Steady as it goes: 3 takeaways from NC State’s early-season home win over Presbyterian
Ben Middlebrooks slapped the ball out of the air and looked down menacingly on Presbyterian’s Kory Mincy, telling him to “get out of here.”
The Wolfpack struggled to fully break away until the final minutes against its Big South opponent Friday, but Middlebrooks’ block seemed to be the nail in the coffin. N.C. State defeated Presbyterian, 81-72, and moved to 2-0 on the season.
“Today in college basketball, teams are so new; a lot of new guys, a lot of freshmen, a lot of transfers,” Middlebrooks said. “With every game we’re gonna be building, we’re gonna be finding things to nail down and problems to fix. Today was another one of those days. We had a good game, but we also made a lot of mistakes. We’re gonna come back in the next couple days, work on those and get ready for the next matchup.”
The Blue Hose (1-2) kept the game close early in the first half, trailing the Wolfpack by one point three different times. They stayed in the game, in part, due to an ability to capitalize on N.C. State’s mistakes. Presbyterian scored seven points on Wolfpack turnovers in the first half.
Its aggressive and fearless style of play continued into the second half as N.C. State outscored the visitors 43-39 after the break.
“Give Presbyterian a lot of credit, man, they were really scrappy,” Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said. “We knew that coming in. (Quinton Ferrell’s) done a really good job with his team. Been there six years. I even went back last year and watched them go to Vanderbilt and win. They’ve done a good job.”
Four players, led by senior Jayden Taylor at 19 points, finished in double figures. Middlebrooks contributed 16 points, all of which came in the second half. Michael O’Connell scored 11 points, starting 2 of 2 from deep, and dished out eight assists with just one turnover.
“He’s an energy guy,” Keatts said of Middlebrooks. “When he doesn’t play with energy, I think he’s just OK sometimes, but when he plays with energy, he’s really good. … I love what he did for us in the second half.”
Taylor was a do-it-all kind of guy for the team. He added a career-high five steals. One steal came on a Blue Hose inbounds play underneath N.C. State’s basket. Taylor poked the ball away and immediately scored a layup. He deflected another ball and pushed the ball down the court for a transition bucket.
“Being a returner from the Final Four team, I knew I was gonna have to step up, be a leader, just trying to impact winning as many ways as possible,” Taylor said. “Keatts just told me, ‘Be aggressive, play my game and just let things come to me and it’ll get going.’ Today, it went well.”
It took Taylor some time to warm up offensively, but when he did, the senior seemed unstoppable. He and Keatts said it’s important for the guard to drive inside instead of settling for 3s, which he did in the first half. Taylor is also working on reducing turnovers. He committed five of the team’s 12.
Taylor looked more like himself on Friday than he did on Monday, and especially in the preseason. When asked what he said to help Taylor get back into a rhythm, Keatts jokingly said he pointed to the bench. In reality, he simply reminded Taylor that the team needs his spark and energy.
“As coaches, you can say too much,” Keatts said. “Let guys get out of it, get them back in the gym, see the ball go in, and they become really good basketball players.”
The Wolfpack played Friday without Ismael Diouf, Mike James and Dennis Parker Jr. Diouf has been serving a two-game NCAA suspension due to his affiliation with the Montreal Alliance, a Canadian pro team. He is expected to return next week.
James remains out with an injury. No information regarding Parker Jr.’s absence was given before the game.
Here are three takeaways from N.C. State’s win:
Defense struggles against Mincy, Stewart
Presbyterian entered the game as the clear underdog, but it didn’t play like it. The Blue Hose got out to a strong start, going 7 of 11 from the field. In a three-minute stretch, Presbyterian made five straight field goals.
Kobe Stewart, who opened the night 5 of 5, contributed four baskets in that span. The Wolfpack offense took a 14-point lead in the first half, but gave up a 6-0 run on defense and limited the team’s ability to break away before the break.
Presbyterian was picked to finish eighth in Big South competition. It ranks No. 292 in KenPom.com rankings and entered the game with a 103.1 offensive rating, which is based on the number of points scored per 100 possessions. Based on its performance, those numbers could improve in the next update.
N.C. State’s defense didn’t impress much in the second half, either, as it gave up 41 points.
Stewart and Mincy finished with 20 and 28 points, respectively. Both added four assists.
Based on the advanced analytics, nearly every player gave up more points than they produced. Middlebrooks was the most effective, creating nine more points than he allowed. No one on the team finished with a defensive rating under 110, which determines the number of points allowed per 100 possessions.
One positive for the defense came in its abilities to create turnovers. Presbyterian committed 15 turnovers. Twelve were N.C. State steals.
“My biggest thing is, with our guys, just play hard and we’ll figure it out,” Keatts said. “We’re gonna continue to get better. But I do, like some good things that we’re doing.”
New big men show scoring abilities
The departure of DJ Burns and his smooth-operator scoring left a significant hole in the Wolfpack’s frontcourt. New bigs Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Dontrez Styles, though different from their predecessors, made an impact for N.C. State’s offense Friday.
Huntley-Hatfield started the game 3 of 3 from the field, while Styles started the game with a corner 3 on the first possession. On one play, Huntley-Hatfield helped facilitate a shot for guard Marcus Hill in the lane and earned an assist.
Styles said he focuses on doing whatever he can to help the team win. That meant driving into the lane for layups and dunking over defenders.
Overall, the duo shot consistently, finishing 9 of 15 from the field for a combined 20 points and 13 rebounds.
The transfer said Huntley-Hatfield and Middlebrooks help him do well.
“They’re two great five men and will probably be the best front court in the league,” Styles said. “I feel like they’re very great players, and it makes it easier for me.
“Each and every game, each and every practice, I get more comfortable. We’re gonna continue to get better as a team, and I’m gonna continue to get better as a player. It’s gonna be a fun and great season.”
Pack lacks toughness on rebounding
N.C. State’s effort off the glass, notably in the second half, showed room for improvement. The Wolfpack finished the game tied with the Blue Hose, pulling down 29 rebounds.
It out-rebounded the visitors, 20-16, in the first period, Styles leading the team with six.
The Pack looked, at times, lackadaisical in its efforts to muscle its way through traffic for the ball, contrary to its efforts nearly everywhere else.
Of the Blue Hose’s rebounds, 11 came on the offensive glass. It turned those opportunities into 15 second-chance points.
When asked about the team’s rebounding effort, Keatts said the team aims to end possessions with “physical rebounds” in order to get out into to transition. He didn’t express any concerns with the outing.
“Twenty-seven fast break points is pretty good, so we’re scoring the way we want to score,” Keatts said. “We’re getting out and we’re playing fast. We’re doing a good job, but we’ve really concentrating on rebounding the ball and then getting the ball out to our ball handlers.”
N.C. State could afford to give up a few boards against Presbyterian, but this also could’ve been an opportunity for the Pack to assert its dominance.
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 9:12 PM.
