Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State vs. The Citadel
Coming off Thursday's close loss to No. 12 Auburn on the road, the Wolfpack comes home for the first of two final tuneups before the bulk of the ACC schedule begins.
Today's opponent, The Citadel, will test the Wolfpack's transition defense, having scored 100 or more points in each of its past three games -- including a triple overtime victory at Longwood on Thursday. The Bulldogs currently rank third nationally in scoring at 87.1 ppg.
State also likes to get up and down the court, averaging 81.6 ppg, so this one promises to be a high-scoring affair.
Pregame
Some lineup changes for the Wolfpack today … Devon Daniels and Pat Andree in the starting lineup, C.J. Bryce and Jericole Hellems out. Markell Johnson, Braxton Beverly and Manny Bates are the other three ...
Andree has been playing well the last couple of games -- going 8 of 15 from 3-point range -- and Hellems still isn't himself after suffering that concussion at Wake Forest two weekends ago. Not sure what the reason for Bryce not starting. He had a double-double against Auburn on Thursday ....
OBTW ... TV Teddy will be on the whistle tonight. Mark Schnur and Jemel Spearman are the other two. They're going to have to work hard to outdo the crew that worked Thursday's game at Auburn. Between the teams, 50 fouls were called and 56 free throws were shot in that game ...
First half
Andree still has the hot hand from 3 …. he makes his first attempt of the nightAndree still has the hot hand from 3 …. he makes his first attempt of the night and State is off to a 9-2 headstart ...
Bates and those Inspactor Gadget arms just got a piece of a 3-point shot while starting from the free throw line. Once that kid develops some offensive skills, he has the potential to be a star ...
First TV timeout: State 11, Citadel 5
Mr. and Ms. Wuf are decked out in Santa Claus suits tonight and members of the dance team are all wearing "ugly" seaters. Even the band is in the Christmas spirit, playing Christmas carols during the timeout. ...
Bryce, Hellems, D.J. Funderburk and Danny Dixon into the game. Dixon's first action since the Memphis game on Thanksgiving because of a foot injury ...
That's two quick fouls on Dixon and out he comes .... He was on the court for less than two minutes of action ...
Something's wrong with Beverly … ref blew the whistle after inbound pass and he went right to the end of the bench, where is was attended to by a trainer … Not sure what the issue is. Looked like he pointed as his back, but I didn't see him fall or get hit. They're taking him back to the locker room, so we'll keep you posted as soon as we get more info ...
There's a smooth looking 3 by Hellems from the left corner. Good to see that. He's struggled in the two games since he got hurt, but he looks like he's getting back to normal tonight. He's got seven points and is 3 of 5 from the floor thus far. State leads 22-5 ...
Every time Citadel misses a shot and State gets a rebound, Keatts yells out "go!" He wants his team to run at every opportunity against this team ...
State has gotten a little sloppy of late, still at the Under 8, the Wolfpack leads 29-16
Citadel ranks dead last in the nation in two-point field goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot 61.8 percent. And yet, State has already hoisted up 11 3-pointers (out of 26 total shots), making only 3. Maybe the Wolfpack should try taking it to the basket a little more?
Under 4 TV timeout ... State 31, Citadel 16
The Bulldogs have scored 100 or more points in each of their last three games. They'll be lucky to break 50 tonight ...
OBTW ... Beverly still isn't back on the bench.
And we have a Chase Graham sighting for the last 33.9 seconds of the half ...
C.J. Bryce not as proficient at the halfcourt shot at Markell Johnson .... still State leads at the half 40-22
Second half
Braxton Beverly suffered a back injury in the first half and won't return. You can find more details by clicking this link .... http://bit.ly/2Q6Dl5e
In the meantime, the rest of the Wolfpack has apparently decided to take a little siesta here early in the period. After extending its lead to 25 at 50-25, The Citadel has reeled off nine straight points to get back to within 14 at the Under 16 TV timeout. ...
Bryce finally breaks the ice with a basket that ends the run. And Daniels hits his third 3-pointer of the half. He now has 18 for the game ...
Les Robinson, who coached both of these teams, is in the house tonight ... Forget the ACC tournament, THIS is the REAL Les Robinson Invitational ...
Wonderful to have former @PackMensBball HC and former @PackAthletics AD Les Robinson back at NC State. He served as HC and AD at both schools in tonight’s game. Welcome back #PackAlways pic.twitter.com/shIq9IIxIV
— Fred Demarest (@Fred_Demarest) December 23, 2019
State lead is back up to 23 at 63-40 ... Max Farthing is getting some extended run here in Beverly's absence ...
Andree replaces walkon Farthing, who missed a pair of 3-pointers and picked up a foul on the defensive end ...
Citadel is hanging around, thanks in large measure to its 3-point shooting. The Bulldogs have made eight of them here in the second half and have 12 for the game (on 36 attempts). ...
It's 69-54 Wolfpack at the under 8 TV timeout ...
Keatts wants timeout with 5:19 left. Citadel has made seven of its last 9 field goal attempts and is within 13 at 72-59. Still time left if the Wolfpack doesn't tighten up its defense. ...
State has gone nearly three minutes without scoring … it has at least one of these every game, it seems. ...
Uh oh ... now Bryce is down after taking a hard fall driving to the basket and getting fouled. Thankfully he's laughing with the trainer and is now up, looking like he's okay ...
Under 4 TV timeout: State 72, Citadel 60
Bryce makes the two free throws to end the Wolfpack scoring drought at 3:07. And then breaks the field goal drought with a nice baseline drive on the next possession ... lead back up to 16. Bryce now has 13 ...
Chase Graham in with 3:03 left. Wouldn't be surprised to see him stay out there the rest of the way. ... And now Farthing back in with two minutes left .... Wolfpack up 80-60
Oh by the way ... Markell Johnson has 11 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. About as quiet a triple-double as you can get ...
They worked hard to set Graham up for a shot and he hit's a long 3 for his first career points ...
Final: State 83, Citadel 63
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