NC State basketball quick hits from 65-57 win over Texas Southern

Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball 65-57 home win over Texas Southern in front of a crowd of 11,806 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Sunday evening.

Play Of The Game

NC State built up a nine-point lead in the first half, but Texas Southern finished on an 11-3 run to take a 31-28 advantage at the break.

The Tigers stretched that lead up to five on two occasions and was leading 41-37 when the Wolfpack made its decisive run, a 10-0 spurt that gave NC State control of the game.

Highlighting that stretch was an alley-oop pass in transition from freshman guard Terquavion Smith to redshirt sophomore wing Dereon Seabron for the layup, tying the score at 41 with 13:51 to go.

Highlight Of The Game

Seabron stole a pass, split two defenders with a long dribble and broke free for a one-handed dunk to give the Wolfpack an 11-8 lead with 11:40 remaining in the first half.

Player Of The Game

The honor might be renamed for Seabron, who has been selected each time NC State basketball has won a game this season.

Seabron played all but one minute in the contest and made 8 of 15 shots from the field to finish with 21 points and 11 rebounds. It is the fourth double-double in five games this season for Seabron, and in the one contest he did not record one, he was one rebound short of getting there.

Seabron struggled at the line, making 4 of 8, but he also had four assists and three steals.

In 24 games last season, Seabron had 124 points and 83 rebounds.

Through five contests this year, he has 103 points and 52 boards, averages of 20.6 points and 10.4 boards per contest. He is shooting 58.2 percent from the field (39 of 67).

NC State Basketball Followed Familiar Script Vs. Texas Southern

On the surface, struggling against a winless Texas Southern team at home would not seem like a quality win, but those who read The Wolfpacker’s scouting report on the Tigers know perhaps this was what to be expected.

Texas Southern won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) a year ago and advanced out of the first four game of the NCAA Tournament to play top-seeded Michigan.

The Tigers’ first 13 games of the season this year will all be on the road, perhaps because Texas Southern is acutely aware its only chance for a NCAA Tournament bid is a conference crown and thus this is a way to cash in during the non-conference slate.

Texas Southern trailed all the way, including by 10 at halftime, in a 17-point loss at then-No. 13 Oregon to open the season.

Since then:

• It had a 31-28 halftime lead at Saint Mary’s and was tied 43-43 with 11 minutes left before the Gaels went on a 17-2 run and prevailed by nine points, 67-58.

Saint Mary’s is ranked No. 44 in the KenPom.com rankings.

• Texas Southern led 37-33 at the midway point at Washington and took a 56-55 advantage with 7:25 left before the Huskies grabbed momentum late in a 72-65 Washington victory.

• The Tigers led Air Force 33-28 at halftime and was tied 46-46 with eight minutes to go before falling 61-57.

Playing Most Of The Second Half Without Jericole Hellems

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts noted after the game he was going to have a conversation with his senior forward.

Hellems picked up his third foul 45 seconds into the second half, and then wih 15:13 to go was whistled for a fourth. Arguing the call, Hellems was assessed a technical foul, one of three given to players in the game, and disqualified.

It is the third straight contest that Hellems has fouled out.

Keatts elected to go with Seabron as his primary power forward and play three guards.

Hellems had 10 first-half points before fouling out.

NC State Junior Forward Greg Gantt Update

Redshirt junior center Manny Bates is not the only player in street clothes on the Wolfpack bench.

Gantt, a transfer from Providence, has yet to play after having a sports hernia in the late-summer months.

Keatts was asked about Gantt postgame and did not have a timeline for his potential return.

“He’s coming along,” Keatts added. “I don’t want to put a time on it. I have no idea when he’s going to play. It’s not fair for me to say he’s going to play in two weeks, three weeks or first semester.

“I will tell you he’s getting better.”

The 6-foot-8 Gantt averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last season for Providence.

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:

Hayes: +25 (25 minutes played)

Sophomore center Ebenezer Dowuona: +15 (23)

Junior guard Casey Morsell: +11 (31)

Seabron: +6  (39)

Hellems: +4 (21)

Smith: 0 (17)

Freshman guard Breon Pass: -4 (4)

Freshman forward Ernest Ross: -5 (1)

Fifth-year senior guard Thomas Allen: -6 (22)

Sophomore forward Jaylon Gibson: -6 (17)

NC State basketball game scores

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

Seabron: 19.2

Hayes: 11.2

Gibson: 5.1

Smith: 4.1

Morsell: 3.5

Allen: 3.2

Hellems: 3.1

Pass: 1.2

Ross: -0.7

Dowuona: -0.9

What this NC State basketball win means

The Pack is 4-1 on the season while Texas Southern fell to 0-5.

It is the first time the two programs have met.

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

• ACC Network Extra: 2-0

• FloSports: 1-0

• RSN: 1-0

• CBS Sports Network: 0-1

We also track NC State’s records by month:

• November: 4-1

Other stats of note

• NC State won the turnover margin 13-9 and converted that into a 10-8 advantage in points off miscues.
• The Wolfpack had a 32-24 edge in points in the paint.
• NC State had a more decisive advantage in fast break points, 26-10.
• The Tigers had a 47-41 win on the boards overall and were 18-10 on the offensive glass. That led to an 11-2 advantage for Texas Southern on second-chance points.
• Defensively, NC State had five blocks and eight steals. Texas Southern rejected four shots and had three steals.
• The Tigers’ bench outscored NC State’s reserves, 24-15.
• NC State led by as much as nine points and for 27:49. Texas Southern had the edge for 8:24 and by as much as five.

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