Quick hits from NCSU's loss at Duke
Quick hits and notes from NC State’s hard-fought 88-80 loss at Duke in front of 9,314 fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Play of the game
NC State earns a lot of credit for never withering at Duke. The Wolfpack’s persistent effort had them within 79-76 with less than 3:30 to go and in crucial need of a defensive stop. Duke freshman forward sensation Brandon Ingram forced a three at the top of the key, but the Pack bailed him out with a foul.
Ingram made the first two free throws and missed the third. The offensive rebound was gathered by Duke freshman wing Luke Kennard. On the ensuing possession, Ingram essentially threw the ball away as the shot clock wound down, but it dribbled slowly toward a wide-open Blue Devils sophomore guard Grayson Allen, who picked it up and calmly drained a three with 2:47 left to put Duke up 84-76.
Highlight of the game
Saturday may have been NCSU junior point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber’s finest passing game. One of his best assists came when he drove the lane, jumped and threw a pass around Duke senior center Marshall Plumlee to a wide open NCSU sophomore power forward Abdul-Malik Abu, who knew what to do. Abu slammed it home with two hands, cutting Duke’s lead to 46-41 with 17:57 to go in the game.
Player of the game
The last time NC State played Duke, the Wolfpack could not defend Allen or Ingram. Allen had 28 points and Ingram added 25 in a 88-78 win Jan. 23. The two combined to shoot 21 of 33 from the field, including 5 of 11 on three-pointers.
Ingram was not as significant a factor this game. He made just 3 of 10 shots and finished with 14 points. Allen scored 28 again, making 6 of 11 attempts from the field, including 4 of 7 three-pointers, and all 12 free throw attempts.
So how did Duke score 88 points for the second straight time against NCSU? Instead of Ingram, it was Kennard who provided a spectacular scoring complement to Allen. He made 9 of 15 shots, including 6 of 11 three-pointers, for 26 points off the bench. Kennard is our choice for player of the game.
Kennard had his second-best career scoring output, trailing only the 30 he put up against Notre Dame in a losing effort for Duke at home. He slumped a tad for his next four games leading up to his breakout against NC State. Kennard made just 3 of 19 three-pointers and averaged 7.3 points per game after scoring 30.
Kennard set a new career high for three-pointers made in a game against NCSU, bettering the four he has made on three separate occasions, including Notre Dame.
Defensive issues emerging
Remember when NCSU was struggling just to score 30 points before halftime? The Wolfpack offense has come around in ACC play even as the losses pile up. NC State has scored at least 73 points in six straight games. So how are they just 2-4 in that span? The answer is the emerging problem stopping teams on defense.
The Wolfpack is allowing opponents to score on average 82.4 points per game the last five games. Three teams have scored at least 88, including Duke on two occasions. Georgia Tech scored 90 in a seven-point Yellow Jackets victory Jan. 27, the most allowed this year.
Teams are shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point territory during that five-game stretch. Duke made 14 of 28 threes Saturday, which topped the 13 the Blue Devils connected on against Bryant for the most three-pointers made in a game this season. It was also the most allowed in a contest by NCSU this season.
Some bright spots
Barber continues his incredible junior season by making 8 of 14 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers, and 7 of 8 free throws for 26 points to go with six assists. He raised his season scoring average to 23.5 points per game, which if held would be the eighth highest for a single season in NCSU history.
Barber’s assist total gave him 368 for his career, moving him past former NC State guard Engin Atsur into 10th all time in school history.
Freshman wing Maverick Rowan had one of his better shooting performances of the year. He scored 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4 of 8 on three-pointers, in 37 minutes. Rowan has 55 made threes this year, just 16 away from tying Adam Harrington’s school record for most made treys ever by a NC State freshman. Rowan’s 164 attempted threes this year is already third most by a Wolfpack freshman, 34 behind Harrington’s 198.
Abu had yet another double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds, the latter a new career high on the boards. He has 11 double-doubles this season and is averaging 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in ACC action.
Sophomore forward Cody Martin had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in another solid all-around effort. That matched Martin’s career high for points in an ACC game. Since being inserted into the starting lineup seven games ago, Martin is averaging 8.7 points a contest while shooting 62.2 percent from the field. He made 5 of 11 shots against Duke, setting a new career high for most field goals attempted in a game.
What the loss means
NC State is 12-12 overall and 2-9 in the ACC, and Duke is 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the conference. Duke sweeps the season series and owns a 144-99 all-time edge between the two teams. NCSU has not won at Duke since the 1994-95 season.
NC State’s nine ACC losses means that the Wolfpack can, at best, finish with a .500 record in the conference. One more setback guarantees the first losing league record in Gottfried’s five years at the helm.
NCSU finds itself in this predicament because of its inability to win close games. The Pack is 0-7 in ACC games decided by single digits. The average margin of defeat in those contests, one of which an overtime loss by five at Virginia Tech, is just 5.6 points.
State went 4-2 in single-digit games during the nonconference slate, but the two defeats were to Power Five conference teams (Michigan of the Big Ten and Arizona State of the Pac-12). That means NCSU is 0-9 in single-digit contests against power conference squads with an average margin of loss of 5.4 points.
Other stats of note
- NCSU won the rebounding margin 38-29 overall and 13-6 on the offensive glass. The Pack had a slight 10-8 edge in second-chance points.
- Duke won the turnover margin 11-9 and had a 15-12 edge in points off them. NCSU though ended up with a 10-4 advantage in fast-break points.
- Thanks to Kennard, Duke’s bench outscored NCSU’s reserves 28-8.
- Defensively, the Devils had more steals (7-5) and blocks (3-2).
- The Wolfpack had a dominating 38-20 edge in points in the paint.