No. 8 FSU Basketball Coming Back Home With a Key Win
Prior to this game, most fans were thinking about the last game and wondering how that would carry into today. The biggest question mark was would the Wolfpack repeat their 61% from deep performance or would they regress to their mean? Threes alone didn't decide their game against Duke (who was atypically horrible on offense) which meant that the Seminoles didn't drastically change their defensive scheme. Meanwhile, FSU's offense performed normally against Pitt with the team shooting at about their season's average so NC State will have schemed on exactly what FSU is known to be.
In this one both defenses looked about like you'd expect to start the game. The offenses were something of a surprise though, as FSU shot about 37% in the first half to NCST's 44%. In a recurring theme, FSU was called for 7 fouls (in 6.5 minutes) before the first whistle on NCST. This did force Hamilton to waver from his mandatory "sit the rest of the half out after your second foul" philosophy to keep a point guard on the court due to Forrest and Evans having 2 fouls each. Walker also saw significant pine time with 2 fouls.
The second half was a reversal of the first as FSU quickly turned a 5 point halftime deficit into a 4 point lead. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack's talented big men acquired fouls while the Noles avoided them. After Funderburk picked up his fourth foul early and went to the bench the NCST defense had few answers. FSU continued to attack the basket and score.
What Went Right
Rebounding. FSU dominated the glass with more offensive and defensive rebounds than the Pack. Osborne lead the way with 12 of the team's 38.
Defense. FSU held NCST to 61 points while scoring 67. The score's a bit misleading as the Seminoles had a 10 point lead with 4 minutes to play and missed 11 free throws on the game, half of them late. They also made sure NCST came nowhere close to the 61% from deep that they were against Duke.
Osborne. Malik's my player of the game. He had 9 points to go along with his 12 rebounds, missing out on a double-double when he missed four consecutive free throws late in the game. It's tough to feel sorry for the player of the game, but in this case the big guy definitely gets some sympathy.
Called Fouls. It almost hurts to write this because is seems so foreign, but NCST was called for more fouls than was FSU (20-15). The Pack's fouls especially damaged their chances for a win as Funderburk and Johnson both fouled out, accounting for half the team fouls.
What Didn't
The slow start. FSU started slowly like they have so many games this season, this time by missing four shots in their first two possessions. A Devin Vassell 3 broke the ice, but the offense still struggled for much of the half.
Key Fouls. FSU looked to be in trouble early as FSU's early fouls were mostly on the guards. MJ spent much of the half on the bench with two fouls. Forrest soon joined him there with two of his own. Evans would have made the guard trio but you can't play much of a game with 3 of your top 4 guards out of the game so Evans got major first half minutes. It was a strange game in that the FSU fouls came against the guards and had a significant impact on the perimeter play while the NCST fouls mostly affected their bigs and inside game.
At the Horn
FSU is coming home with a 6 point win. The win helps them keep pace with Louisville who also won today. Louisville, FSU, and the Duke are tied in the loss column with 3 each. The coveted top seed in the ACCT will go to one of these three teams. FSU also beat the spread by 5 points to boost their NCAAT seeding stats.
The next game is Monday night when FSU hosts Louisville. Win that game and FSU will certainly finish no worse than second in the regular season and maintain a chance at the top spot, though it'll take Duke losing one more game down the stretch than FSU.
