It’s often not about how you start a game, but how you finish it. That was certainly the case for the NC State men’s basketball team Tuesday night, as the team recovered from not making a field goal for over seven minutes to start the game and found a groove on offense for an 82-66 win over Boston College at PNC Arena, the Pack’s third straight win.
The Wolfpack (19-9, 9-6) shot 56 percent from the field (63 in the first half) despite its early struggles and 53 percent from three, including a blistering 75 in the first half against the Eagles (16-12, 6-9). Four players hit double figures, led by graduate guard Al Freeman with 20.
“The first five minutes of the game I was going to get up and leave because we hadn’t scored,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “It’s weird; for whatever reason we came out and we didn’t make shots early. I was OK with it because [Boston College] only had six points. … My deal was just keep defending because they’re not going anywhere; they only have six points. We finally got going. … What a great game for us.”
The Pack played solid defense, particularly in the first half, as the Eagles shot 38 percent from the field (31 in the first half ) and 16 from three (12).
“Our main focus coming into this game was to defend the 3-point line,” Keatts said. “Those guys lead the ACC in made 3s at 10 a game. I thought we did a tremendous job. … That’s one of the best back courts in the country. I thought our guys stepped up to the challenge.”
To say the game started slowly would be an understatement, with Boston College leading 6-0 at 15:06 of the first half and the Pack starting off 0 for 7 from the field. It took NC State over six minutes to get on the scoreboard, with a free throw from senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu cutting the deficit to 6-1.
The Pack finally got its first field goal over seven minutes after missing its first eight shots with a lay-in from redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn, who finished the game with 12 points.
Fortunately for the Pack, its defense did start the game on time and keep BC off the board, allowing a pair of 3s from freshman guard Braxton Beverly, who finished with 16 points and shot 5 of 6 from beyond the arc (5 for 5 in the first half) and graduate guard Sam Hunt, who had 12 points on 4-of-4 3-point shooting to give NC State a 9-8 lead.
Those treys sparked what turned into a 24-10 run for NC State over the next 4:59, including six 3s, with another from Hunt putting the Pack up 27-16 with 7:36 left in the half.
“It was just finding our rhythm,” Hunt said. “We started out sluggish and slow, so we just had to get slow. We were defending, but we just weren’t putting the ball in the basket. Once we found our rhythm we were fine.”
After missing its first eight shots, the Pack hit 17 of its next 19. NC State closed out the half strong to take a 44-28 to the locker room.
“We just picked our energy up,” Beverly said. “The energy comes from the defensive stops you get. So, once we started getting stops and getting out in running, getting easy ones, that builds up momentum and the basket seems like you’re not going to miss.”
Dorn was the hot hand for the Pack early in the second half, scoring eight points in the first five minutes and change and showing off his skills with several inside cuts to the hoop.
The Eagles were the stronger team for the first portion of the second half, with an 18-12 run over the first nine minutes cutting the Pack’s lead to 10 as NC State could not maintain its first-half scoring pace.
The Pack then grabbed five straight points to go back up by 13, with another corner 3 from Hunt making it 63-50 with 8:48 to play. Dorn electrified the crowd with 6:16 to go, catching an alley-oop from sophomore guard Markell Johnson, who finished with eight assists, inside to make it 70-54 Wolfpack.
The Eagles cut the Pack’s lead to eight at 74-66 with a 3-ball from Jordan Chatman with 3:13 to play, but that’s as close as it would get. The Pack pulled away down the stretch for its third consecutive victory as the team continues to solidify its NCAA tournament resume with 19 wins overall and nine in the ACC, a far cry from last year’s ACC bottom feeder.
“I’m excited,” Keatts said. “I won’t take it for granted. Our guys are playing very good basketball. To have nine wins in this conference, it means a lot. I’m proud of these guys. I can’t think of a game where they didn’t give me tremendous effort and played hard.”
The Pack will be back in action against Florida State at PNC Arena Sunday night.
