again, but missed a pair of free throws.
The Wolfpack shot 15-26 from the line in the second half and 62 percent for the game.
Dowuona hit one to make it a three-point game, but Jacob Gilyard found himself all alone on a backdoor cut. That happened way too often against the N.C. State defense on Friday.
Richmond scored 46 points in the paint, mostly off of the Princeton-style backdoor cuts.
The Spiders took the lead for the first time at the 3:47 mark of the first half and never looked back, leading by four at the break.
After the half a three from the corner by Tyler Burton pushed the Richmond lead to double digits (52-42) for the first time. Burton’s three was the last of a barrage of long-range shots that allowed the Spiders to take control early in the second half.
Richmond started the second half 4-5 from deep. Just as N.C. State cut back into the lead, with a dunk from Ebenezer Dowuona, they lost Burton on the other end. Burton hit his third triple of the half to give the Spiders a 61-52 lead.
That was the case most of the night for Richmond. The Spiders executed their offense however they wanted. If that meant a backdoor cut for a layup, or an easy three, or Cayo and Golden overpowering defenders, Richmond got it.
N.C. State got solid performances from Seabron (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Smith (18 points), but only got two points from the bench.
Here’s what we learned:
BIG SHOOTING DAY FOR HAYES
N.C. State guard Cam Hayes had a career night. The Greensboro native knocked down four 3-pointers, the most in his career in a single game. Hayes shot 4-8 from deep, finishing with 16 points.
SMITH LIKES NBA ARENAS
For the second straight game, freshman Terquavion Smith had a big game inside an NBA building. Five days after scoring a career-high 21 points versus Purdue in the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, Smith went for 18 inside the Spectrum Center.
PLAYING DOWN TO COMPETITION?
Purdue was undefeated and the top team in the country and State never trailed in regulation. Richmond came into the game 6-4 overall and the Wolfpack was down at the break. N.C. State didn’t look like the same team that went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 Boilermakers less than a week ago. To their credit, the Spiders came into the game on a three-game streak and looked confident. That confidence and execution allowed Richmond to outscore the Pack 12-8 in the last five minutes of the first half. The Spiders led 39-35 at the break.
NO ANSWER FOR CAYO
N.C. State is going to see a lot of athletic wings once it starts ACC play. The team got a glance at what a really good one looks like in Richmond senior Nathan Cayo. The 6-7, 225 pound Cayo was a matchup problem for the Wolfpack from the jump. With a series of strong drives and post moves, Cayo scored 14 points (7-12 shooting) versus N.C. State. Kevin Keatts threw multiple defenders at Cayo, but nobody slowed him down much.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 8:40 PM.
