NC State Survives on the Road at Notre Dame 54-52

Game Summary:

I’ll be the first to admit that I never thought we’d win a game after trailing for all but 13 seconds. And I never thought we’d win a game shooting only 28.8% FG and 17.6% 3PT, and scoring only 20 points in the second half, but … wow. The Pack played their game, they forced turnovers and got rebounds to create possessions, and ended up taking 19 more shots than the Irish. At the same time, we held them to only hitting 7 shots in the second half. It was just barely enough. This was a defensive win.

At the end of the day, 2-0 in ACC play, both road games. The best we could be in the league.

By the way, 54-52 is one of our favorite scores!!! (1983 National Championship, in case you forgot)

Four Factors

Overall Takeaways:

• The Pack dialed up the defense and held the Irish scoreless the last 2:10
• Notre Dame shot 50% FG, and 46.2% 3PT in the first half. but only 40.4% FG and 36.8% 3PT for the game.
• The Pack showed amazing resilience and never folded when shooting as badly as they will all season (hopefully)
• Excellent rebounding – out rebounded a pro sized Notre Dame team by 5
• Shot 81.3% from the free throw line
• Only 4 turnovers against a solid Irish defense
• Held Notre Dame to only 1 3PT in the second half

NET Tracker: NC State NET 68

Keatts Comments

• “Not pretty game at all!”
• “We did not play defense well in the first half, but settled down in the second”
• “Starters didn’t play as well as they could, the bench stepped up. ”
• “Last play was planned for DJ Burns, hoped they would not front him. They didn’t, great pass from Taylor. Credit to DJ Burns, he had not been shooting well all night but he hit the winning shot.”

Upcoming Schedule

Individual Highlights

• Points – Burns and Taylor were the only players in double figures
• Rebounds – 7 players with at least 4 rebounds

Wolfpack Player Highlights

Box Score

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