I would suggest that there were teachable moments on Wednesday night, but I don’t know if teachable moments are so important, as there are reminders that, yes, the other team is trying to win too.
NC State came out as a gangbusters, played very well in the first 15 minutes of this game, and and Boston College missed several shots, Wolfpack took advantage of the Eagles’ poor internal defense. For much of the first half, the state led by double digits. DJ Funderburk was dominant on his first return to action.
DJ scored 17 points in the first half, got what he wanted, and State existed at a distance from Boston College, which hovered between being completely expelled and growing his spine and trying to fuck it up.
Factors
| Four Factors | NC State | B.C |
|---|---|---|
| Four Factors | NC State | B.C |
| e f G% | 56.5 | 56.1 |
| FOR% | 24.3 | 23.9 |
| OR% | 36.7 | 39.4 |
| FTR | 48.1 | 28.1 |
Pace and Efficiency
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
| B.C | 76 | 70 | 108.6 | 112.9 |
| NC State | 79 | 70 | 112.9 | 108.6 |
See, you can never say during the break how it will be: maybe they lie down, maybe they’re tired, maybe they want to go home. Or maybe they grow a pimple and would like to try to fuck it all up.
Boston College is a definitive example of the latter. The Eagles were not willing to give up and almost stole the game on the road and deserve a lot of credit for that. I don’t think State came out of the middle expecting a fight, and it came out. The state was lucky to come out from under this one.
You have to be careful about complacency.