MCLAMB: Wake Win Huge For Pack
It happens every season. Two schools face each other in January in what is termed a ‘must-win game’ only for both teams to not be of any real consequence when March rolls around.
The winner of the contest generally just delays the inevitable while the loser has any pretense of a turnaround dropped and is set aside from the contending schools.
Time will tell if NC State, now 13-6 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, fits that narrative.
The Wolfpack has work ahead but a loss to Wake Forest at home, even with 12 games remaining in the regular season, would have put the team in a danger zone.
Instead State used an 11-0 run late, holding Wake Forest scoreless over the final 4:30, to knock off the Demon Deacons 72-63 Thursday evening in PNC Arena.
Wake Forest, a team that keeps finding ways to lose, is now 8-10 overall. Had the Deacs held on however, they would have been tied with NC State at 2-4 in the ACC.
The Wolfpack has a corresponding game in Winston-Salem with Wake Forest on February 17th. NC State has not beaten the Demon Deacons on the road since 2012.
Omer Yurtseven (22 points and eight rebounds) and Braxton Beverly (10 points and nine assists in a game-high 34 minutes) were terrific for NC State.
Nine players saw action for the Pack when the game was still in doubt (a 10th player, Spencer Newman, played the final 11 seconds of the contest). When the game was on the line, NC State head coach Kevin Keatts used his bench players and it paid off for the Wolfpack.
Markell Johnson made his return to PNC Arena a solid one. He finished with 13 points , six rebounds and four assists n 27 minutes off the bench. While he did not start, when the game was on the line he was on the court.
Once again Lavar Batts Jr. was productive for NC State as well. The freshman reserve scored seven points, pulled down six rebounds and only committed one turnover in 23 minutes.
Allerik Freeman shot nearly 40 percent from three-point range last season at Baylor but is struggling mightily from the floor with the Wolfpack. Abdul-Malik Abu, a three-year contributor who started his senior season out with injury, has had a hard time getting adjusted to his return to the floor.
Freeman played a season-low 17 minutes against Wake Forest, including only six minutes in the second half. After an ill-advised shot from three-point range he was pulled with 7:41 remaining. He did not return.
Abu did not have a rebound against Wake Forest and was 1-of-3 from the floor. He also attempted a three-pointer, his first of the season. With 15:54 remaining he was substituted from the contest and did not reenter.
The regular season is now more than 60 percent completed for NC State and the Pack is one-third through the ACC slate. Keatts does not have time to mess around.
Yurtseven is emerging into the star that most felt NC State lacked going into the season. The depth was considered a strength and bench players receiving vital minutes against Wake Forest bolsters that theory.
Prior to the season NC State was projected to finish 12th in the ACC. To earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT could kickstart Keatts’ attempt to build the program and perhaps put the Pack ahead of schedule.
It remains to be seen if NC State temporarily postponed its descent to the lower half of the ACC standings or if the Wolfpack make a move towards a postseason berth.
The game against Wake Forest meant one of two things for State, an uncertain fate heading into February or a near-certain finish in the bottom half of the ACC for a third straight season.
NC State found a way to win and Wake Forest found a way to lose. For the Wolfpack, an uncertain future has never looked so good.