Hellems, Long Memory Help Wolfpack Bounce Back
NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts was asked earlier this week if he thought last year's bitter loss at Wisconsin might serve as motivation for his team when the Wolfpack and Badgers met in a rematch Wednesday at PNC Arena.
He said no, adding that "kids don't remember last week," let alone something that happened so long ago.
He was right about one thing. The memory of that loss in Madison was long forgotten by his Wolfpack.
But that thing about not remembering last week?
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Inspired by a Thanksgiving Day loss to Memphis that still haunted them, Keatts' players used the lessons learned in that game six days earlier to put together their best, most complete effort of the new season -- a 69-54 win against Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Jericole Hellems set a new career high for the second straight game by scoring 23 points and the Wolfpack held the Badgers to just 37.5 percent shooting (21.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc) to earn a badly needed resume-boosting victory.
"We all feel like we finished the Memphis game in the second half playing really good defense and we just wanted to build off that and get better," said Devon Daniels, a surprise starter in place of leading scorer C.J. Bryce in the game. "I feel like we did that. We improved this game and made everything tough for them.
"They're a very good team. They made us complete and grind it out. I think we learned a lot from the game."
The most valuable lesson Daniels and his teammates learned was their ability to adjust to an unfamiliar style of play that didn't always allow them to get up and down the floor or to the rim as often as they'd like.
State only forced nine turnovers and was limited to six fastbreak points, both season lows. But it made up the difference by contesting shots, cutting off penetration and not suffering any extended letdowns like the disastrous late first half stretch that did it in against Memphis.
The Wolfpack was especially tough defensively on Wisconsin's Brad Davison, the villain from last year's game because of the five charges he drew in the Badgers' four-point win. Booed lustily by the crowd of 16,035, the junior guard made only one of his five field goal attempts and was held to three points -- nine below his season average.
"I was really impressed with our defense," Keatts said afterward. "Wisconsin (is a) team that makes it tough for you to score, they clock all your driving lanes. It's one of those games that if you find a way to score, certainly you can win the game.
"We talked in the days leading up to the game don't get discouraged if you're not scoring the basketball. Let's make it a defensive game and I thought our guys did a great job in that area."
As well as the Wolfpack (6-2) defended and as difficult as the Badgers (4-4) made it to score, State still managed to do a good enough job of putting the ball in the basket thanks to Hellems' continued hot shooting.
The sophomore forward got the Wolfpack going by scoring nine points in a 3 1/2 minute stretch coming out of the first TV timeout, then hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half on his way to an 8 of 13 performance (4 of 6 on threes).
His 23-point effort came less than a week after his previous career best of 17 points in the loss to Memphis.
"I'm just in a groove, just staying in the gym" Hellems said. "The coaches believe in me. the players, my teammates, (are) just trusting in me to knock down shots. I'm just enjoying the game."
While Hellems' long-range shooting got was pivotal early in both halves, it was an even longer shot by teammate Markell Johnson that may have been the most important of the game.
The senior guard struggled during an opening 20 minutes that saw him seven of his first eight shots -- including an air-ball on a 3-pointer. But after Nate Reuvers scored on a dunk to give Wisconsin the lead with four seconds remaining, Johnson took the inbound pass, dribbed twice and fired up a halfcourt prayer that answered to send State into halftime with momentum and a 32-30 advantage.
"I actually didn't see it go in," Johnson said afterward. "I just kind of shot it and walked off the court. I think it was good for us to come out (of the half) on top."
It certainly had a positive effect on the Wolfpack.
With Hellems scoring his team's first eight points of the half, State gradually began to extend its lead. It reached double figures at 49-39 with just over 12 minutes remaining and never got smaller than nine the rest of the way -- another lesson learned from that disappointment in Brooklyn in its previous game.
"We tend to let teams come back in and we just made it an effort coming out of the locker room that we weren't going to let that happen this time," junior center D.J. Funderburk said. "We didn't want to give them any easy points in the second half and let them get some momentum going.'
In addition to Hellems, Johnson with 12 points and Bryce -- who didn't start because he missed a team fill session on Tuesday -- bounced back from a rough game against Memphis to score 11 on 5 of 6 shooting.
"We felt like if we had played better in the first half against Memphis, we would have put ourselves in a better situation to win the game," Keatts said. "I’m always talking about when you lose a game, you’re a little sick. I thought we got well tonight. I thought we bounced back, and it was an important game because it was the next game and against a Power 5 team.”
