The NC State men’s basketball team picked up its second win of the season Wednesday night, taking down a feisty Florida International 86-77 in PNC Arena.
With the Wolfpack (2-1) trailing by as much as 10 in the early minutes of the first half, graduate transfer forward Pat Andree went on a 3-point shooting spree around the 10-minute mark to tie the game up. It created much-needed momentum for the Pack to disrupt the hot start by a Panthers (1-2) team that has put up strong fights in its two games against Power Five opponents.
“We played a good team,” said NC State head coach Kevin Keatts. “I watched those guys scrimmage Miami and also watched the Mississippi State game, and I came into this game a little concerned … I thought our guys played well.”
As NC State stared down a 10-point deficit at home to a mid-major program, and with its second home loss in three games looming large, Andree caught fire in the blink of an eye. The 6-foot-8 sharpshooter from Lehigh knocked down a 3-pointer at the 11:29 mark of the first half. Then, he hit another 25 seconds later, and another one two minutes later to bring NC State within one. After FIU responded with a bucket, Andree answered right back with yet another 3-pointer, his fourth of the half, to tie the game up for the first time since 0-0.
“Coming off the bench, I have to do my job, ready to come in and create a spark, and that’s all I was trying to do,” Andree said. “I came in, kind of got hot, and it changed the momentum of the game.”
After Andree’s hot shooting powered a 20-4 NC State run to take a 30-24 lead, FIU fought back to close out the half, and the teams entered the locker room all knotted up at 37.
Raleigh native Trejon Jacob hit two 3-pointers in the span of a minute as the Panthers clawed their way back in the game. After the Wolfpack’s dominant run put the Pack on the edge of pulling away, Jacob’s hometown revenge kept things even.
“They play the same style we do,” said redshirt senior guard C.J. Bryce. “They want to get out and press and get out and run transition. It was a great test for us tonight, and we did a good job of passing it.”
The Panthers came out hot in the second half, quickly scoring five points within the first minute to jump out to a 42-37 lead. Bryce responded with a tough mid-range jumper and a triple to even the game at 42-42 and halt the FIU run.
The two teams traded buckets for much of the next seven minutes, but a free throw from redshirt junior forward DJ Funderburk put NC State up 64-58, and the Wolfpack never looked back from there, slowly extending its lead to 12 points by the under-four media timeout.
“We got going late in the second half,” Keatts said. “I was able to find a combination that worked, and the combination that I was looking for was one that would get me something on the defensive end.”
The Panthers went on a seconds-long 4-0 run to cut NC State’s lead down to six with just under two minutes to play, but each team came up empty on its next possession, and a free throw by senior guard Markell Johnson pushed the Pack’s lead to seven points with 40 seconds to play and iced the game away.
Johnson’s trip to the line, where he hit 1 of 2 free throws, may have sealed the win for NC State, but the extra point left on the court was part of a larger problem for the Pack all night long. NC State shot just 18 for 28 from the charity stripe, and in a single-digit game, 10 free throws could have been the difference.
In his second game back from a foot injury, Johnson looked a little hampered, still not displaying the burst and acceleration that has made him one of the ACC’s top guards. In typical “second-half Markell” fashion, though, Johnson came through when it mattered, with eight points in the game’s final six and a half minutes.
“Markell’s not Markell right now,” Keatts said. “But I thought he did a good job finishing the game.”
Playing in his first game of the season after missing the first two to suspension, Funderburk scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds (six offensive), making both of his shots from the field and hitting 7 of 12 free throws. The big man’s presence was felt all night on defense as well, with Funderburk rejecting two shots and snagging a pair of steals.
“Getting him back takes a little pressure off of Manny [Bates],” Keatts said. “He’s a really good offensive rebounder … we’re excited that he’s back.”
NC State will return to action Saturday, Nov. 16 at Reynolds Coliseum when it takes on Alcorn State at noon.
Redshirt junior forward DJ Funderburk leaps to push the basketball into the hoop during the game against Florida International University in PNC Arena, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Funderburk had two blocks, two steals, and seven rebounds to help lead the Wolfpack to a 86-77 victory over the FIU Panthers in regulation time. The Pack is now 1-1 for the season.
