NC State basketball season review: CJ Bryce edition

Previously on Wolfpack hoops review:

DJ Funderburk
Devon Daniels
Braxton Beverly
Jericole Hellems

It was fortunate for NC State that Kevin Keatts and CJ Bryce happened to be a package deal—getting the coach you want is the most important thing, of course, but if he can bring an ACC-caliber player with him, hey, all the better.

Bryce’s transition from the CAA to the ACC was pretty smooth; he didn’t have to carry NC State’s offense in the same way he did UNC-Wilmington’s, and that helped. He was a primary contributor, but that didn’t come with a ton of pressure.

You can see there is an impressive level of consistency between his last year at Wilmington and his first at NC State, with the primary differences being minutes played and the frequency with which he attempted shots. Both decreased at NC State, which probably helped his overall efficiency.

Bryce also improved a bit on his three-point shooting while making a career-best 75.6% of his free throws. Notably, Bryce’s playing time went up once the Wolfpack hit league play and he made 36.6% of his threes against ACC competition, well above his season-long three-point percentage.

He finished with an impressive line against top-100 opponents (that’s the Tier A+B row), showing some marked improvement from his time at Wilmington. He was able to step up against the best teams on NC State’s schedule, while his performances against those teams at UNCW were marked by more struggle.

That’s an encouraging sign of maturation given that he’ll be on of NC State’s leaders in 2020, which probably will come with an increased workload.