NC State basketball snaps ACC losing streak. 3 takeaways from Wolfpack’s win over Miami
It was the kind of game, even with the late start Tuesday at PNC Arena, that had the feel of an N.C. State victory in the making.
D.J. Horne hit his first shot, always a good sign for the Pack. D.J. Burns hit his first shot. The start was a good one for State. The crowd liked it, applauded it, cheered for it to continue.
Was this the night the Wolfpack’s three-game ACC losing streak would come to an end? Yes.
The Pack, playing with urgency and determination against Miami, made the critical plays down the stretch and fought past the Hurricanes, 74-68.
“We just had to be hungry for this one,” Horne said. “We definitely came in with the mindset that we had to win this one. We had to come out of this one with a win.”
Horne had 24 points and Casey Morsell 17 for the Pack, which moved to 6-4 in the ACC and 14-7 overall. That offset big games from the Canes’ Nigel Pack, who scored 23 points and powerful Norchad Omier, who had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
“I thought we played desperate basketball, like we had to have it,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “I was proud to see that out of this bunch. This bunch, in particular, hadn’t gone through adversity. I thought tonight we really handled it, we stepped up, we made plays.”
Like many ACC games, little came easily, for either team. Driving the lane took some willpower and want-to. Outside shots were contested as the Hurricanes, who lead the ACC in 3-point shooting, were 7-for-28 on 3-pointers and shot 36.4% from the field while the Pack was 9-for-21 in shooting 48.1%.
“What a great defensive performance I thought we had,” Keatts said. “This was a good Miami team, and it was good to get back home and take care of business. In this league, you have to have short-term memory and you have to try, as much as possible, take care of homecourt advantage and I thought we did.”
The Wolfpack led 33-29 at halftime, getting 10 points from Morsell while limiting the Canes to 3-for-16 shooting on 3s. In the second half, Miami often ran its offense through Omier and Pack, who ignited for his 23 points despite some hustling defense by Morsell and Jayden Taylor.
Miami’s Pack did not score in the first half, taking just one shot. But the junior guard hurt the Wolfpack with 3-pointers, drives and short jumpers in the second half, once tying the score with an off-balance baseline shot he turned into a 3-point play.
A baseline drive by the State guard Michael O’Connell with 1:10 left, with the shot clock running down, gave the Pack a 70-65 lead. Horne then fouled Pack on a 3-point shot, but Pack missed two of his three free throws and two free throws by Horne with 19 seconds left sealed it.
The Canes (14-7, 5-5 ACC), a quick-twitch team, beat the Pack to the ball on the boards much of the game and had 46-31 edge. But Miami, which has had turnover problems, had some ball-handling mistakes against the Pack’s aggressive man defense.
Three takeaways from the ACC game:
Omier a big problem
Any team waiting to beat Miami has to find a defensive solution for Omier. He’s a man. He’s listed at 6-7 and 240 pounds but looks bigger on the court and could fit comfortably on the Canes’ football team at tight end.
The Pack opened with D.J. Burns on the junior, who picked up his 11th double-double of the season and was coming off a big game against Pittsburgh. Keatts used Ben Middlebrooks on Omier, then Mo Diarra. It was a constant battle of bigs.
Omier had 12 of his 18 points in the first half. He knocked down a 3 from the top of the key, leading to some smiles and words with Burns as the two big guys ran back down the court.
“He’s a force down low and we had it high in the game plan that he’d be crashing the boards,” Middlebrooks said. “We had to block him out and not give him anything easy.”
Battle of the boards
Another recurring problem for the Pack has been rebounding — more specifically, keeping the other team away from the offensive glass. Virginia had a 54-32 rebounding edge and Syracuse had 16 offensive boards and 47-41 advantage.
That trend continued against Miami in the first half as the Hurricanes had 11 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points. That helped the Canes keep it close — the Pack held a 33-39 lead at the break.
In one first-half sequence, the Pack did its defensive work on a Miami possession, forcing two rushed shots. But the Canes had three offensive rebounds before Michael Nwoko had a putback basket.
The Canes finished with 20 offensive rebounds in the game but added just seven second-chance points in the second half.
Better out of the blocks
The Wolfpack did not have a slow start or any lengthy scoring droughts in the first half, which had to be a relief for Keatts.
The Pack, as most recall, scored 15 points in the first half last week at Virginia and then 22 at Syracuse on Saturday in falling behind by 16 at the break. State rallied against the Cavaliers to force overtime before losing but never caught the Orange after their first-half foibles.
The Pack jumped to a 12-4 lead against Miami and led 15-7 after the first eight minutes of the game. Horne hit a couple of 3’s early as the Canes were the team struggling in their halfcourt offense, even with Omier working well enough inside.
“That was another emphasis coming into the game,” Horne said. “We knew Miami would be a high-power team with the guards they have, and we knew it would be key to get off to a good start in this one.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 11:32 PM.
