Winning a game doesn’t have to be that hard, but that’s the difference between a decent team and a good one. NC State almost messed up enough to lose to Pittsburgh, but this was a game that ended up with late free throws, and there State had the advantage.
I didn’t have to go that far, knowing what we knew about Pitt’s preferences – namely, that the Panthers wanted to attack the offensive glass and that they would probably put extra emphasis there after losing a few beginners to transfer.
Pitt hit almost 46% of the missed shots, and that was the only reason the Panthers stayed in the game and put themselves in a position to steal them late. They kicked badly, which was an expected result of their friction – this was a bad kicking team to start with. They kept the door open with rebounds.
NC State’s internal defense, in general, was doing well, limiting Pitt to 36% of doubles shots. That initial part was never the problem and, ultimately, it was decisive, because the Panthers were often fighting.
State also didn’t kick well from anywhere on the ground, but State was better inside the arc (45%) and kicked 24-34 on the free-throw line, surpassing Pitt’s 19-30 shot. In the end it was a free-throw contest that nobody wants.
Jericole Hellems led all of Wolfpack’s top scorers with 15 points, including some free throws to put the game on the ice in the last 10 seconds. Braxton Beverly, 8-9 on the stripe, scored 14; DJ Funderburk was 13 and Manny Bates was 10.
Nothing about this was an efficiency model, but this was a tight game in the final stages in a game where NC State’s freshman contingent was totally absent, and he won anyway. It is a mess of many games for this group, and the defensive recovery was a frustrating fight, but Wolfpack found a way anyway.