NC State starts slow, can’t finish in loss to Miami basketball
For the second straight game, things didn’t go the right way for N.C. State.
On Saturday, Isaiah Wong’s driving layup with 1:49 remaining gave Miami a 56-54 lead. It was part of the 6-0 Hurricanes’ run in the final three minutes of yet another close ACC contest for the Wolfpack. After losing to Clemson in overtime on Tuesday, N.C. State dropped the home game against Miami, 64-59.
Earl Timberlake hit two from the line for Miami to push the visitor’s lead to four. N.C. State guard Thomas Allen hit a three on the other end, pulling the Wolfpack to within one, 58-57, with 57 seconds remaining. The matchup turned out to be a breakout game for the former Garner star. Allen came off the bench for the first time this season, scoring a season-high 14 points.
But Timberlake put back a Wong miss with 23 seconds left making it a three-point lead. After N.C. State’s Shakeel Moore missed on the other end, Timberlake hit two more from the line, all but icing the game with 17.1 seconds remaining.
N.C. State (6-3, 2-2) led by six with 6:18 remaining, but only got two field goals the rest of the way. After a layup by Devon Daniels put the Pack up 51-45, State missed four of its next five from the floor. Miami (4-5, 1-4) scored 13 straight for the comeback win.
“I didn’t think we played well,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “It’s not a good formula for my team when you don’t score 60 points.”
N.C. State’s 59 points were a season-low. The Wolfpack shot 38 percent from the floor, 35 percent in the second half when they connected on just 11 field goals.
“For whatever reason, I didn’t think we were clicking offensively,” Keatts said. “Give Miami defense some credit for the way we didn’t play on the offensive end. We’ve got to get better. This is one of those games where usually we play better on the offensive end. We just couldn’t get it going.”
Miami shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half and hit six of their final seven shots. In all of State’s losses this season, they led at the half, only to struggle after the break.
“The best answer I can give you is mental lapses,” D.J. Funderburk said. “It’s a game of possessions. You mess up on one possession and you may not have that possession again at the end of the game.”
Wong finished with a game-high 24 points. Timberlake had 13. Funderburk came off the bench for N.C. State to finish with 12 points. Daniels had 11.
All of N.C. State’s ACC games have been decided by five points or less this season.
Here are our earlier updates from the game:
State goes back in front thanks to run
Once N.C. State figured out to slow down Miami’s Isaiah Wong, and stop settling for bad shots, the Pack took control of the second half.
N.C. State went on a 9-0 run after falling behind by five to Miami. The Hurricanes went scoreless for 5:16 of the second half and the Pack took advantage. N.C. State found its energy on defense again and the shots started to fall.
D.J. Funderburk started the run with a layup and scored four points in a three minute span. Devon Daniels chipped in with four. Miami had five turnovers during that same five minute spurt.
NC State 32, Miami 31 - Halftime
Despite 12 turnovers in the first half, N.C. State leads Miami 32-31 at the break.
The Wolfpack only connected on three shots from the floor in the final nine minutes. The Hurricanes got a flurry of 3s, including one from Matt Carter in the corner, to hang around.
Isaiah Wong scored the final five points of the first half for Miami, who turned the ball over eight times.
Thomas Allen, who came off the bench for N.C. State for the first time this season, led the team with eight points at halftime. Cam Hayes and Jericole Hellems each had five. Hayes hit a long three to put the Pack up three, 32-29, but Wong hit a pair from the line for the halftime deficit.
State starts slow, but goes on early run
N.C. State missed its first four shots from the floor, but suddenly put together a 7-0 run that put the Wolfpack in front of the Hurricanes. Devon Daniels scored the first basket of the game for N.C. State at the 17:02 mark and his jumper was followed by a triple from Jericole Hellems and a layup from Thomas Allen, who came off the bench for the first time this season.
On the defensive end, the Wolfpack had two blocks, both from Manny Bates. His second block led to a dunk on the other end, putting N.C. State up, 14-6. But Miami wouldn’t bow down. They forced two straight Wolfpack turnovers and pulled to within four, 14-10, on a steal and a dunk from Harlond Beverly.
After a media timeout, an Isaiah Wong three, cut the State lead to two. It was part of a 2:32 scoring drought for the Pack, a drought that was ended by a Hellems layup. Miami had an answer in the form of a driving layup from Elijah Olaniyi.
Bates hit a pair of layups by Bates and a three from Olaniyi made it a one-point game, but Shakeel Moore drove the lane on the other end to put the home team back out front by three.
State shot 47 percent from the floor in the opening eight minutes and never trailed after taking a 7-4 lead.
The return of Braxton Beverly
N.C. State senior guard Braxton Beverly will return to the rotation today after missing Clemson’s game with an ankle injury.
Beverly will start in the back court with freshman Cam Hayes.
In seven games this season, Beverly has averaged 7.1 points for N.C. State. He scored a season-high 13 against St. Louis. In his first career start, Hayes scored eight points in 24 minutes versus the Tigers.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 11:44 AM with the headline "NC State starts slow, can’t finish in loss to Miami basketball."
