The NC State men’s basketball team picked up an important ACC win Wednesday night, using a ferocious second-half comeback to pull out a 73-68 win over Notre Dame. Here are some numbers from the game that won’t stand out in a traditional box score.
27 – The number of points scored by senior guard Markell Johnson, tying his career high. Coming off a rough performance at Clemson, the senior reminded the Wolfpack faithful of what he is capable of. Johnson grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half, scoring 14 in the final 20 minutes. Johnson also finished the game with seven assists, three steals and three rebounds.
3:16 – The total time NC State spent leading in the game. After taking a 10-7 lead early in the first half, the Wolfpack trailed for a majority of the game until Funderburk’s free throw with 1:37 left on the clock gave the Wolfpack a lead that it would hold onto until the final whistle.
71 – Percentage of 3-pointers NC State allowed the Fighting Irish to hit in the first half. Without redshirt senior guard C.J. Bryce, the Pack’s wing defense faltered and the Irish took advantage. Guard Prentis Hubb knocked down 4 of 5 in the half.
5 – Minutes played by graduate forward Danny Dixon in the first half, the same amount he had all season entering the game. With Bryce out and redshirt junior forward DJ Funderburk in early foul trouble, head coach Kevin Keatts was forced to go deeper into his bench than he typically prefers.
0 – Combined fastbreak points and free-throw attempts for the Wolfpack in the first half. Despite forcing seven turnovers in the half, the Pack was unable to push the tempo on the Fighting Irish and struggled with inconsistency when attempting to run with the Irish.
48 – Number of blocks redshirt freshman center Manny Bates now has this season, a program record for a freshman. Bates finished the game with three blocks, and the record-setting 48th rejection came at the 8:18 mark in the second half.
10 – Number of second-half offensive rebounds NC State’s three big men grabbed. Dixon, Funderburk and Bates combined to play 38 minutes and battled down low all half, helping the Wolfpack score 10 second-chance points in the decisive final 20 minutes of play.
16 – Assists for NC State in its win. Led by Johnson’s seven, the Wolfpack was spreading the ball around all night, assisting on 62% of its made buckets. With the secondary playmaking in full force, the offense didn’t go stagnant when ballhandlers other than Johnson were running the offense.
