DAYTON, O.H. — NC State men’s basketball ended the year where it began. There’s trouble with rebounding. Trouble with defense. But the Wolfpack can shoot the lights out of a Hollywood studio.
In the biggest moment of the season, sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr. rose up in the corner and sunk a 3 over his defender. Texas turned it over and McNeil did it again. Then senior forward Darrion Williams cashed in from deep. This was NC State as advertised — big-time shotmaking and experience with pressure.
On the other end, Tramon Mark hit a 19-foot jumper with the game at a draw and the clock at one second. 68-66 Texas. The Longhorns (19-14, 9-9 SEC) advanced to the First Round of March Madness, and the Wolfpack (20-14, 10-8 ACC) went home.
NC State’s ineffective defense and impactless rebounding efforts put the team in a hole that no amount of clutch 3s could overcome.
In the transfer portal, head coach Will Wade sought guys with certain desirable qualities. Heightened shooting performance in close games. Postseason experience. His staff filtered through players using analytics. But did he overlook things as simple as size and strength?
Texas led the rebounding margin 45-33, and the Wolfpack conceded 15 offensive boards. It was no surprise to anyone watching — the Longhorns are among the top of the country in rebounding and NC State hasn’t outrebounded a team since January.
Just like all year, the Wolfpack was beaten on the glass.
And just like all year, the Wolfpack struggled to guard without fouling.
NC State committed 22 personal fouls, giving Texas 29 trips to the free-throw line and almost a third of its scoring in the game. At 18.2 fouls per game on the season, the Wolfpack wasn’t much worse than usual. Is it discipline? Is it personnel?
“We don’t have very good length, [we’re] just small,” Wade said. “You don’t have length and you’re small, it makes defense tough.”
Depth at the center position is a weak point of the roster, compounding the issue. After senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin went to the bench with his fourth foul, freshman forward Musa Sagnia was sent in for relief. Sagnia picked up his third, fourth and fifth fouls in the blink of an eye. Next up was senior center Scottie Ebube, who was whistled for goaltending and then picked up a foul after a missed NC State basket. So much for relief.
These are indictments of a team that wasn’t big or long or strong enough to keep up with its competition this year.
There is no doubt that NC State had strengths. It was 12th in the country in 3-point shooting percentage on the season. But you can’t win with shooting alone if you get outmuscled on every loose ball and foul teams every time they get near the basket.
“That’s who we are, we’re soft,” Wade said after a close loss to Miami. “We’re a jump-shooting team.”
You can come close, but the Wolfpack consistently failed to close out close games this season. Wins over Clemson and SMU were the only times that the team figured it out, with six losses including this one coming down to the final plays.
“We just haven’t been tough enough to make those plays to deserve the opportunity to win,” Wade said. “That’s why our record is what it is.”
Toughness helps, and so does setting up a team with the right tools for success.
“We’re gonna do much more due diligence this year,” Wade said. “We’ll have a better, better mixture of things moving forward.”
