‘We need Ben on the floor’: How the senior center pushed NC State past Notre Dame
Water droplets dripped down the black laminate door behind Ben Middlebrooks, remnants of the celebration that took place following N.C. State’s one-point comeback win over Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
The Wolfpack defeated the Irish, 66-65, to snap its two-game losing streak. It took just about everyone to win the game — all nine players scored and pulled down a rebound — but Middlebrooks was the guy.
Head coach Kevin Keatts and guard Marcus Hill called Middlebrooks the team’s energy player. The center provides positivity and infuses fun into the game, even if the team is down.
Point guard Michael O’Connell said he loves playing alongside Middlebrooks, whom he called one of his good friends.
“He competes every play. … He’s making real hustle plays,” O’Connell said. “Whether he’s playing well or not, he’s working hard for us, so it gives me energy and gives me motivation to go out there and play, too.”
Middlebrooks’ performance exemplified that comment. He struggled in the first half, going scoreless and only getting one shot off. He pulled down one rebound, turned the ball over and committed two fouls.
Three and a half minutes into the second half, he blocked Tae Davis’ shot but missed the transition layup on the other end. With 12:40 remaining, he missed a second layup.
From there, the senior looked more like himself. He finished the night with 10 points, scoring a pair of field goals and going 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. Middlebrooks hit a triple with a little more than seven minutes to play, giving the Pack a 54-53 lead. Though he went 1 of 2 on his final trip to the stripe with 11 seconds left, the lone free throw put the Wolfpack up by one. N.C. State’s defense got the stop on Markus Burton, with Middlebrooks guarding him for about four seconds, to pull off the comeback. The senior’s effort led to the second straight missed game-winner in two contests for Burton.
“I feel like I played not great in the first half and kind of got it going a little bit in the second half with the steal,” Middlebrooks said. “Really happy the guys kind of kept faith in me, stuck with me, were able to keep getting the ball and it was gonna go in. Eventually, I was able to get fouled and then make some free throws down towards the end.”
He also pulled down four boards, drew three fouls, added one assist and blocked three shots.
Middlebrooks entered the game ranked No. 2 in the ACC for blocked shots, swatting away 21 total attempts, or 1.6 per game. The center will likely remain second behind Viktor Lakhin of Clemson, but his trio of blocks on Wednesday slightly increased his average to 1.7 per contest.
And, don’t forget the efficient pass in the first half. O’Connell found Middlebrooks, who targeted Breon Pass. Pass hit a 3.
This was Middlebrooks’ first game back where he felt like himself since before Christmas. He missed the Virginia game due to an unknown illness — Middlebrooks still isn’t sure if it was food poisoning or a stomach bug — and was still recovering on Saturday during the loss to Wake Forest.
It felt good to have a positive performance. Literally. He and Dennis Parker Jr. were the only two players to finish with a positive efficiency in the advanced analytics.
“I was down bad for a while,” Middlebrooks said. “Playing, getting back on the court with the guys, I missed it. It was definitely awesome to get back and get back in the win column.”
Middlebrooks is in his second season with the Wolfpack after transferring from Clemson, where he played behind PJ Hall, who is now in the NBA G-League.
Keatts said Middlebrooks came to N.C. State as a backup to Hall and has improved to a point where he’s in a starting role. Sometimes he plays in the post and sometimes he plays at forward, regardless, he’s become a consistent starter.
The senior has improved in his skills and confidence level, while providing the team with toughness and the constantly-complimented energy.
In his two seasons at Clemson, Middlebrooks averaged 2.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Last year with the Pack, he contributed 5.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 24 total blocks.
He’s up to nearly 10 points per outing and 4.2 boards, all while improving his assist-to-turnover ratio and matching his 2023-24 season blocks total 14 games into the year.
“We need Ben on the floor,” Keatts said. “You can always say, ‘Woulda, coulda, shoulda.’ If we had Ben at UVA, there’s an opportunity we (would) win the game. Then, obviously, he comes back to the Wake Forest game. Anybody who watched the game knows he was completely not Ben Middlebrooks. Today, he was. I was mad at him at halftime because I thought he was out of position and got those two fouls called on him, but he’s our energy guy. He does all of that dirty work. With him in the game, we’re a different basketball team, especially defensively.”
Middlebrooks smiled as he answered questions after the win. When it comes to the impact he continues to have on the Wolfpack, the proof is in the pudding … or the water bottle shower.
