Another missed opportunity in a season of them for NC State
The fork was brandished above N.C. State after Monday’s disheartening loss to North Carolina, when Kevin Keatts challenged his team’s toughness and resolve.
Stick it in the Wolfpack now, after an equally dispiriting loss to Louisville for an almost entirely different set of reasons, as the chances to put a gold star on a thoroughly mediocre NCAA tournament resume go by the wayside.
This will go down as a season of missed opportunities, not for the first time for N.C. State. The failure to take a team with a modicum of talent and experience and capitalize on an ACC that’s uncharacteristically short on both. The inability to beat the Tar Heels in their worst season in a decade, with Cole Anthony watching in a suit. And the inability to win games like Saturday’s 77-57 loss, when N.C. State put itself in a position to win and then, almost disdainfully, declined to follow through.
The Wolfpack forced 10 turnovers in the first half and was in the double bonus less than 11 minutes in, yet generated only seven points off those turnovers and three points at the line.
“They didn’t get a ton of points off our turnovers,” said Louisville coach Chris Mack, relieved. “They left a few on the table.”
Meanwhile, N.C. State made a habit of leaving Ryan McMahon open, and the Louisville senior may have the look of a Big South walk-on but he’s got an ACC shot when given time and space to shoot it. The Wolfpack finally figured that out 23 points too late.
It didn’t help that Braxton Beverly kept helping off McMahon and Keatts never changed defensive assignments. Even after McMahon made six 3-pointers in a row and what should have been a close game was instead a 15-point Louisville lead. N.C. State cut it to as few as four in the second half but could never close the gap, and what should have been a tight finish became a 20-point blowout.
That is, in a nutshell, the story of N.C. State’s season. What should have been something is quickly turning into nothing.
“I liked our grit. I liked our fight,” Keatts said. “Obviously, if we don’t score, it going to be tough for us.”
It didn’t have to be this way. It probably shouldn’t be this way. There’s talent here, clearly. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Markell Johnson comes and goes with the wind, like a young C.J. Leslie. C.J. Bryce finally got in gear, but this isn’t a team built to play without one (or both) of them. It’s not too much to ask your two best players to be your two best players.
Your best players have to be your best players. Gotta make shots. Game of runs. All echoes of a not-so-distant past. History repeating.
After dropping three straight in the ACC to fall to 5-6, it’ll take a miracle to get to the NCAA tournament now. Those doors are closing rapidly. Last year’s run through the NIT was tolerable in part because it was wrapped in hope for the future, an off-Broadway preview of what next year would be like with so many important parts returning.
Another spin through the consolation bracket is going to feel like a long trudge to nowhere. So will the next month leading up to the ACC tournament in Greensboro. Keatts said the Wolfpack needs to get healthy, but even at full strength, this team has the talent to win but not the will.
“We’re not worried,” Bryce said. It’s too late to be worried anyway.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 5:06 PM.
