After keeping it close for much of the game, the men’s basketball team fell 64-57 to the No. 14 Virginia Cavaliers on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
The Wolfpack showed signs of resilience and toughness in a matchup with one of the ACC’s top dogs, with junior forward Jericole Hellems going off for his second straight game with 20 or more points, finishing with 23 points on 60% shooting from the floor and hitting three 3-pointers. Hellems was the only Wolfpack player that finished with double-digit scoring figures.
“Well, he’s playing well,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “He’s doing everything that we’ve asked him to do. He’s playing like a junior. He’s playing like a guy that’s been in the program for three years. He’s gotten better. He works at it. He’s a hard worker. The kid has done everything that we’ve asked him to do. You’ve seen his game get better since he’s been a freshman.”
Redshirt senior forward D.J. Funderburk and redshirt sophomore forward Manny Bates both finished with nine points and at least four rebounds. Funderburk started off the game cold but helped the Pack go on a run that was capped off with an impressive steal near half court, which he drove all the way home for the slam, giving the Pack a 44-43 lead with under seven minutes to play. However, oddly, Funderburk was benched right after the play.
“Well, they hired me; I’m the coach,” Keatts said. “I felt like Manny [Bates] was going to be the guy that was going to play. Obviously we wanted Manny in there. Obviously D.J. [Funderburk] had scored, but I also wanted a guy that could be able to stop them from scoring. We needed to get stops to even be able to get the ball back. I don’t feel like I answer questions like ‘why so or so plays or not’. Manny Bates has been playing tremendous for us. That was my decision and my decision only.”
Hellems stepped into redshirt senior guard Devon Daniels’ scoring load nicely, but the Pack lacked contributions from its other wing players. Senior guard Braxton Beverly played well in the first half but cooled off in the second, finishing with five points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Freshmen guards Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore played steadily in spurts, with Hayes flashing some excellent passes and Moore scoring an emphatic jam, but the two combined for just six points to four turnovers.
“What we’ve got to find out and figure out is that I’ve got to get a little bit more scoring from the guard position,” Keatts said. “For the second game in a row, basically our bigs have been carrying us. Our team has shifted as far as who we are…We’ve got to get a little better scoring and more scoring from our guard position because we lost so much from Devon Daniels. We talked about, obviously, getting better. I think this team has learned a lot about themselves in the last couple games…”
Guard play was already an issue for the Pack, even with Daniels healthy, but it became even more apparent after tonight’s showing. For a team that already struggles to move the ball around efficiently, it was disheartening to see NC State muster only nine assists as a team. Virginia guard Kihei Clark finished with six assists alone.
“It’s been different,” Beverly said. “The biggest thing is [Shakeel Moore and Cam Hayes are] two young guards, and they were thrown in the fire from the get go…That’s hard to do. It’s hard for anybody to do…They’re learning. That’s all we can ask from them right now. They’re starting to get it more. They’re playing more confident. They’re figuring things out, what we need from them and what they can bring to the table for us.”
The game started well enough, as the first half kicked off the Hellems show with the forward scoring 14 of the Pack’s 24 opening-half points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. Hellems and Beverly were the only parts of the Pack’s offense that clicked in the half.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Beverly said. “I’ve known Cole [Hellems], I’ve seen Cole work his butt off since he’s been here. He’s getting what he’s earned. I couldn’t be any more proud of him for what he’s doing, the way he’s stepping up. He’s been a huge lift for us. So I’m glad he’s playing confident, doing what he’s learned to do and what he’s been in the gym working to do.”
Furthermore, the Wolfpack did an outstanding job on team defense in the first half in spite of the lack of good team offensive communication. Virginia entered the contest averaging 8.6 turnovers per game, but the Wolfpack had already forced the opposition to commit seven entering halftime. However, that intensity faltered as the game went on and the defense got more porous over time as the Pack only managed four points off turnovers in the second half.
NC State did well enough defending Cavs star center Jay Huff to keep him at 12 points on 16.7% shooting from deep throughout the game, but it had no answer for the rest of Virginia’s starting rotation, with Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III finishing with 18 points apiece.
While the Wolfpack performed better than expected against a top-15 team, it still has plenty to clean up even outside of its lackluster guard play. For starters, the team shot 58.3% from the free-throw line and 28.6% from 3 on 14 attempts, unacceptable shot selection and overall sloppiness for a team with this much talent.
NC State has more questions than it does answers over halfway through the season, and it’ll need to figure them out quickly in order to turn around its season. The team still has matchups with Duke and Syracuse, and today it announced that it rescheduled its first game against Virginia, originally set for Jan. 20, now set for Feb. 24 at Virginia.
“We’ve just got to figure out how to capitalize on our situation,” Keatts said. “I’m blessed that our guys are able to play games. We’re getting better, but I’ve got some young guards that need experience. Once they get experience and continue to play, they’re going to be really good basketball players. We’re hoping that it happens sooner than later. That’s just the reality of what we are dealing with this year. We’re in a national pandemic.”
Next up, the Wolfpack will travel to Boston College to take on the Eagles, a team it previously bested in December, on Saturday, Feb. 6 at noon. The game will be streamed on the ACC Network.
N.C. State's D.J. Funderburk (0) tries to get around Virginia's Jay Huff (30) during the first half of N.C. State’s game against Virginia at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
