NC State 87, ECU 76 (Updated)

Box Score

NC StateFour Factors
eFG%58.7Turnover Rate19.3Off Reb Rate34.5FTM/FGA50.0ECU
Four Factors
eFG%43.8Turnover Rate12.4
Off Reb Rate35.6FTM/FGA16.4

 Pts Poss Off_Eff Def_Eff
ECU 76 72.6 104.6 119.8
NCSU 87 72.6 119.8 104.6

-- The Wolfpack got off to an extremely impressive start, scoring 20 points in the first six minutes of the game (13 of those were Costner's) against East Carolina's active but useless defense. Poor Mack McCarthy tried everything, save throwing a chair (which couldn't possibly have been any more counterproductive than his team's fruitless efforts) ... zone, man, it didn't matter. NC State did what it wanted when it wanted, especially in the paint. Both Chad Wynn and Darrius Morrow, the Pirates' only forwards of note, fouled out of the game. The Pack made 64.5% of their two-point attempts and were in the bonus within the first 7-8 minutes of the second half.

-- Sam Hinnant and James Legan were the worries coming into the night, but PG Brock Young made it his show in the second half and ended up taking a team-high 23 shots; this was an unfortunate allocation of resources, because if Young has established anything in his short career, it's that he's a poor shooter. He scored 25 points, sure, but he needed the aforementioned 23 shots as well as 8 free throw attempts in order to get there. There was a 2-3 minute period in the second half where he hit several in a row (a blessing in disguise since it fueled further aggression/bad shots on his part); otherwise, he was his typically inefficient self. In fairness, though, the Pirates found themselves painted into a corner by Legan's off night. With zero options in the front court, there was no where else for them to turn.

-- Brandon Costner: 24 & 17. This was the Show Me Game we've been waiting for, and hopefully the spark that lights the flame.

 ORtg %Poss %Shots eFG% TO% OR% DR% Ast%
Costner 104.1 40.7 38.5 67.9 33.8 9.9 47.6 22.6

Perhaps more impressive than his offensive output was his defensive rebounding; essentially, while he was on the court, he grabbed one out of every two ECU misses by himself. That's brilliant work. Led by his efforts, the Wolfpack was much better on the defensive glass in the second half--after allowing the Pirates to grab 43% of their misses in the first half, we limited them to 29.2% in the second period. With ECU shooting just 36.1% over the final 20 minutes, our defensive rebounding was a big key.

-- Tracy Smith continues to do his thing: 11 points in 12 minutes.

-- Thirty-five-point-six percent of ECU's FGAs were threes, well under their 44% season average. I think that's a credit to our half court defense. It seemed like a number of their threes came during the sloppy up-and-down portions; when we were able to get back and set ourselves defensively, their three-point opportunities were limited. I don't know that that impression is accurate, but again, it felt that way.

-- Eighty-seven points... feels like the sugar high you get from eating one of those jumbo pixie sticks. Better get another beer.