Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State vs. St. Francis
Though the opponent, which lost to Longwood in its most recent game, doesn't do much to inspire excitement, it's always a special time when the NC State basketball team returns to Reynolds Coliseum to play a game at its former on-campus home.
Coach Kevin Keatts is doing his part to help the atmosphere by wearing his red blazer.
The folks at State have done a marvelous job of updating the old barn while still maintaining its classic look and feel. This should be little more than a tuneup for the Wolfpack, which is still trying to get used to having all its players available.
Well, maybe not everybody,
Graduate transfer big man Danny Dixon sat out warmups and likely won't play for the second straight game with what Keatts termed as a foot injury.
FIRST HALF
Usual starting lineup for the Wolfpack ... Marquell Johnson, Braxton Beverly, C.J. Bryce, Jericole Hellems and Manny Bates ...
Johnson off to an ominous start. First a turnover that leads to a Terriers bucket, then he comes up short on a floater in the lane. He's now 4 of 23 for the season from the floor. the senior guard does have an assist, feeding Beverly for a 3 to get the Wolfpack on the board ...
D.J. Funderburk, Pat Andree and Devon Daniels up quickly off the bench. Looks like Keatts is determined to use his depth to wear St. Francis down now that he finally has some ...
Andree doing what he does best, making 3-pointers in the first half. He made his first three against Georgia Tech, then on Wednesday against Florida International he drained his first four during the opening period. He's 1 for 1 so far tonight after making his first attempt to take State into the first TV timeout up 15-9 ...
Johnson still can't buy a 3-pointer. Not sure if his ankle is still bothering him or he's just off. But this is his third game now. I think it's safe to say that for whatever the reason, he's in a deep shooting slump. The Wolfpack is going to need him to make those shots if it wants to compete once the competition picks up in a couple of weeks ...
Under 8 TV timeout ... State 29, St. Francis 22
There's a rare first half 3-point miss by Andree ...
One of the officials for today's game is Nick Heater, son of ACC official Jerry Heater. Maybe I'm just getting older, but Nick looks young enough to be one of the players, not one of the refs ...
The rebounding issues #NCState seemed to correct against FIU are back. Significantly smaller St. Francis is outrebounding the Wolfpack 14-11 through the first 15 minutes....
Bates and Funderburk on the floor at the same time, First time this season. Maybe that will help solve the rebounding problem ...
Under 4 TV timeout ... State 40, St. Francis 26
State has missed its last four shots, all within a foot of the rim. And what's worse, both Bates and Funderburk let the Terriers' Christian Rohlehr sneak in to rebound his own miss for a basket at the other end. Wolfpack has a lot to clean up, but still leads this one 40-30
Silly foul on Beverly there. It was going to be a long 3-pointer with the shot clock running down. Leave him alone on that. If it goes in, it goes in.
Strange sequence to end the half. St. Francis' Trey Quartlebaum had three free throws, but for some reason, Bates only thought he was two. he rebounded the ball, threw an outlet pass to start what appeared to be a Wolfpack fastbreak until the refs blew their whistles to bring everyone back to the line. ...
Halftime: State 44, St. Francis 34
SECOND HALF
Alley oop dunks have been the order of the day so far. Bates has at least two, Funderburk one. All from Johnson. ...
And there's another one, this time with an and-one attached. Johnson is 4 of 12 (0 for 3 from 3), but he's got seven assists ...
Wolfpack is off to a flying start in the second half, outscoring St. Francis 14-3 to open up a 21-point lead. The spurt has started on the defensive end, where State already has three steals and forced five turnovers in just over four minutes. Terriers call timeout with State up 58-37 ...
C.J. Bryce came out of his shoe -- literally -- on that rebound
Under 12 TV timeout: State 67, St. Francis 41
The Wolfpack is taking full advantage of its edge in size today. Between them, big men Funderburk and Bates have combined for 29 points, nine rebounds and three blocks while coming 13 for 18 from the floor ...
Under eight TV timeout: State 81, St. Francis 49
Walkon Max Farthing gets fouled and goes to the line. And to the delight of the crowd makes the second shot for his first career point ...
Teams are now trading baskets. The only suspense if if the Wolfpack is going to break 100. It needs seven more points in the final two minutes. ...
Hellems is having fun posting up on the Terriers' Chauncey Hawkins, who's nearly a foot smaller than him at 5-foot-8. He's done it on each of the past two possessions. Wolfpack now five points away with 1:27 left ...
Wolfpack falls short of 100, but takes care of business easily, beating St. Francis 95-64 at Reynolds ...
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