With its season flashing before its eyes and needing a big ACC win, the NC State men’s basketball team overcame an 11-point, second-half deficit to beat Notre Dame 73-68 at PNC Arena Wednesday night.
Behind senior guard Markell Johnson’s 27 points, the Wolfpack (11-4, 2-2 ACC) chipped away all second half at a double-digit deficit and used key stretches of play by redshirt junior forward D.J. Funderburk to pull out a come-from-behind win over the Fighting Irish (10-5, 1-3 ACC).
“I’m excited tonight because I thought that was a great team win,” said NC State head coach Kevin Keatts. “We fought through a lot of adversity. When you look at the fact that we were without our leading scorer and rebounder [redshirt senior C.J. Bryce] and throughout the game, we had so many different obstacles we had to overcome … I thought we did a tremendous job.”
Both teams came out firing in the first half, and Notre Dame’s fast pace-and-space offense tore the Wolfpack up. The Irish started off the game shooting 7 for 10 from the field and 3 for 3 beyond the arc en route to an early 17-12 lead as NC State failed to keep up in transition.
A couple of 3-pointers courtesy of Johnson kept the Wolfpack in striking distance, but without Bryce (concussion protocol), the offense struggled to knock down shots. Johnson and sophomore forward Jericole Hellems scored 22 of the Pack’s first 30 points as the rest of the team combined to shoot just 38% in the opening half.
Junior guard Braxton Beverly closed out the half by drawing a charging foul in between a 3-pointer and a layup that cut Notre Dame’s lead to 39-34 at halftime. The Wolfpack was lucky to be within arm’s length by half’s end, as the Irish lit the Wolfpack up to the tune of 71% shooting from downtown.
“I did not like the way we defended the 3-point line in the first half,” Keatts said. “[Notre Dame] was 5 for 7, and we knew coming into the game they’re an elite 3-point shooting team.”
It was déjà vu all over again in the second half, as the Wolfpack struggled out of the gates and Notre Dame took advantage. The Irish opened the half on a 7-2 run and stretched its lead to 11, the largest of the game.
But the shorthanded Wolfpack refused to go down quietly, and with a couple of timely 3-pointers by Johnson and Hellems and two key offensive rebounds hauled in by graduate forward Danny Dixon, NC State slowly chipped away at its deficit.
As the Pack fought back, Funderburk put the team on his back. The all-important sixth man scored 8 of 11 Wolfpack points over a four-minute span, and the other three points came on a 3-pointer by Beverly off a Funderburk offensive rebound. Then, after knocking down two free throws with just over five minutes to play, Funderburk tied the game up for the first time since the 16:16 mark of the first half.
“I felt like he had a breakout game,” Keatts said. “One of those big games where we can say, ‘[Funderburk] made a difference,’ and he was a huge difference … He was very active and did a tremendous job.”
Once Funderburk was done, it was Johnson’s turn to play the hero for NC State. Six straight points for the senior, including a floater in the paint through contact, kept the Wolfpack evened up as the two teams traded buckets down the stretch. With 1:38 to go Funderburk drew a foul, and with the Wolfpack in the bonus, he did what he had done all second half: calmly stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down both shots to give NC State a 68-66 lead.
“I just wanted to be the best guard on the court today,” Johnson said. “Over the past couple of games, I haven’t been myself, so I just wanted to get back to that.”
An acrobatic layup by Johnson gave NC State a 4-point lead with under a minute to go, and his ensuing layups as Notre Dame frantically fouled to extend the game iced it away for the Wolfpack in what the players felt was a must-win situation.
“After going on the road and losing down at Clemson, it was definitely a must-win game at home,” Johnson said.
Johnson finished with a team-high 27 points, four rebounds and seven assists in what was the best all-around game of his season so far. A monster in the paint, Funderburk scored 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scorers, Hellems and Beverly scored 12 and 10, respectively.
“[Markell] went crazy,” Funderburk said. “I mean, that’s normal. But for everybody to see and everybody to experience it — it’s just a great time playing with him.”
The Wolfpack will return to action Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. when it travels to Blacksburg, V.A., to take on Virginia Tech. The game will be broadcast live on the Regional Sports Network.
Redshirt freshman Manny Bates blocks a shot against Notre Dame on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 at PNC Arena. Bates had a total of 3 blocks which gave him the NCSU freshman-record of 48 blocks this season. Bates supported his team with this Wolfpack win against Notre Dame 73-68.
