Quick hits from NC State basketball win over Bucknell

Quick hits and notes from NC State Wolfpack basketball’s 88-70 win over Bucknell in their 2021-22 season opener in front of 13,131 fans at PNC Arena Tuesday evening.

NC State basketball play of the game

The Wolfpack was trailing the entire first half until freshman guard Terquavion Smith gave NC State its first lead shortly before halftime with a nice hustle play in the backcourt.

Smith stole an inbounds pass following senior forward Jericole Hellems’ three-point play that tied the game. After Smith initially missed a short shot, he grabbed his own rebound between two Bucknell players and scored on a follow shot with 1:07 left.

That basket helped give the Wolfpack the momentum it needed and carried over into the second half.

NC State basketball highlight of the game

The play that stood out came at the 12:10 mark in the first half. After freshman guard Breon Pass grabbed a defensive rebound, he threw a long outlet pass to Smith.

Smith provided a nice feed to Hellems, who threw it down with authority on the fast break, cutting Bucknell’s lead to 15-13.

NC State basketball player of the game

There were a lot of options here.

This was a team effort and kudos to head coach Kevin Keatts and his squad for not giving up when little was going their way early in the game.

Hellems and even Smith showed leadership, and numerous players provided important minutes and contributions.

Redshirt sophomore wing Dereon Seabron separated himself from everyone on the court, though. Playing with an intensity and desire to go have the ball, Seabron had a double-double with a career-high 18 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, and he tacked on three steals.

Seabron played with a purpose, dominating the fast breaks by going coast-to-coast multiple times. Seabron flashed at times last year, and he looks to be picking up where he left off.

Tuesday was Seabron’s second career double-double.

Playing short-handed

Just before the game started, news broke out that NC State would be without fifth-year senior guard Thomas Allen. He was given a one-game suspension by the NCAA for playing in an unsanctioned summer league game.

The attrition did not stop there.

Redshirt junior center Manny Bates was injured in the first minute of the game. Attempting to run down a long rebound, Bates grabbed his right arm and immediately walked to the locker room. Bates appeared to be in obvious physical pain while he exited the floor.

Bates previously did not play in the exhibition game vs Elizabeth City State.

Keatts did not have an update on Bates’ status, but Bates will have an MRI on Wednesday.

Sophomore center Ebenezer Dowuona stepped up in Bates’ absence, providing much needed rebounding. Dowuona had nine boards in the first half and finished with 10 total. He had eight rebounds total last season.

Both Seabron and sophomore guard Cam Hayes were taken to the locker room to get treated. Seabron returned to the game, and Keatts said that Hayes was dealing with cramps.

T-buckets shines

Keatts raved all off-season about Smith’s ability to score and even called him a “bucket” from time to time. Smith put that on display Tuesday. He showed that he was not shy when it comes to shooting, attempting a team-high 17 shots.

Smith finished second on the team with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, including 2 of 5 on threes.

Smith’s scoring was what NC State needed in the first half when they struggled to put points on the board. The Pack missed their first 10 shot attempts from the field while falling behind 13-1 to start the contest.

Limiting three-pointers

Bucknell jumped out to a 13-1 lead and continued to hold a double-digit advantage at 24-13 midway through the first half, It made 11 of its first 17 shots from the field.

That is when the Bison began to cool off. It went 6 of 17 from the field to finish the half and shot 12 of 29, or 41.4 percent, after halftime.

Notably, NC State limited Bucknell’s success on three-pointers, although it dodged a bullet on a few misfires on open looks. The Bison was just 9 of 31 from long range, or 29.0 percent.

Defending the three is going to be significant in its game Saturday against Colgate, one of the best shooting teams in the country a year ago. Colgate shot 40.3 percent on threes and made an average of 9.3 per game on its way to a Patriot League championship and berth into the NCAA Tournament.

The Pack did a solid job Tuesday of not allowing Bucknell’s best scorer in Andrew Funk to get hot. He finished just 6-of-15 shooting for the game.

Former UNC guard King Rice’s son Xavier Rice had 12 first half points and was a big reason why Bucknell built an early lead. NC State clamped down on Rice in the second half, holding him to two points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Plus/minus for NC State basketball

Here is the plus/minus points differential for each NC State player during the game:

• Smith: +24 (30:55 played)
• Hellems: +23 (33:46)
• Sophomore forward Jaylon Gibson: +13 (13:51)
• Hayes: +11 (22:28)
• Seabron: +8 (28:47)
• Dowuona: +8 (25:11)
• Pass: +8 (11:09)
• Junior guard Casey Morsell: +1 (26:15)
• Junior guard Chase Graham: 0 (1:06)
• Freshman guard Alex Nunnally: 0 (1:06)
• Freshman forward Ernest Ross: -3 (4:28)
• Bates: -3 (0:58)

Game scores for NC State basketball

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

Seabron – 18.3

Hellems – 17.1

Smith – 15.5

Morsell – 8.8

Hayes – 6.9

Dowuona – 6.6

Pass – 3.3

Bates – 0

Nunnally – 0

Gibson – -0.1

Ross – -0.4

Graham – -0.7

What the win means for NC State basketball

NC State is now 2-0 against Bucknell. The Pack defeated the Bison, 99-86, in 2015, using a 13-2 run with 8:24 left to overcome a one-point deficit.

Keatts improves to 5-0 in season openers at NC State.

Other stats of note

• NC State won the points in the paint, 38-28.
• The Wolfpack doubled Bucknell’s total fast break points, 18-9.
• The Pack’s bench outscored Bucknell’s reserves, 26-9.
• NC State won the turnover battle 17-7 and converted that into a 23-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
• The Wolfpack edged out the Bison on the boards 42-33 overall. The Pack narrowly had the advantage on defensive rebounds 26-25. NC State dominated the offensive glass, 16-8. That led to an 18-9 edge in second-chance points.
• Defensively, NC State had two blocks, both coming from Dowuona, but managed to own the steals margin, 13-0. NC State also altered one shot. The Bison had one block and two shots altered.
• NC State led for 19:26 in this matchup and were up by as much as 21 points. Bucknell had the lead for 18:36 and had a 12-point advantage.

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