Disappointed in national narrative from last night.
Pack Defense held Purdue to...
63 points (season-low)
40% FG (2nd lowest this season for PU)
& forced 16 TOs (second-most for PU)
Full credit to Purdue. They were better team, but Pack showed up last night. Didn't make shots.
As of Jan. 27 RPI Rankings,
@PackMensBball
has played 8 games against teams ranked in top-15 in RPI. That's 3 more games against top-15 teams than any team in the nation. With 4 wins over Top-15 RPI teams, Pack is tied with Virginia for most top-15 wins
.
@PackMensBball
has now faced double-digit deficits in 5 games this season:
at Miami
UNC
at Wake
at Louisville
UVA
All 5 games, they've battled back to at least tie the game.
They aren't going to quit.
Although Coach Keatts would probably prefer they not fall behind either.
With the win,
@PackMensBball
is now 13-1 on the season. It's the best start for the NC State men's basketball since the 1973-74 team went 30-1 and won the National Championship.
With the win today,
@PackMensBball
finishes the month of January with a 6-1 record.
It’s the best winning percentage in the month of January for NC State since the 1988-89 NC State team went 8-1 (.889) in January 1989.
Incredibly grateful to this team for taking me along for this ride. Having a front row seat for the last month is something I will always cherish.
I can now say I've been the SID for a Final Four team. Something I've dreamed about since I decided on this career path 20 years ago
How about the Pack's composure late in the game? After Arizona took a 75-73 lead with 5:08 left, NC State responded with a 13-1 run over the next 4 minutes to put the game away. Arizona only made 2 field goals in the last 5:00 of the game & 1 of them was as the buzzer sounded
There are 3 players in
@PackMensBball
history that have recorded 250 assists, 200 made three-pointers and 100 steals in their career.
Rodney Monroe
Engin Atsur
And as of Saturday, Braxton Beverly
Twice this season Eric Lockett has gotten a DNP-CD.
After the first one, he had 15 points, 3-3 3p pts and 8 rebounds.
Today, 17 points and 7 rebounds.
That's how a veteran responds to not getting any playing time. Works harder and produces
Thank you to Brian Morrison from the ACC Office for giving this note to me:
With last night’s 100-49 win over UNC Asheville,
@PackMensBball
becomes the first team in ACC history to win each of its first three games of the season by 46 points or more.
Watching practice right now, Ernest Ross just chased down a loose ball and had a dunk that would probably have made every highlight show in the country if it was in a game.
Ernest is coming on. Getting better every day. He has a really bright future in this program.
After last night's 6-of-7 shooting performance,
@OmerYurtseven5
is now shooting 62.4% from the field this season and has moved into the
#1
spot on the ACC FG% rankings
.
@MannyBat35
had 5 blocks today and now has 43 on the season.
He's already 3rd on
@PackMensBball
freshman single-season block list. 5 more blocks and he'll have the most blocks in a season by a freshman in program history.
It's December.
In
@PackMensBball
last two road wins, they have clamped down defensively in crunch time.
at Miami - held Hurricanes to just 1 FG over final 7:14
at Syracuse - held Orange to just 1 FG over final 6:16
Dereon Seabron couldn't travel with the team last season so he went home when the team went to the ACC Tournament (it was spring break) Because of COVID he couldn't return to campus for months ... Long way of saying, he's just scratching the surface.
Career-high 15 for Dereon
Attn media covering NC State: I have the option to designate up to 5 media for seat preference on press row in Wichita.
Unrelated to the above, I like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, especially the Reese's Eggs that are on sale at stores right now.
First 2 games of the season,
@PackMensBball
has forced more turnovers than opponent made field goals.
VMI - 21 turnovers, 18 FGs
CSU - 24 turnovers, 21 FGs
.
@PackMensBball
game against Louisville next Saturday will be televised on ESPN.
Senior Day for Malik Abu & Lennard Freeman. Final home games for Allerik Freeman and Sam Hunt as well. Need a packed
@PNCArena
for that one
.
@PackMensBball
’s 2 turnovers in tonight’s win over Notre Dame tied a school record for fewest in a game.
The Pack also had 2 turnovers in a 90-83 win over Georgia Tech on 1/13/91
Tough night, but when the clock struck midnight it officially became my daughter's first birthday and that gives me plenty to be happy and thankful about.
“It’s fun being able to pass it to Braxton, a pure shooter, knowing that he is going to knock it down.”
That was CJ Bryce on Tuesday - 4 days before then Clemson game - when doing his Wolfpack Hustle Interview.
Excited to rejoin my
@PackMensBball
family soon, but appreciate
@the_jewilson
,
@Fred_Demarest
& all of the NC State communications staff for picking up for me & letting me stay home tonight to watch the Pack with my two-day old daughter, Olivia.
A stat change from last night's game gives
@beastboyburns
a double-double. This was originally put in as a block by DJ and defensive rebound for Casey Morsell, but on review DJ had the defensive rebound.
DJ finished his NC State debut with a 10-point/10-rebound double-double
.
@CoachKeattsNCSU
is in a good mood this morning. On the ACC teleconference he is asked about Sam Hunt and what he knew about him before he took the NC State job. Coach's response: "I knew Sam Hunt was a very good singer."
It made my day when I turned the corner at Dail this morning and bumped into Kell. Haven't seen him since that morning in March 2020 when we had a team meeting in a hotel ballroom and found out the ACC Tournament had been canceled.
Should probably just ignore this but in addition to a 3.0 GPA, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests to make the All-Academic team
“little buddy” did not compete in 50% of NC State’s games this season.
Senior day for
@PackMensBball
Jarkel Joiner is out of eligibility after this season & will be honored today.
Greg Gantt, Chase Graham & Casey Morsell are graduating in May from NC State. All 3 have college eligibility next season but will be honored since they are graduating
I think
#WPN
would agree with this comment from Mike Brey after today's
@PackMensBball
- ND game.
"He (Kevin Keatts) has done a fantastic job in his first year here. He is really one of our bright young coaches in the profession. He really is, and he's got them playing great."
.
@BBeverly10
hit 2 free throws in final seconds tonight for
@PackMensBball
. He's 22-25 from the foul line this season with less than 4 minutes to go. Lavar Batts Jr., had 0 turnovers tonight & has just 1 turnover in 91 minutes in ACC play.
Bright futures for both freshmen.
.
@pack9
pitching allowed only 8 hits total in the last 2 games over Arkansas.
As rough as Friday night was, maybe we should all recognize that
@Elliott_Avent
knows what he’s doing.
Saved his arms for games 2 and 3.
Arkansas had Friday night. NC State got the series.
From the 6:40 mark of the second half to the 2:41 mark - a total of 3 minutes and 59 seconds of game time -
@kells_2017
scored 15 points.
If he kept that streak up over 40 minutes of game time that averages out to 150 points.
Truly a special performance from Kell.
.
@BBeverly10
has 16 assists & just two turnovers in last two games for
@PackMensBball
. That stretch has catapulted him to the top of the ACC leaderboard. Braxton's 3.71 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in the ACC this season.
In 33 career games,
@MannyBat35
has 99 blocks.
Assuming he gets 1 block tomorrow, he'll be the fastest ACC player to 100 blocks in over 20 years.
Since 1985-86, the only ACC players to get to 100 career blocks in fewer games are Tim Duncan (WF) & Alvin Jones (GT)
.
@PackMensBball
hit 19 three-pointers tonight which is the most in a single game in program history. The previous high was 18 against Florida State on 2/10/92
Had the opportunity to meet our new
@PackMensBball
players today in the first team meeting of the 2021-22 season. Great group of guys. Like this team a lot. Had the entire team there except for Ernest Ross who will join the program for summer session II.
Mo Diarra Single Game Notes of Accomplishments so far in the ACC Tournament
Points: 14, career-high (Tonight vs. Duke)
Rebounds: 16, second-most of career (Duke)
Assists: 6, career-high (vs. Syracuse)
Steals: 3, tied career-high (Duke)
Blocks: 4, career-high (Duke)
.
@kells_2017
has had double-digit assists in 3 straight games for
@PackMensBball
. First NC State player to accomplish this feat since
@Chris_Corchiani
had 3 straight double-digit assist games from from 2/25/91 to 3/2/91
The last three-pointer by
@TorinDorn2
put him over the 1,000-point mark in college. TD scored 384 points at Charlotte and now has 617 points in 2 years at NC State.
Overlooked in the win,
@PackMensBball
hit free throws when it counted.
NC State was 8-of-17 from the foul line in the first 38:27 of the game ... 8-of-9 in the final 1:33.
Today's win was 3rd straight ACC road win for
@PackMensBball
. It’s the 1st time since last 2 road games of 02-03 & 1st road game of 03-04 that Pack has won three straight ACC road games. The last time NC State had won 3 straight ACC road games in the same season was 01-02 season.
Probably got overshadowed some because of what
@kells_2017
&
@doubleD_2106
were doing, but Wyatt Walker was one point short of a double-double tonight with 9 points and 11 rebounds. 8 of his 11 rebounds were on the offensive end.
Tough one
#WPN
, but
@PackMensBball
is getting there.
Forced 15 UVA turnovers which is the most they've had all season. 8 steals ties for the most of any opponent for UVA.
2-16 from 3-pt & only 3 made free throws. Tough to win with those numbers.
Counterpoint to mojo bit is that the Pack is 2-1 at LJVMC and 4-1 overall vs Wake Forest since Keatts became HC. His only loss was the Pack's first game last year without
@kells_2017
Not disputing the 30-year history, but Keatts' teams have done well against the Deacs.
I’m not sure about the office assistant today.
Pros: She’s cute and all my co-workers keep coming to see us.
Cons: doesn’t stay on task, noisy, can’t work independently, keeps taking socks off, seems to only be motivated by when lunch is
We might need to bring some Howling Cow ice cream on the road with us for the rest of our 9 pm road games. Coach Keatts treats the players to ice cream after a road win, but hard to find open places at midnight.
If you don’t believe Wolfpack Nation loves their 2 DJ’s (
@beastboyburns
&
@djhorne0
), here’s how the line stands after an HOUR since their appearance started at a NE Raleigh Applebee’s.
Since the line is so long, they’re about to be driven around the crowd so everyone gets a
Working on game notes at 1 am after a big win & you start coming up with random notes.
@PackMensBball
is now 22-3 at
@PNCArena
with
@CoachKeattsNCSU
as head coach.
What do the 3 losses have in common?
@WesDurham
was here doing play-by-play for TV.
Wes has the call Saturday.
CJ Bryce hit 12 three-pointers in the first 16 games of the season for the Pack.
He's now hit 12 in the last 3.5 games after that last 3 three-pointer. Pack by 6
Exhibition game doesn't technically count, but DJ Funderburk went 7-7 on FGs against Chowan. He was 4-4 on FGs against Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday night is 4-4 today against MD Eastern Shore.
If DJ never misses a shot he'll be a very efficient player
Missed this last night, but
@PackMensBball
scored 65 points in the second half of its 105-55 win over Mount St. Mary's. That's a
@PNCArena
record for most points in a half.
Pack shot 64.9% from the field, including 61.5% from three-point range in the final 20 minutes.
Counting his 4-for-4 performance tonight, Sam Hunt is now 10-for-13 from 3-point range in the last 3 games. He only hit 10 three-pointers in the first 12 ACC games this year.
Auburn's SID just told me that this is the most turnovers for Auburn (25) dating back to at least the 2010 season.
Tigers came into the game leading the nation in turnover margin at +7.6. Auburn is -7 tonight.
Texas Southern finishes it off, winning by 15 points. at
#20
Florida. Happy for those Texas Southern players & coaches. They were genuinely nice people when they came to Raleigh, and they played their butts off. Glad they can celebrate tonight.
I can't believe it's already gameday.
Season 4️⃣ with the Pack starts for me tonight.
Grateful for the opportunity to have a job that I'm passionate about.
.
@PackMensBball
has 90 points with 5:02 to play in this game. NC State has now scored 90+ points in all 3 games this season. First time since 1995-96 season, NC State has scored 90+ in 3 straight games.