Missed film session, not missed shots put Bryce on bench
For the first time this season, C.J. Bryce wasn't in NC State's starting lineup on Wednesday.
But it wasn't for the reason most assumed.
While the Wolfpack's leading scorer was coming off a 2 of 12 shooting performance in his team's Thanksgiving Day loss to Memphis in Brooklyn, coach Kevin Keatts said that there were other factors involved in his decision to start Devon Daniels in Bryce's place for State's 69-54 win against Wisconsin at PNC Arena.
“Most people would say, ‘Did you not start C.J. Bryce because he went 2-for-12 against Memphis?’ I’m not like that," Keatts said after the game. "I stick with guys despite having a bad shooting night. He missed film (session) last night.
"His reasoning for missing film was very valid, but it doesn’t matter to me because he missed film. We have standards with what we want to do, so we gave someone else the opportunity."
Daniels may have started the game, but it took less than four minutes for Bryce to get back onto the court. He immediately made his presence felt by putting the ball on the floor and scoring at the rim for the Wolfpack's second basket of the game.
The 6-foot-5 redshirt senior, who started his college career with Keatts at UNC Wilmington, finished with 11 points in 31 minutes -- bouncing back from his dismal shooting performance against Memphis by making five of his six field goal attempts and his only 3-point try.
Bryce leads State in both scoring and rebounding this season at 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
"I thought he was mature about it and handled it well," Keatts said of Bryce's brief benching. "I wanted to see if he would pout about it, but I don’t think he did, and he bounced back and made some big plays for us.”
