NC State basketball drops season opener in overtime
RALEIGH, N.C. – The N.C. State Wolfpack started the game on a surprising 8-0 run against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last night (11/05) with their leader Markell Johnson sidelined due to an ankle injury.
The Wolfpack extended their lead to 15 points in the first half, but the Yellow Jackets fought back to make it a 7-point, 42-35, deficit at halftime and tied the game at the end of regulation to send it to overtime with the scored tied at 75.
“I was just really proud of our young men,” said Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner. “They just showed a lot of resolve and grit. We got punched in the mouth to start the game down eight to nothing. (N.C. State) just came out and punched us. And then we got down, 15, but we were able to eventually find a way to dig ourselves back into a normal score. We cut it to seven at half, and then it was just a see-saw battle the rest of the second half.”
Georgia Tech came out on top 82-81 in the extra period, due to costly mistakes by the Wolfpack down the stretch.
N.C. State had a 81-80 lead with 18 seconds left in overtime, but redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels threw the ball away, and the Yellow Jackets regained the possession.
“I stole the ball,” said Daniels when asked about the turnover. “I tried to get it past half-court. I seen three of them (Yellow Jackets) coming to trap me. I tried to move the ball, but I should’ve just kept the ball – made them foul me – but, it was their ball in the jump ball, so I should’ve called a timeout. So I should’ve done something else than what I did.”
On the ensuing play, Yellow Jackets sophomore guard
missed a go-ahead three-pointer, but his teammate James Banks III grabbed the offensive rebound and got fouled on the putback attempt with two seconds left.
He nailed both free-throws to seal the game.
“Just didn’t pay attention to the small details at the end of the game,” said Wolfpack senior guard CJ Bryce. “I feel like we definitely could’ve pulled it out.”
Wolfpack graduate transfer guard Pat Andree was the game’s leading scoring at halftime with 12 points, but he didn’t score the rest of the game.
“We have a lot of takeaways,” Andree said. ” We gotta lock in, in overtime. “Coming out, there’ only five minutes on the clock and tie game. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter how much of a lead we gave up. You know it five minutes: us against them and we just gotta come out and play. We have to learn from some mistakes we made. It didn’t come down to one play. It came down to giving up a 15-point lead, and that’s a bunch of plays as well. Like I said, we gotta learn from it. We’re lucky it’s early, but we absolutely should’ve come out with that one.”
Wolfpack third-year head coach Kevin Keatts stressed similar frustrations after the game about lack of focus down the stretch.
“If we could have one or two possessions back.” Keatts said, “it would probably be a different outcome. Unfortunately, you don’t get those back. And when you play in a conference game, we talked about in the locker room, making plays; and one or two plays a different way, you have a different outcome. And unfortunately, give Georgia Tech credit, they finished the game and we didn’t.”
What’s Next
The Yellow Jackets host Elon at home on Monday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
N.C. State’s next matchup is at home against Detroit Mercy on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m.
(Feature image courtesy of Landon Bost)