NC State basketball quick hits from win over Coppin State

Quick hits and notes from the NC State men’s basketball 94-72 home win over Coppin State. The game was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,500 fans at historic Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh on Tuesday evening.

Play Of The Game

NC State sophomore guard Terquavion Smith said after the game that he loves playing at Reynolds, and he made no secret of his wish that all games were there instead of PNC Arena. His shooting Tuesday night suggested that.

With 12:35 left in the first half, Smith nailed a three-pointer between the ‘Y’ and ‘O’ in the “Kay Yow Court” logo on the court to put NC State up 22-13.

About 30 seconds later, after grabbing a long defensive rebound, Smith pulled up a few feet away from the tail of the Tuffy logo and drained another long trey. The Wolfpack lead would never be within single digits again.

Highlight Of The Game

Player Of The Game

Normally a performance like super senior guard Jarkel Joiner scoring 29 points, the most he’s had yet in a NC State basketball uniform, would be a shoe-in for player of the game.

But Smith was slightly better. He finished with 33 points, one off his career-high of 34 set last season at North Carolina. He made 12 of 21 shots from the field, including 6 of 12 three-pointers. Smith added 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in 29 minutes.

The made shots and assists totals matched Smith’s career highs in an NC State basketball uniform. He was one shy of his personal best for made three-pointers.

Short-Handed NC State Gets More Short-Handed

Redshirt junior forward Greg Gantt missed his second game of the season, dressed in street clothes after playing a season-high 14 minutes in the loss to Pittsburgh last Friday.

Then came the apparent serious knee injury to super senior forward Dusan Mahorcic, who appears in line to miss extensive time after being helped off the court in the second half.

The question is who will step up in the presumed Mahorcic absence?

Junior Ebenezer Dowuona started 27 games a season ago and averaged 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while blocking 54 shots in 31 contests overall. However, he has fallen out of the rotation this year and regularly plays with the walk-ons in blowouts.

That was the case once again after Tuesday even after Mahorcic went down. The first time NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts subbed for fifth-year senior center D.J. Burns Jr., he put sophomore Ernest Ross into the game, perhaps a clue of how Keatts intends to proceed in the immediate future.

A Two-Man Show

NC State cruised to a win, but the reality is that the game was a struggle shooting for a lot of players not named Joiner and Smith.

Ross scored 8 points and did make all 3 shot attempts. Burns made 3 of 5 field goals to finish with 6 points, but he also had 4 personal fouls in 15 minutes and was the one of just two NC State basketball players to have a negative plus/minus.

Perhaps most concerning was that fifth-year senior forward Jack Clark continued his shooting slump. One game after going 0 for 8 from the field, including missing 7 threes, Clark went 1-of-7 shooting against Coppin State. He also went 0 for 4 beyond the arc.

Clark did find other ways to impact the game. He finished with team-highs of 10 rebounds and 3 steals while adding 5 assists.

Spotted At The Game

At halftime, members of the 1983 NC State basketball team that won the national title were honored. The group will be recognized again later in the season at PNC Arena.

Other former players seen included Chris Corchiani and Ben McCauley. Members of the top-10 ranked NC State women’s basketball team were also in attendance.

NC State Basketball Plus/Minus

Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) for NC State basketball vs. Coppin State:

Smith: +26 (28:49 played)

Joiner: +23 (35:26)

Ross: +17 (10:41)

Clark: +15 (31:29)

Mahorcic: +14 (20:09)

Morsell: +11 (33:48)

Dowuona: +5 (1:40)

Sophomore guard Breon Pass: +4 (9:31)

Walk-on guard Chase Graham: +1 (1:13)

Walk-on guard KJ Keatts: +1 (1:13)

Walk-on guard Alex Nunnally: +1 (1:13)

Walk-on guard Jordan Snell: +1 (1:13)

Burns: -4 (15:15)

Freshman guard LJ Thomas: -5 (8:20)

NC State Basketball Game Scores

Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average for an NBA player.

Smith: 27.7

Joiner: 21.4

Ross: 9.0

Clark: 7.4

Morsell: 7.1

Burns: 5.2

Mahorcic: 3.4

Pass: 2.0

Thomas: 1.9

Dowuona: 0.6

Graham: 0.6

Keatts: 0.3

Nunnally: 0.0

Snell: -1.0

What This NC State Basketball Win Means

The Pack is 8-2 and improved to 42-2 all-time in non-conference home games under Keatts. NC State is 24-2 in games at Reynolds Coliseum since moving to PNC Arena in 1999.

NC State is 3-0 all-time against Coppin State and 22-1 all-time against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

The game was broadcast online by RSN. Throughout the year, we’ll keep track of the Pack’s record on the different channels:

• ACC Network Extra: 4-0

• ESPN2: 1-0

• ESPNews: 1-0

• RSN: 2-0

• ACC Network: 0-1

• ESPN: 0-1

We also track NC State’s records by month:

• November: 7-1

• December: 1-1

Other stats of note

• NC State won the turnover margin 14-12 and points off turnovers, 18-13.
• The Pack had a 20-15 edge in fast-break points.
• The Wolfpack had a 38-32 advantage in points in the paint.
• Coppin State won on the boards, 42-41 overall, and 17-13 on the offensive glass. The Pack had a 19-12 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Eagles’ bench outscored NC State’s reserves, 23-20.
• Defensively, NC State had 6 blocks, 1 altered shot and 11 steals. Coppin State rejected 1 shot, altered 6 and stole the ball 5 times.
• NC State led for 39:37 and never trailed. The Pack’s largest lead was 25 points.