NC State stinks it up on the road again, falls 72-58 to Virginia Tech

You know what wasn’t fun? That whole game that just happened. Well, okay, that’s not entirely true: the 10-0 start by NC State was a good time. If only someone could have traveled back in time to let us all know that it would only get much much worse from there. Alas.

NC State finished the game 6-30 from three, which sums up its afternoon at the offensive end nicely. When State takes that many threes, regardless of the defense, that’s State just not playing smart basketball. The Pack ended up taking eight more three-pointers than Virginia Tech, which has been significantly more three-inclined.

The Hokies built a seven-point halftime lead on that outside shooting, as they hit 7-13 from outside. They were likely to cool off some in the second half and did so, but NC State went and one-upped ‘em on that front, squandering the opportunity presented to it completely. Yeah, that sounds like something State would do.

The individual numbers are a horror show: Markell Johnson 2-14 from the field, Jericole Hellems 2-14 from the field, Braxton Beverly 1-6 from three. DJ Funderburk scored 18 on 7-13 shooting, but he couldn’t do it all by himself.

It was a disappointing performance against a team that doesn’t play great defense and to lose by 14 in what was basically a coin-flip game is a bit alarming. If they’re going to keep turning in these poor efforts on the road, the NCAA tournament is not gonna be in their future, that’s for sure.