The No. 18 NC State men’s basketball team began its slew of conference play with a game against the 6-4 Miami Hurricanes. The Wolfpack improved to 13-1, its best start since the 1974 championship team, after defeating the Canes 87-82.
Redshirt sophomore guard Devon Daniels and junior guard Markell Johnson led the Pack to its victory, with Daniels notching 19 points, eight rebounds and one block, on perfect 3-point shooting and Johnson scored a team-leading 20 points on 75 percent shooting to go along with four rebounds and five assists.
The game was kept close, with both teams taking big leads and surrendering them. NC State trailed by 10 points with about eight minutes left in the second half, before sparking a huge run led by Johnson to give it the momentum to win.
The perimeter defense was overall lacking until that point, and the Pack let the Canes shoot 40 percent from 3-point range. However, the Wolfpack turned up the heat with around seven minutes remaining in the second half, with three huge defensive stops as a unit, to spark the run led by Johnson. Johnson scored 11 of his 20 points in the last seven and a half minutes of the game.
The big men played a big role in the game as well, with redshirt sophomore DJ Funderburk filling the stat sheet, with eight points on perfect shooting, four rebounds, two steals and a block. Graduate Wyatt Walker scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds, with eight being offensive rebounds, which gave the Pack multiple huge opportunities to score and gain the lead.
The big men also played well in spite of the fact that Miami center Ebuka Izundu was a pest for the Pack, causing NC State to foul him multiple times. Izundu was the victim of multiple Funderburk fouls, causing the big man to foul out of the game near the end of regulation.
Daniels played his strongest in the beginning of the game, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the game. Daniels had some big plays in the second half, but with less volume than the first.
Daniels had a sloppy play in which he turned the ball over with around 50 seconds left, but quickly made up for the play on the defensive end with a strong block to give the Pack possession of the ball with around 30 seconds left. Johnson then hit four free throws in a row to extend the lead after the Canes were forced to foul.
However, the Pack did not play well the entire game, and played a poor first half, with an uncharacteristic amount of fouls and turnovers. Seven fouls were assessed to the Wolfpack in the first half, and the Canes beat the Pack to any loose balls. In the first half, the Pack played with a seemingly nervous touch, and simply looked shaken up against an amped up Miami squad.
At the end of the game, the Pack had 16 turnovers and 23 fouls, in comparison to Miami’s seven turnovers and 14 fouls, some of which were committed in the game’s final minute.
The Pack was down by eight points to end the first half, but State came back to keep the game close at the start of the second half and entered a 3-point shootout with three 3s being made in a row combined by both teams.
The Pack also had to adapt with leading scorer, redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn, having a quiet game on the scoring end, finishing with just seven points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Starting sophomore point guard Braxton Beverly began the game with little presence on the court, but as the game winded on, Beverly was able to find his teammates more often and helped move the ball around in order to open up opportunities for Daniels and Johnson. Beverly finished the game with six assists.
Redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce had a solid game, scoring 10 points and collecting nine rebounds, and found ways to impact the game despite poor shooting from the 3-point line.
Miami guard Chris Lykes had a huge night against the Pack, scoring 28 points on 75 percent shooting from the 3-point line. Miami guard Dejan Vasiljevic hit a three-pointer in his 26th consecutive game, while guard Zach Johnson poured in 21 points.
The game was a tale of two halves, with the Pack playing a poor first half, but a spectacular last 10 minutes. Head coach Kevin Keatts’ coaching was a big factor in the game, as he kept rotations tight and effective throughout the game, and undoubtedly was a force for the second-half comeback.
The Wolfpack returns to PNC Arena to faceoff against rival No. 15 UNC Chapel Hill on Jan. 8.
