The NC State men’s basketball team claimed a wire-to-wire victory over Notre Dame, 76-58, Saturday in PNC Arena, serving as sweet revenge for an earlier 30-point blowout in South Bend, Indiana.
The Wolfpack (16-7, 6-4 ACC) has seen vast improvements since its 88-58 loss to the Fighting Irish (13-10, 3-7 ACC) on Jan. 3. The scoreboard isn’t telling of the 18-point victory as the Pack dominated every aspect of the game, leading by a 30-point margin before garbage time commenced.
The difference between past conference wins is that Saturday’s was NC State’s first convincing win over a respectable opponent. Let’s analyze a few aspects of the victory over the Irish:
Yurtseven isn’t the only offensive weapon
In 10 conference games, sophomore center Omer Yurtseven has emerged as the centerpiece of the Pack’s offensive attack. His confidence and aggressiveness has obviously increased. Head coach Kevin Keatts has encouraged the Turkish center to shoot early and often. Yurtseven has flourished in the pick-and-pop game, averaging 15.9 points per game in ACC play including 20-plus scoring outings against Clemson, Wake Forest and Miami.
Since scoring 28 in a loss to the Hurricanes on Jan. 21, Yurtseven has slowed down a bit; however, other members of the Wolfpack have stepped up. Everyone knows of graduate guard Allerik Freeman’s 29-point explosion in Chapel Hill, but he’s been inconsistent for the Pack.
The basket has been wide open for redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn as of late. Dorn has produced 12, 20 and 21 points in the past three games, respectively, and had the hot hand from deep. He’s shot a scorching 54.5 percent from behind the arc, converting 6 of 11 3-pointers in the last three games.
Also, freshman guard Braxton Beverly has garnered respectable contributions. Against Notre Dame, Beverly was the Wolfpack’s second-leading scorer with 16, shooting 3 of 5 from three. He notched an impressive stat line of 16 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Markell Johnson is back and better than ever
Since returning from a seven-game suspension, sophomore guard Markell Johnson has proved to be the catalyst of NC State’s backcourt.
“Markell’s return has helped everybody,” Keatts told The News & Observer. “Not so much because he can score and he can pass but it’s also taken the pressure off of Al Freeman and Braxton Beverly. They can play off the ball. They don’t have to worry about handling the ball as much. He’s made us better in every aspect.”
Johnson is a pass-first point guard and racks up the assists; in fact, after dishing 10 assists on Saturday, Johnson passed NC State legend Chris Corchiani as the first Wolfpack player to record four straight game with 10 or more assists.
Though Keatts said the Cleveland, Ohio guard would rather pass than score, he’s put the ball in the basket when he’s called to. Johnson scored a career-high 20 points, including some clutch free throws, in the 95-91 overtime win over then-No. 10 UNC Chapel Hill.
Where is Abdul-Malik Abu?
Granted senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu nursed a preseason knee injury forcing him to miss six games, he has been nonexistent during the 2017-18 season.
Though he’s started 13 of the 17 games he’s played, the Boston native is averaging a career-low 17 minutes per game; furthermore, prior to Saturday’s victory, Abu has seen just 24 minutes of action since Jan. 21.
However, in the Notre Dame rematch the senior had one of his best conference outings of the season. He saw a season-high 30 minutes of action and scored 8 points along with five rebounds.
There could be several reasons as to why Abu isn’t seeing the court as much. Yurtseven’s emergence, the four-guard scheme, a misunderstanding of the system and a possible lingering knee injury are all plausible explanations.
The Pack is riding a three-game winning streak and feels on top of the world; however, if Abu can shake his mid-season slump, his play could propel NC State to the next level.
