NC State Returns To Raleigh Looking To Rebound As They Host Miami

After a trip to Blacksburg where NC State lost to Virginia Tech NC State returns to North Carolina’s state capital to host Miami on Wednesday night who unlike NC State is coming off a win over Pittsburgh there last game.

NC State comes into the game with a record of 11-5 while they’re 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and eighth in the standings while Miami comes into the game with a record of 10-5 while they’re 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and tenth in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. “according to http://theacc.com/standings.aspx?standings=40

As for NC State’s previous game as stated above, they lost in Blacksburg to Virginia Tech.

  The NC State men's basketball team shot a season-low 31.9 percent in falling to Virginia Tech, 72-58, Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

With the loss, NC State falls to 11-5 (2-3 ACC) while Virginia Tech improves to 12-4 (3-2 ACC). “according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx
 
Despite a poor shooting effort, the Pack still found itself in the game, trailing by just three points, 55-52, after a Devon Daniels basket in the lane with 7:12 to play. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

NC State could never get any closer though as the Pack went over three minutes without a point and Virginia Tech capitalized on the cold streak with an 11-0 run to effectively put the game away. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

D.J. Funderburk led the Pack in scoring for the third time in four games, finishing with 18 points and added a career-high tying nine rebounds.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

Pat Andree was the only other NC State player in double figures with 11 points. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

Markell Johnson finished with team-highs in assists (9) and steals (2), but shot just 2-of-14 from the field and finished with just five points to snap his 11-game double-digit scoring streak.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

NC State entered the game second in the ACC in field goal percentage and had only shot under 40 percent in one game this season, but was just 22-of-69 from the field on Saturday.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

The Pack finished just 6-of-30 from three-point range. The 30 three-point attempts were a season-most.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx
 
NC State started off by scoring the first 10 points of the game. Braxton Beverly started the game with a three-pointers and Jericole Hellems added one to give the Pack a 6-0 lead. Devon Daniels hit a short jumper in the lane to extend NC State's lead to eight and Manny Bates put an exclamation point on the Pack's start with transition dunk off a feed from Daniels to make it 10-0, not even four minutes into the game.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

The Pack's lead was short-lived as the Hokies responded with a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the game on a Landers Nolley II three-pointer with 13:23 to go in the first half. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

Nolley II finished the game with 29 points while Tyrece Radford added 18 points.”according to
https://gopack.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-late-run-by-hokies-sinks-pack.aspx

Unlike NC State,

Miami won their previous game as they beat Pittsburgh in Coral Gables Florida.

The University of Miami men's basketball team posted a 66-58 victory over Pittsburgh Sunday night, its seventh straight win over the Panthers.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

Redshirt junior guard Kameron McGusty scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting for Miami (10-5, 2-3 ACC), which held the lead for over 39 minutes and never trailed.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

The Hurricanes jumped out to a 16-0 lead in under six minutes, connecting on 6-of-9 shots, while Pittsburgh (11-5, 2-3 ACC) missed its first seven. Miami held the Panthers without a point for the opening 6:12 and without a field goal for the first 6:53.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

"Our practice and preparation with very little time to prepare—our guys did a really good job of recognizing what we needed to do," Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said of the strong start. "[That is] partially because they play similarly to us. They do a lot of ball screens and our guys are used to guarding that in practice." “according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

The Panthers, however, made their next six shots to counter with an 18-2 burst in under five minutes, quickly leveling the score at 18 with 9:25 left in the half. Miami then returned to form defensively, limiting the Panthers to 2-of-14 shooting the rest of the half, including another 0-of-7 stretch, and took a 31-22 edge into the locker room.  “according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

McGusty scored 15 points, including 10 in the first eight minutes, on 5-of-7 shooting in the frame, as Miami posted a 13-of-25 (52.0 percent) clip. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes held Pittsburgh to 8-of-27 shooting (29.6 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

The Hurricanes opened the second half in similar fashion to the first, scoring 15 of the opening 19 points to go up by 20, 46-26, with 13:59 to go. Once again, though, Pittsburgh responded, this time logging a 17-3 run, including an 11-0 spurt to cap it, to make it 49-43 with 8:09 remaining. That also marked the time at which junior guard Chris Lykes fouled out, the first disqualification of his career.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

The Panthers pulled within four on four occasions, but Miami never let it become a one-possession game, even stretching its lead back to 10 with 1:09 left before finishing with an eight-point decision.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

"I'm particularly happy with Harlond Beverly, his ability to help us at the end when Chris Lykes fouled out," Larrañaga said. "You have to have someone step up and he's the backup point guard. Not only did he play well, but he made some critical plays that sealed the victory."“according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

Beverly, a freshman guard, had four points and three of his team-high five assists in the final five minutes of the game.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

Senior guard Dejan Vasiljevic played all 40 minutes and totaled 13 points, while Lykes had 12 in just 19 minutes, his lowest total in the latter since playing 18 on Feb. 19, 2018, at Notre Dame. Redshirt junior forward Sam Waardenburg had seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds in a career-high-tying 40 minutes.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

Sophomore guard Trey McGowens led Pittsburgh with 18 points and junior forward/center Terrell Brown added 10. Miami held freshman guard/forward Justin Champagnie, who led all players with 11 boards, to eight points on 3-of-16 shooting and sophomore guard Xavier Johnson to four points on 1-of-5 shooting.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

The Hurricanes concluded the game with a 52.9 percent mark (27-of-51) from the floor, while limiting the Panthers to a 35.9 percent ledger (23-of-64), the lowest by a Miami opponent in ACC play since Feb. 6, 2019, when Notre Dame had a 32.1 percent clip.”according to https://hurricanesports.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-mbb-tops-pittsburgh-66-58.aspx

Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from PNC Arena. The game will be televised on the Regional Sports Network.