The NC State men’s basketball team won two of three matchups this weekend to clinch the consolation final of the Paradise Jam.
Last week, the men’s team flew to the U.S. Virgin Islands to compete in the tournament. The field included teams such as Ole Miss, Loyola, Washington State, Montana, Oral Roberts, Saint Joseph’s and No. 12 Creighton.
The Wolfpack’s first matchup was against the Montana Grizzlies. The Pack struggled early on, down 40-38 at the half, but caught their groove in the second, defeating the Grizzlies 85-72.
The Pack shot an impressive 58 percent from the field led by junior Abdul-Malik Abu and freshman Dennis Smith Jr. with 25 and 21 points, respectively. The notable improvement in this matchup was the Pack’s free-throw percentage of 77.8. Abu lead the team in that category as well, sinking 9 of 10 from the charity stripe.
“Defensively, we were a lot better in the second half,” head coach Mark Gottfried told ESPN. “From the 15-16 minute mark down, we really defended really well.”
NC State needed to defend well going into it’s next matchup where it faced off against the Creighton Blue Jays. Led by senior Cole Huff, the Blue Jays outscored the Wolfpack 114-92, handing NC State its first loss of the season.
Huff recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, followed closely by starting point guard Maurice Watson Jr., who added 13 points and seven assists.
The game got off to a fast start with each team scoring at least 20 points in the first five minutes of play. Each team would answer the other, raining 3-pointers in the process. NC State and Creighton would finish the night shooting 50 percent and 48 percent, respectively, from behind the arc. In a rare high-scoring game, the Pack trailed 54-48 going into the half.
In the second, the Pack’s shallow bench finally caught up with it. NC State got into foul trouble early, with Abu, Smith, redshirt senior Terry Henderson and sophomore Shaun Kirk all committing four personal fouls. Senior Beejay Anya fouled out as well.
Despite sitting a good portion of the second half, Henderson was absolutely on fire from beyond on the arc. The senior guard made five 3-pointers in the first half and was 7 of 11 from 3-point range on the night. Henderson finished the contest with a career-best 28 points.
With seven players scoring in double digits, Creighton shot an outstanding 60 percent from the field. Losing to Creighton placed NC State in the consolation final against the Saint Joseph’s Redhawks.
In a game that resembled the matchup against Montana, NC State struggled early, but pulled away in the second, defeating the Redhawks 73-63.
The Wolfpack was out of sorts early on, committing seven costly turnovers which resulted in a 20-9 deficit midway through the first half. Unlike the Montana contest, the Pack was ahead at the end of the first half 34-30.
“We didn’t have a lot of zip early,” Gottfried said. “But around the 12-minute mark of the first half, we really started to play. We got going, started to execute and our defense was better. Our guys really responded.”
Without the likes of sophomore Maverick Rowan and freshman Ted Kapita, it seemed that NC State would tire out like the Creighton performance.
Despite receiving no points from its bench, NC State’s starting lineup stepped up, with Smith recording his best statistical night as a member of the Wolfpack.
Smith recorded 24 points, eight assists and three rebounds. Sophomore Torin Dorn was not far behind, recording 19 points, one assist and four rebounds.
Again the Pack showed improvement in free throw percentage, the team was 80 percent on the night, this time led by Smith, who was 9 of 10 from the line.
Smith is finally finding his niche with this team. As a point guard he is a distributer, dishing the ball to the likes of Henderson, Dorn and Abu. But when his teammates aren’t sinking shots early like against the Redhawks, Smith delivered.
The Pack (4-1) is back in action this Saturday in PNC Arena. NC State will face off against fellow Paradise Jam participant Loyola-Chicago, tipoff is at 4 p.m.
