NC State basketball quick hits and notes from win over Louisiana Tech
Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball 90-81 home win over Louisiana Tech in front of a crowd of 10,919 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon.
Play Of The Game
Louisiana Tech proved to be challenging opponent, but it was never able to get over the hump against the Wolfpack thanks to several key baskets made by different NC State basketball players.
That included junior guard Casey Morsell driving to the basket with 8:19 left and making the shot through contact from Louisiana Tech second-year freshman forward Kenny Lofton Jr. Morsell’s three-point play would give the Wolfpack a 68-59 advantage.
Louisiana Tech would never be closer than seven points the rest of the game.
Highlight Of The Game
Player Of The Game
Coming into Saturday, senior forward Jericole Hellems had been in a bit of a slump. In the prior four games, he was shooting 8 of 32 from the field, or 25.0 percent, and fouled out of three straight contests.
That ended in a big way on Saturday during a career performance for Hellems.
Hellems set new personal bests for points (31), field goals made (10 on 19 attempts) and three-pointers made (six on eight tries). His three-pointers made tally tied for the most by an ACC player in a single game thus far on the young season.
Hellems was also a perfect 5 of 5 on the free throw line, and he grabbed four rebounds.
The one negative is that, while Hellems avoided fouling out a fourth straight game, he had to sit a portion of the second half after picking up a fourth foul with 11:11 left.
Getting Big Contribution From Ebenezer Dowuona
Playing the season without redshirt junior center Manny Bates, head coach Kevin Keatts is turning to sophomore post players Ebenezer Dowuona and Jaylon Gibson.
Dowuona joined Hellems with a personal career performance. He established a career-high in scoring just over three minutes into the game with six quick points and would finish with 10 on 5-of-5 shooting from the field.
More noteworthy is that Dowuona provided some rim protection reminiscent of Bates. Dowuona blocked six shots, more than doubling his season total of five coming into the game.
Also setting a defensive career-high was redshirt sophomore wing Dereon Seabron, who had five steals. Seabron did not have any steals against Colgate, but he’s had at least two in all the other five games, including three or more in four contests.
Seabron is up to 16 steals on the season, matching his total from all of last year. He is currently second in the ACC in steals per game (2.7).
Seabron also set a career-high with five assists and added 10 points and seven rebounds.
NC State Basketball Has Its Best Shooting Performance
The Wolfpack shot 32 of 62 from the field, or 51.6 percent, including 11 of 23 on three-pointers, or 47.8 percent. The Pack was also money at the free throw line, going 15 of 19 for 78.9 percent.
In the final 35.4 seconds of the contest, NC State went 8 of 8 from the charity stripe, with sophomore guard Cam Hayes making six of those.
All five starters would end the game in double digits in scoring, and Morsell set a new personal best with three made treys.
It is the first time this season that NC State basketball made at least half their field goal attempts from the field.
Shoutout To Kenny Lofton Jr.
In The Wolfpacker’s scouting report on Louisiana Tech, it was noted that: “The massive 6-foot-7, 275-pounder may not look like a player to watch when Louisiana Tech goes through warm-ups, but he is the Bulldogs’ most consistent player.”
Lofton showed why he is averaging a double-double this season and may be a contender for Conference USA Player of the Year. He finished with staggering numbers of 36 points and 18 rebounds. He was 14-of-19 shooting and made 8 of 11 free throws. He also had a team-high four assists.
Lofton finished with a game score, using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, of 35.3. Ten is considered the average for a NBA player, and 40 is the maximum score.
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: +19 (27:07 minutes played)
Dowuona: +10 (26:38)
Seabron: +8 (36:44)
Hellems: +8 (32:35)
Freshman guard Terquavion Smith: +6 (24:36)
Morsell: +5 (33:53)
Gibson: 0 (12:03)
Freshman forward Ernest Ross: -2 (0:51)
Freshman guard Breon Pass: -9 (5:33)
NC State Basketball Game Scores
Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average for an NBA player.
Hellems: 21.7
Seabron: 16.4
Hayes: 14.3
Dowuona: 12.4
Morsell: 9.8
Smith: 6.5
Gibson: 0.7
Ross: 0.0
Pass: -1.0
What This NC State Basketball Win Means
The Pack is 5-1 on the season while Louisiana Tech fell to 4-2.
This is the second time the two teams have played. In 2014, the Wolfpack overcame a 50-32 second-half deficit to prevail 73-65.
The game was broadcast online by ACC Network Extra. Throughout the year, we’ll keep track of the Pack’s record on the different channels:
• ACC Network Extra: 3-0
• FloSports: 1-0
• RSN: 1-0
• CBS Sports Network: 0-1
We also track NC State’s records by month:
• November: 5-1
Here is NC State’s records in the month of November previously under Keatts:
• 2017: 6-2
• 2018: 6-1
• 2019: 5-2
• 2020: 2-0
Other stats of note
- NC State won the turnover margin 14-6 and converted that into a decisive 20-4 advantage in points off miscues.
- Louisiana Tech had a 48-30 edge in points in the paint.
- NC State had a slight advantage in fast break points, 24-22.
- The Bulldogs had a 38-27 win on the boards overall and were 13-8 on the offensive glass. That led to an 13-6 advantage for Louisiana Tech on second-chance points.
- Defensively, NC State had seven blocks, two shots altered and 10 steals. Louisiana Tech rejected two shots, altered seven and had three steals.
- The Bulldogs’ bench outscored NC State’s reserves, 21-11.
- NC State led by as much as 15 points and for 38:47. Louisiana Tech had the edge for 28 and by as much as two.
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