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The excitement surrounding NC State's first basketball game of the 2015-16 season came and went in about five minutes of game time, which is the amount of time William & Mary needed to take control and never look back. The Tribe jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead thanks to a couple of threes, and that would be just a taste of the night ahead as they cruised to an 85-68 win in Raleigh.
Gotta make shots.
William & Mary shocks NC State, 85-68. Tribe shot 51.7% from floor, 40.9% from 3 & 73.7% FTs. NC State just 38%, 27.3% & 57.1%
— The Wolfpacker (@TheWolfpacker) November 14, 2015
This was the major concern coming in--the Tribe finished each of the last two seasons sixth nationally in effective field goal percentage. When they are on, they can be really, really good offensively. When they are on and up against and uncertain team playing mediocre-or-worse defense, it's going to be their day. Friday was all theirs.
William & Mary took a 15-5 lead with 15:37 left in the first half. It never got closer than 10 after that.
— Ryan Tice (@RyanTice) November 14, 2015
NC State responded poorly to that initial deficit, to put it kindly. As William and Mary continued to make shots and extend the lead, NC State's panic grew to the point where guys were chucking up bad shot after bad shot with no regard for running any sort of offense. It was a disappointing reversion to some of the problems we saw last season, except there was no Trevor Lacey. Hero ball with no hero.
This of course played right into the hands of the undersized Tribe, which is the particularly frustrating part. NC State made it easy on those guys. They made it easy on a Tribe group that has a lot of deficiencies and plays objectively bad defense, let 'em have a free pass on the entire night.
......Man
— TJ Warren (@TonyWarrenJr) November 14, 2015