NC State basketball failed to come back from a second-half deficit, with UNC defeating them 63-61 Saturday afternoon in Raleigh.
Jalen Washington made the most of his first career double-double, scoring the game-winning basket and then blocking a Jayden Taylor shot with one second left on the clock. The Tar Heels (11-6, 4-1) were led by freshman Ian Jackson, who scored 21 points. That scoring output was the six straight contests where he scored over 15 points.
BLOCK PARTY. @jalen_w13 pic.twitter.com/veOBZeLWRu
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 11, 2025
The Wolfpack (9-7, 2-3) were led by Marcus Hill with his 20 points. Taylor, a senior out of Indianapolis, IN, scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
Takeaway #1: Making that extra pass helped the Heels prevail
For the third straight game, Carolina was able to notch more assists than their opponent. Against NC State, the Tar Heels recorded 17 assists. This was 10 more than NC State was able to add to the box score.
Elliot Cadeau, who assisted on 11 baskets, was one assist shy of matching the season-high total. He recorded 12 assists against Campbell.
“I thought [Cadeau] played really well today,” coach Hubert Davis said after the game. “He ran our offense, he took care the basketball, and I was really proud of him tonight.”
This was the ninth game this season where Carolina recorded more than 14 assists, going 8-1 in those games.
Takeaway #2: Slow start by team forced multiple rallies
In the first 10 minutes of the game, Hill had 10 points while UNC had scored 12 points. In that same stretch, the Wolfpack has multiple stretches of missing at least 6 shots in a row.
Nothing is stopping him😳 pic.twitter.com/ORJDuUEwD9
— NC State Men’s Basketball (@PackMensBball) January 11, 2025
Starting a game with only one person scoring and the rest of the team going 0-for-10 would making any comeback difficult.
“You’re never going to, you know, look at our heart and say we ain’t ready to play,” coach Kevin Keatts said. “I don’t coach that way, and I don’t recruit guys that way.”
This was evident in the second half when NC State went on multiple runs over 6 or more points to get the game tied with less than a minute left in the game.
Takeaway #3: Post-play is giving Heels a more balanced offense
Going into this season, it was unsure how Carolina’s post-play would be after Harrison Ingram and Armando Bacot finishing up their college eligibility.
In fact, only eight times this season did the Tar Heels allow fewer than 30 points in the paint. On Saturday, the Wolfpack only notched 28 points and the majority of them were in the first half.
Washington scored six of his points in the paints, including the game-winning dunk. Ven-Allen Lubin, a Vanderbilt transfer who was brought in to take over the Bacot size hole in the lineup, has not recorded double-digit scoring since notching 10 points against La Salle.
However, both players are starting to disrupt opposing offenses shots. Between Lubin and Washington, they had a rebound rate of 58.6 while they were on the floor.
Next up for NC State (9-7, 2-3): at Virginia Tech (7-9, 2-3) – Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. EST
Next up for North Carolina (11-6, 4-1): vs California (8-8, 1-4) – Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. EST