One step forward: Three takeaways as NC State snaps losing skid with home win over BC
N.C. State avoided making history of the worst kind Saturday against Boston College, and the Wolfpack kept its postseason hopes alive for at least a few more days.
The Pack snapped its nine-game losing streak and picked up its first win in 38 days, defeating Boston College, 70-62, at Lenovo Center. A 10th loss would’ve given the team the longest losing streak in program history. Instead, it finally got a second win in 2025 and the tiebreaker over Boston College that could prove significant when ACC Tournament time comes around.
N.C. State (10-15, 3-11 ACC) didn’t show much-needed toughness, especially on the defensive end, to compete with Louisville on Wednesday. Its lack of urgency led to the Pack’s worst defensive performance of the season. Whatever took place in practice or in conversations after the loss seemed to flip a switch.
The Wolfpack started its game against Boston College (10-15, 2-12 ACC) with a defensive energy it hasn’t shown in two weeks, and that’s ultimately what won the game.
“We just came in and just forgot the outside noise, forgot everybody else,” Jayden Taylor said. “We know it’s at stake, and we came together today, and we put out a great performance.”
N.C. State’s defensive pressure forced more turnovers (6) in the first eight minutes of play than field goal attempts allowed (5).
Later in the game, Paul McNeil and Ben Middlebrooks recorded inbound steals. Marcus Hill poked the ball away on the Eagles’ final offensive possession of the first frame.
The Pack finished the game with 16 forced turnovers, including 14 in the first half. Of those turnovers, 12 were Wolfpack steals.
There were several deflections, and a pseudo-block from Dennis Parker Jr. with eight minutes to go, that won’t show up on the stat sheet, but also disrupted the Eagles’ offensive efforts. N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said the team had 22 deflections at halftime.
In the second half, the Wolfpack defense forced Boston College to take a timeout to avoid another inbound turnover. It didn’t get quite as many turnovers after Joshua Beadle was pulled — he finished with four turnovers in four minutes of action — and his teammates settled in, but the first-half effort provided an important spark that the Pack carried from tip to buzzer.
Breon Pass said it’s fun seeing the opponent get frustrated by the defensive effort. Parker Jr., meanwhile, knows plays aren’t necessarily going to be run for him, but he can make an impact defensively and score energy points.
“I feel like tonight it just showed what we can do when we really take control, understand personnel, understand scouting reports and focus,” Pass said.
N.C. State held the Eagles to 17-of-48 shooting (35.4%), and BC finished with four stretches of at least four consecutive misses. Boston College ended the first 20 minutes 2 of 11 from the field.
Additionally, Boston College went 24 of 52 (46.2%) from the 3-point line in its last two games. It did not make a triple until the 1:38 mark in the first half and ended with five.
Boston College’s Donald Hand was a handful for the Wolfpack. He finished with a game-high 22 points and wasn’t afraid of taking a shot. Hand went 6 of 17 from the field, including three 3s and seven free throws. Meanwhile, Jayden Hastings wasn’t particularly active on offense but provided a pair of rebounds and three blocks.
Despite some admirable performances from the Eagles, the Wolfpack put together a well-rounded performance that the team hopes is the start of something new.
Here are three takeaways from the Pack’s first win since January.
Taylor takes over
Keatts said Wednesday that he needed his seniors to step up if the team wanted to turn things around. Taylor took the message to heart.
He scored his team’s first eight points and 11 of the first 13. The senior continued playing efficiently through the first half, scoring 16 points before the break.
“It just helped me get myself in rhythm, get going,” Taylor said. “And, we won the game.”
He provided additional contributions to the team by notching three first-half steals, two of which came in the first three minutes of play, and his post defense directly forced a missed shot by Hand.
“I have to give Jayden Taylor a lot of credit. I mean, he really got after the ball at the beginning of the game,” Keatts said. “They started Beadle, and unfortunately for Beadle, JT was playing really well. That kind of set the tone for us.”
Taylor added three second-half points. His scoring dropped, but the overall shooting improved from everyone else.
Taylor has been one of the team’s leading scorers all season, contributing 11.5 points per game, but he averaged fewer than seven points per game in the last five contests. He only made 30.8% of his shots during that span. Taylor’s shooting against the Eagles looked more like what the Pack saw earlier this season — and it came at just the right time.
Fouls aplenty
N.C. State and Boston College spent a decent portion of their game at the free-throw line, somewhere neither team has particularly shined this year.
The Wolfpack started the game 5 of 5 from the stripe, but also missed five straight. It ended the first half 10 of 15 (66.75%) on its free-throw attempts, lower than its season average.
The Eagles went a perfect 12 of 12 from the line before the break. They typically make 71.7% of their shots, one-tenth of one percent higher than the Wolfpack. Boston College and N.C. State rank No. 15 and No. 16, respectively, in the ACC for free throw shooting efficiency.
With five minutes remaining, six players between the two teams were called for at least three personal fouls. Boston College coach Earl Grant picked up a technical with 4:28 left in the game. Michael O’Connell hit one of the two free throws.
Parker Jr. scored seven points in the win, but he went 1 of 4 from the stripe. He’s not down on himself, but he’d like to be better going forward.
“I know when I miss it’s like everything psychological with me,” Parker Jr. said. “I think I be overthinking sometimes. I can’t speak for everybody else, but it be like that sometimes.”
N.C. State finished with 21 fouls, while Boston College recorded 19, both numbers above the respective teams’ season averages. The Pack shot 17-25 (68%) from the line, and the Eagles went 23-27 (85.2%).
Capitalizing on offensive opportunities
The Wolfpack is the second-worst offensive team in the ACC, but it didn’t look like that Saturday.
N.C. State topped Boston College in nearly every offensive category en route to its win. The Pack led the Eagles in bench points (29-22), points in the paint (32-20), points off turnovers (15-3), fast-break points (18-6) and assists (14-6).
It didn’t shoot well from 3-point range (5-23, 21.7%), but finished 19 of 38 (50%) on 2-point shots. Keatts said he wasn’t particularly concerned by the misses, because the shots were clean looks that didn’t fall. He didn’t think like the team was “jacking them up.”
While Taylor led the team in scoring, he got help from nine teammates. Trey Parker picked up a pair of defensive rebounds and threw the lob to Parker Jr. for two-handed dunks on the other end. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield finished with 11 points, while Marcus Hill contributed eight points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Wolfpack also limited its own turnovers to five, allowing the offense to attempt 13 more shots than the Eagles.
One underrated aspect of the Wolfpack’s offense came via O’Connell’s passing. The graduate student dished out six assists without a turnover. He hasn’t scored the ball well, but his ability to be a clean passer and direct the floor are invaluable.
Keatts said that’s what he brings to the team.
N.C. State entered the game averaging 65.8 points per game and 40.5% field goal shooting during conference play. The team’s season scoring isn’t much better, coming in at 69.5 points per game and 43% shooting. It ranks No. 17 in the ACC all four categories.
“I told our guys, ‘Man, this is the first time I’ve seen in a long time that we got on transition and had dunks and did all the other stuff.’ We looked like we supposed to look, and that’s because we created so much off our defense,” Keatts said. “This team is not blessed to be a great offensive team, but when we create stuff off our defense, we can score the basketball, and that’s the way we have to play.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM.
