NC State men’s basketball has had a successful season so far, despite tough losses to Wisconsin, No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. The Pack is still in a great position as ACC play begins to heat up. The team is 14-3 overall and 2-2 in conference gamesand is No. 17 in the country. Here are some takeaways from the season so far:
This year’s team has improved significantly from last season
At this time last year, NC State was 12-6 overall and 2-3 in ACC play. It did upset Duke and Arizona, but it also suffered inexplicable losses to Northern Iowa and UNC-Greensboro. The first two ACC games NC State played resulted in blowouts by Clemson and Notre Dame. NC State could beat good teams, but it would also lay massive eggs against mediocre ones.
This year, the Pack has only lost three games, all of which were competitive games, and two of them were against teams that have appeared in the top-25 rankings. The team ripped through the early part of its schedule, winning its first five games with an average margin of victory of 38.8 points. It dropped a road game to Wisconsin, but was able to convincingly win against the lesser teams on the schedule.
In conference play, the Pack has started off strong by beating Miami and Pitt. The losses to No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest were let-downs, however they were both competitive games despite NC State clearly not playing its best basketball and digging itself into early holes. Despite the recent losses, NC State has shown that it is a threat in the ACC this year, although winning it will be very tough due to having to compete with No. 1 Duke and No. 4 Virginia.
Markell Johnson, DJ Funderburk have stood out
One of the biggest factors for NC State’s success has been the emergence of junior guard Markell Johnson. Johnson has averaged 11.6 points per game and 4.1 assists despite only playing 21.3 minutes on average. His presence on the court is a boost to the whole team, and the recent loss to Wake Forest, where he didn’t play due to a hip injury sustained against Pitt, underlines his value to the team. When he gets hot, he can take over a game; when he’s not, he can still keep the offense running with his smart ball-movement ability.
Redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk has come onto the scene recently, as well. He has decent size at 6-foot-10 and has improved as the season has gone on. He doesn’t shoot many 3-pointers, but is a consistent force on the interior and keeps defenses from overloading the perimeter, allowing easier 3-point shots for Johnson and other players such as sophomore guard Braxton Beverly.
Kevin Keatts is taking NC State in the right direction
Since second-year head coach Kevin Keatts arrived, NC State’s men’s basketball has improved significantly. After middling performances by Mark Gottfried’s teams in the past, Keatts is on track to have a winning record for the second straight year, and is on pace to exceed last season’s mark of 21 wins. Notably, the simple rating system of this year’s team is 17.63; if that number holds up, it would be the highest-rated team since the 2003-04 squad that earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
He is doing this despite a flawed roster. NC State is a relatively undersized team, so it is prone to losing the rebounding battle to ACC teams with taller players. NC State simply doesn’t have the caliber of players that teams such as Duke and Virginia have this year, so staying competitive in the ACC is a very impressive accomplishment. No matter what happens this year, the presence of Keatts means that the future is bright for NC State basketball.
