Just days after a humbling 18-point loss at Wake Forest, NC State men’s basketball bounced back with a heart-stopping win over Notre Dame. The Pack was outshot, outrebounded and seemingly outmanned — until it wasn’t. With defense and a few clutch baskets, the Wolfpack pulled off a second-half comeback to top the Irish 66-65.
“I’m so proud of this group,” said senior forward Dontrez Styles. “In the second half we responded. We could have came in and come out flat in the second half, but we didn’t do that.”
NC State (9-6, 2-2 ACC) certainly knows about nail-biters against Notre Dame (7-8, 1-3 ACC). Last season the Pack escaped South Bend with a 54-52 win over the Fighting Irish that ended with a late basket by DJ Burns to seal the deal. Once again, a big man secured the win for the red-and-white when senior forward Ben Middlebrooks drilled a free throw to put the Wolfpack up by one with just seconds to play.
“I shoot free throws every day,” Middlebrooks said. “I’ve shot thousands in my lifetime, so I was ready for that shot.”
The free throw was just one key moment for Middlebrooks who turned a rough start into a critical performance. He played sparingly in the first half, recording just five minutes due to foul trouble. A pair of missed layups early in the second half seemed to indicate that it would be a long night for Middlebrooks. However, he turned things around with a trio of blocks and a steal, making himself into a defensive menace. To top off the performance, Middlebrooks nailed a 3 — only his third of the entire season.
“[Middlebrooks] is our energy guy,” Keatts said. “He does all the dirty work and with him in the game, we’re a different basketball team, especially defensively.”
Not to be overshadowed, senior guard Marcus Hill turned in a strong performance. The Bowling Green transfer led the Pack with 15 points, causing the Fighting Irish problems all night. While he’s best when driving into the paint, Hill surprised with a pair of first half 3s to keep the ship afloat for NC State. Additionally, Hill helped his teammates find quality shots and led the team with four assists.
“With Marcus Hill, I thought this was his best game,” Keatts said. “He didn’t force shots, he made the right plays and he had great assists.”
While NC State hasn’t shot the 3 particularly this season, the red-and-white aggressively fired from beyond the arc, taking a season-high 27 attempts. The Pack was rewarded for its strategy with 10 makes from deep, the most for this year’s Wolfpack squad. Six different players made a triple, including three from deep for senior guard Jayden Taylor. Hill and Styles also knocked down multiple treys. Despite shooting worse than Notre Dame, the Pack’s 3s made up the difference to give NC State a one-point advantage as the final buzzer sounded.
“Just trusting our work,” Styles said. “Even when a few don’t fall, continue to shoot the next one. … We just kept shooting the ball and some fell so just thank God for that.”
While the Pack still has plenty of work ahead, the win helps NC State get back on track. After an abysmal showing at Wake Forest last week, the Wolfpack showed plenty of fight and will to keep going through the grind of the ACC.
“We got competitors in that locker room,” Keatts said. “We didn’t like the way we played [against Wake Forest]. I mean, we really didn’t.”
The key will be consistency for the red-and-white and showing this level of grit throughout the season, starting with a rivalry game at North Carolina.
NC State will host North Carolina this Saturday at Lenovo Center. With the Tar Heels playing inconsistent basketball this season, the game presents an opportunity for the Wolfpack to steal one from its rival. The game will tip off at 4 p.m. and can be found on ACC Network.
