NC State blown out on the road by Florida State basketball
N.C. State looked like the team who hadn’t played a game in 2021. Florida State, who had three games postponed while working through COVID-19 protocols and having to pause team activities, shot a blistering 71 percent from the floor in the first half and defeated the Wolfpack 105-73 Wednesday in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles never cooled off in second half, shooting 70 percent, which needless to say is the highest for a N.C. State opponent this season. The previous high was 47.7 percent by Charleston Southern.
“I thought our guys fought to the end, we just ran into a buzzsaw today,” said NCSU coach Kevin Keatts, who added the Noles just “shot the hell out of the basketball.”
The Seminoles (6-2, 2-1 ACC) had not played since a 77-67 loss to Clemson on Dec. 29. They had games postponed against Duke, at Syracuse and at Pittsburgh. But it was the Pack (6-4, 2-3) that seemed out of sync at times in the game.
N.C. State played without forward Manny Bates, who leads the ACC with three blocked shots per game and ranks seventh nationally. Maybe the Pack has been overly reliant on depending on Bates to clean up mistakes when opponents get to the basket. Because without him, FSU got in the lane and scored with relative ease.
And when D.J. Funderburk picked up two fouls in the first half -- one coming on a technical foul he got after making a comment to an official after a no-call on offense -- he sat out the remaining seven minutes of the first half.
The Pack played undersized and the Noles took advantage. They outscored NCSU 52-28 in points in the paint, which tied North Carolina for the most by an opponent this season.
“Do we miss Manny? 100 percent,” Keatts said. “Obviously, because he can protect a lot of that stuff at the rim.”
Keatts said the Pack are still trying to deal with not having a fully healthy team, “but that being said, none of that would have changed because of the way Florida State played tonight.”
The Wolfpack’s trademark brand of playing aggressively on defense never quite took hold. FSU ran off a 27-7 advantage in fast break points, which was also a season-high allowed by the Pack.
Redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen led the Pack with 16 points off the bench. FSU got 24 points from Rayquan Evans, who made his first start of the season in for highly-touted freshman Scottie Barnes.
Here are the earlier updates:
Just one of those games
N.C. State is still winless on the road this season. Florida State still just didn’t miss many shots. Some of that is due to the Pack not putting up much resistance, some of it was the Seminoles have just stayed hot. FSU shot 71 percent in the first half and it only dipped to 68 percent -- making 17 of their first 25 shots -- in the second half. The Noles led 95-69 with three minutes left.
Noles led at halftime
N.C. State had never trailed at half this season, until allowing Florida State to shoot 71 percent from the field. The Wolfpack trailed 57-32 while watching the Seminoles execute better in transition, better in forcing turnovers and better in halfcourt sets.
The shot-blocking presence of forward Manny Bates, who was out with a left ankle injury, was clearly missed inside as the Noles’ got whatever they wanted attacking the basket. FSU led the Pack 22-12 in points in the paint in the first half.
NCSU had been limiting its opponents to shooting just 31 percent from 3-point range, but the Noles had six different players make 3s and had collectively shot 7-for-10 from behind the arc in the first half.
Game slipped away from the Wolfpack
Florida State surely didn’t look like a team that hasn’t played in 2021. The Seminoles made 12 of their first 16 shots from the field including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts burned two timeouts early trying to break up FSU runs, but it didn’t matter. The Noles led 33-15 at the under-8 timeout.
Jericole Hellems was the only Pack player who was effective offensively early in the game. Hellems scored 10 of their first 15 points.
NC State without Manny Bates
N.C. State forward Manny Bates didn’t play due to an ankle injury. Bates is averaging 9.4 points and 3.0 blocks per game. His absence left the Pack thin in the frontcourt.
Starting lineups
N.C. State started Cam Hayes, Shakeel Moore, Devon Daniels, Jericole Hellems and D.J. Funderburk. Florida State starters were M.J. Walker, Anthony Polite, Rayquan Evans, Raiquan Gray, Balsa Koprivica.
Ice cream dreams
N.C. State (6-3, 2-2 ACC) hasn’t earned an ice cream trip so far this season. That’s been how coach Kevin Keatts has rewarded his teams for road wins since he arrived in Raleigh three seasons ago. The Pack lost at Saint Louis 80-69 on Dec. 17 when it played with a shorthanded roster. They led for 35 minutes in their loss at Clemson.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 6:16 PM with the headline "NC State blown out on the road by Florida State basketball."