Sports

Wolfpack Finds a Way to Win 86-80 Against the Pittsburgh Panthers

Landon Bost

RALEIGH, NC – The NC State Wolfpack clawed their way to an 86-80 victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a physical, grind it out, ball game.

Bodies were flying around the floor from jump ball. If the weather was like it was outside, fans may have thought they were watching a Carolina Hurricanes game instead of a basketball game in PNC Arena. 

The Wolfpack struggled to find rhythm after the ejection of graduate senior Wyatt Walker, with 18:00 minutes left in the first half, and junior guard Markell Johnson leaving the game with an injury, with 9:45 left, in the first half. 

Impact Players 

DJ Funderburk, Wolfpack redshirt sophomore: Funderburk finished the game with 18 points and 9 rebounds while challenging Panthers at the rim on the defense with his 4 blocks. 

Devon Daniels, Wolfpack redshirt sophomore guard:  Battling foul trouble, Daniels shot 9-14 for 23 points. He came out of gates on fire as he shot 7-8 in the first half. 

Xavier Johnson, Panthers Freshman guard: Johnson didn’t shy away from the spotlight in his first ACC road game. He took the action to Wolfpack defenders all game long and finished as the game’s leading scorer with 25 points while playing few minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. 

Commentary 

  • Passes were missing their targets left, right, up, and down as the Wolfpack had a 9-10 assist-to-turnover ratio while and the Panthers had a 6-11 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first half. 
  • There were 20 personal fouls in the first half. 13 for the Wolfpack and seven for the Panthers.
  • The Wolfpack had difficulties breaking the Panthers pressure in the second half. 
  • After trailing most of the second half, back-to-back 3-pointers by graduate senior Eric Lockett gave the Wolfpack the lead with 5:43 left.
  • The Panthers shot 5-6 from the field to close the game while the Wolfpack shot a perfect 6-6 from the field. 

Quick Hits 

  • The Wolfpack were in the bonus with 11 minutes left in the first half. 
  • Johnson returned to the bench in the second half but did not play.
  • Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts subbed Daniels out of the game a possession after he was called for his third foul with 4:40 left in the first half. 
  • Lockett finished the game with 17 points from 6-9 shooting from the field.
  • Wolfpack redshirt senior Torin Dorn finished with a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) while shooting 4-13 from the field. 

Firsthand Perspective 

“I think we just shared the ball,” Dorn said when asked about what sparked the run at the end of the game. “Took the open shots and made them and we start playing a little more aggressive than we were playing earlier in the game.” 

“Two things for us, we have to rebound and we have to value the basketball,” Panthers head coach Jeff Capel said. 

“What a game for us,” Keatts said. “We found a way to win a game when things weren’t going our way.”  

“No one played bigger than the guy who didn’t play the last game…Eric Lockett,” Keatts said. 

“Besides myself, you look at guys like Erick Lockett, didn’t play the last two games in conference, come in and just save us really with 17 points and two back-to-back threes late in the game,” Funderburk said. “That’s beautiful to me. Me personally, I would’ve had my head down coming into this game because I didn’t play the last two.”