Kevin Keatts may have his problems, but they tend not to come up against Wake Forest, and Saturday afternoon was no exception. NC State surpassed the Deacs in the vast majority of the game, resulting in a comfortable win for Wolfpack. The biggest advantage of the state, with 80-55, came in the last minutes.
It is a successful trip.
Four Factors
| … | NC State | Wake up |
|---|---|---|
| … | NC State | Wake up |
| e f G% | 56.9 | 47.2 |
| FOR% | 16.3 | 28.1 |
| OR% | 34.4 | 33.3 |
| FTR | 32.8 | 24.1 |
Pace and Efficiency
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
| Wake up | 62 | 68 | 91.2 | 117.6 |
| NC State | 80 | 68 | 117.6 | 91.2 |
The game got off to an irregular start by both teams, with some anxious offenses leading to a series of sloppy twists. State and Wake exchanged shots for a while – when they actually succeeded – but State started to change this around the midpoint of the first half of Cam Hayes’s three consecutive.
The game ended on 14 points with about 12 minutes remaining, and four minutes later, NC State had a 29-18 lead. Wake pushed close to 35-27, but the Pack ended the strong half.
The security problems of Wake’s ball came to the fore again, which is a credit to the pressure of the State ball and the overall defensive effort. There were a series of live ball twists that gave State some easy transition opportunities to make money, and the team’s confidence grew over the course of the game.
It helped NC State kick 6-10 out of three and 11-12 from the free throw line in the first half, and although those were exceptionally good performances, it was nice to see the guys pay their defensive work with results in the other end.
NC State had five double-digit players, led by Jericole Hellems and Dereon Seabron, each with 14. Seabron recorded a 34-minute season record today, making two consecutive games in which he has been on the court for more than 30. Seabron added nine bags, four steals and three assists. Just a really impressive game of it around.
Wolfpack has its first winning streak since the end of December, and has won three straight on the road for the first time in 19 years, so it’s not bad.
Good win today – let’s have an ice cream.