NC State cruises to 83-66 victory over Detroit Mercy. Three takeaways from the game
How about basketball in Detroit these days?
The Pistons have lost 25 straight games in the NBA, falling to 2-26.
Across town, the Detroit Mercy Titans now are 0-13 and No. 355 in the NCAA NET rankings.
It has been a season of futility and some humility for both and N.C. State added to Detroit Mercy’s woes Saturday, taking an 83-66 victory at PNC Arena.
The Pack’s D.J. Horne continued his personal heater. He had 20 points in the first half, knocking down seven of 11 shots, and finished with a season-high 26 to go with six assists and six rebounds for the Wolfpack (9-3, 1-0 ACC).
“I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons but I think we still have a long ways to go before going into conference play,” Horne said of the Pack’s nonconference schedule. “But from where we started, I think we’ve taken a lot of steps in the right direction. We need to clean up some things on the defensive end. Other than that I think we’re doing pretty good.”
One thing NCSU coach Kevin Keatts likely stressed more than a few times the past few days is that Detroit Mercy, despite the losing, had a one-point loss to Mississippi. On the road. The Pack faced Ole Miss at their place and lost by 20.
The Titans are a hit-and-miss team. They have possessions where they isolate the right players or hit good shots, then a stretch of horrendous turnovers and awful shot selection.
The Pack, which led 43-36 at halftime, took advantage of enough of the bad stretches to build leads, only to have the Titans edge closer.
The Pack opened a comfortable 18-point lead eight minutes into the second half as Keatts continued to allow a lot of players to get playing time. The Pack shared the ball well (18) and held turnovers (7) to a minimum.
“The December 23rd game is one of the toughest games you’re going to play in nonconference,” Keatts said. “Half of the guys (mentally) are already home.”
Keatts smiled, adding, “Fortunately for us, DJ Horne lives in Raleigh. He’s the only one who was comfortable today because he’s the only guy who has to drive five minutes to his house.”
Three takeaways from the game:
Middlebrooks good addition
A lot of teams would be happy having a player like the Pack’s Ben Middlebooks, who can come off the bench, quickly provide energy and be happy with his minutes.
The transfer from Clemson – remember the “trade” for the Pack’s Jack Clark? – has a crash-and-bang style much like Dusan Mahorcic last season. Mahorcic was 6-10 and 235 pounds, with little finesse to his game. Middlebrooks is 6-10 and 240, with a little more polish in his game and better hands on the high post on offense but the same sharp elbows.
Middlebrooks is much like Mahorcic, who injured a knee last season and later left for Duquesne. Like Mahorcic, you always know when he’s around on the court.
Work still in progress
It’s still hard to figure out how Keatts will be able to make it work with so many guys. Can a coach have too many players, too many options?
“I don’t have too many players,” Keatts said. “I’ve got a lot of guys who are starting to buy into a role.”
The NCAA transfer portal allows for roster revamps but the Pack kept adding players after the season began. MJ Rice is back and playing after resolving some personal issues. Kam Woods is eligible to play after the NCAA backed down.
When Keatts didn’t like the way the game started Saturday, Detroit taking a 9-2 lead, he called a timeout made lineup changes to provide some energy. In came Woods, Rice, Michael O’Connell and Ben Middlebrooks.
“I thought our energy went to another level,” Keatts said.
O’Connell got 26 minutes of playing time and was plus-20 when he was on the court -- Horne was a team-best plus-28. The 6-2 transfer from Stanford had five points, six assists and three rebounds and was aggressive on defense.
So it could be a feel thing for Keatts, game to game, and how he splits up the minutes. There’s also LJ Thomas and Breon Pass and Mohamed Diarra ...
Sad times for a good program
Those with long memories might remember the Titans were once coached by Dick Vitale, who took them to the 1977 NCAAs, where the Titans lost to Michigan.
A year later, Vitale was coaching the Pistons, and Smokey Ganes was the Titans’ coach. They went 25-4, losing in the second round of the NIT – to N.C. State, in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Titans would have more good years in the late 1990s and were in the NCAA tournament in 2012. It has been a much tougher go since then, with eight losing seasons (14-19 last season).
Mike Davis is a proven coach who had the tough job of taking over for Bob Knight when Knight was fired at Indiana. The Detroit program has a nice tradition. It’s a little sad to see how far it’s fallen.
“Give Mike credit,” Keatts said. “They haven’t won a game and Mike’s got those guys playing really hard.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2023 at 3:25 PM.
