Maui Finale: NC State Locks Up 6th Place, Losing to Texas 102-97
The Wolfpack’s first road trip ended as a very disappointing 1-2
Game Summary:
NC State came out of the gate aggressively, at the first timeout leading 8-3 and forcing 3 TO, but already had 4 fouls (2 Holloman, 1 Copeland and Williams) Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to bother Texas at all. Texas is not known as a 3PT shooting team, but when the Pack kept giving them open looks, they hit 8. 8 of their 15 made baskets were 3PT shots. For the half, Texas shot 60% / 62% / 90%. At 1:59 Williams went down hard and was taken to the locker room for treatment. At the half, Williams, Holloman, Copeland, and Breed had 2 fouls each. Ven Lubin was the best player for the Pack with 9 pts, 4 reb and 1 assist. Halftime score, Texas up by ten, 47-37.
Darrion Williams was in the starting lineup for the second half. NC State slowly clawed their way back and finally tied the game at 12:14, and again at 10:13, and finally took a 1-point lead 71—70 at the 7:14 mark. But Texas did what they did all night, they hit mostly wide open 3PT shots and NC State could not keep up with their offensive output. Final score 97-102.
Overall Takeaways:
- NC State’s defensive strategy to allow 3PT shots was a risk, and it burned the Wolfpack in this one. This is not sustainable when you play higher quality teams.
- Definition of terrible defense: Score 97 points and lose
- Definition of terrible defense: Opponent shoots 56% / 50% / 85%
- Definition of terrible defense: 55% of opponent’s made shots (16 of 29) were 3PT shots
- Texas known for inside scoring, NC State wins points in paint 46-20
- Texas known for dominant rebounding, only won 31-28. NC State led offensive rebounds 8-6. (not a lot of missed shots)
- Still too many fouls away from the basket. Two starters fouled out, plus Alyn Breed fouled out off the bench
Four FactorsTeams eFG% TO% OR% FTR Wolfpack 60.2% 8.2% 24.2% 43.8% Texas 71.2% 10.6% 23.1% 63.5%
Coach Wade Post Game Comments
[Interview will be inserted in the article once available online]
Individual Highlights
- Quadir Copeland with career high 28 points
- Three players 20+, Lubin with 23 and McNeil with 20
- Lubin leads rebounding with 9
- Copeland leads assists with 6
Player Stats and Box ScorePlayer PTS REB ASST TO BLK STL MIN Quadir Copeland 28 4 6 2 1 33 Ven-Allen Lubin 23 9 3 37 Paul McNeil 20 3 1 2 38 Darrion Williams 10 4 3 1 32 Alyn Breed 7 1 1 14 Tre Holloman 5 1 2 18 Terrance Arceneaux 4 1 1 13 Matthew Able 2 1 9 Musa Sagnia 4
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