NC State basketball wanted to put to rest any talk that they have regressed as a team. They did that by snapping a three-game losing streak with a 74-68 victory over the Miami Hurricanes.
This marks their ninth win against Miami inside PNC Arena, and 16th overall in the series.
Graduate guard DJ Horne led the Wolfpack (14-7, 6-4 ACC) with 24 points while shooting 50 percent from the field. As a team, this was their best shooting performance (48.1% from the field) since before their losing streak started. Junior guard Jayden Taylor added 11 second-half points. Junior guard Nijel Pack, held scoreless in the first half, led the Hurricanes (14-7, 5-5 ACC) with 23 points.
Takeaway #1: Three-point defense shows up in a big way
Going into the game, Miami was one of the hottest teams in the nation from beyond the arc. Their 38.7% shooting was 15th in the nation. NC State basketball seemingly hasn’t been able to stop teams from three-point range. Since the calendar flipped to 2024, only one opponent has shot less than 30% from outside.
The script was flipped as Miami was held to 25% shooting from outside, just the fourth time they shot under 30% this season.
Kevin Keatts, in his seventh year coaching at NC State, praised the team for their overall defensive performance.
Only one player from Miami was able to connect with multiple three-pointers, with Pack hitting all of them in the second half.
Offensively for the Wolfpack, they hit above 40% for just the sixth time this season. This might have had something to do with an after-practice shootaround with coach Keatts. He jokingly claimed beating a couple of players from beyond the arc, before saying they wiped the floor with him.
Graduate guard Casey Morsell added to the three-point scoring. He connected on three to help give him 17 points on the night, only his second game shooting above 50% in conference play.
“I thought we played desperate basketball like we had to have it,” said Keatts in talking about having a sense of urgency. This helped NC State take away one of Miami’s biggest weapons in a game they desperately needed to win.
Takeaway #2: Miami continues to dominate the boards
One part of Miami’s game that continues to be improved is their rebounding, especially on the offensive side.
Junior forward Norchad Omier got his 10th double-double of the season on the back of his six offensive boards. The second-year transfer from Arkansas State, where he won Sun Belt Player of the Year honors in 2022, has gotten 32.1% of his rebounds on the offensive side this season.
Another contributor on the offensive glass was junior guard Bensley Joseph. The Arlington, MA native has started 19 games this season but set a career-high four offensive boards. This was despite only going 2-of-7 from the field.
The 19 offensive boards by Miami were the most since the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament against Indiana. They were able to get 19 second chance points because of those boards.
The Hurricanes will need to continue to dominate the boards and facilitate second-chance opportunities. With only one team from the ACC ranking in the top 50 nationally in offensive rebounds, continuing to improve in this would go a long way in securing a postseason berth.
Takeaway #3: Turnovers doom Miami in first half
NC State has only forced fewer than 10 turnovers in three games. Miami hasn’t been known to protect the ball, ranking in the bottom third in NCAA in turnovers.
This story continued in Raleigh, as Miami coughed up the ball nine times in the first half alone. Freshman guard Kyshawn George contributed to almost half with his four turnovers.
While the Wolfpack were outrebounded, they were able to take the ball away in transition. This resulted in six steals by five different players. For the game, State was one steal away from their ninth double-digit steal total of the season.
The Hurricanes have been able to limit teams stealing the ball, but have allowed 8.8 steals in the last five games.
This was another example of the Wolfpack playing desperate basketball. In a league where second place and ninth place are separated by 2.5 games, playing desperate will be the difference.
Both teams will be looking to get out of the logjam behind the top of the conference this weekend in home matchups. NC State will try to re-enter the conversation for a double-bye into the ACC Tournament. Down in Florida, Miami will face a dangerous Georgia Tech team coming off upsetting a top 5 team.
Next game for the Miami Hurricanes: vs. Virginia Tech (Feb. 3 – Noon)
Next game for the NC State Wolfpack: vs. Georgia Tech (Feb. 3 – 5:30 p.m.)