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I’d suggest that there were teachable moments Wednesday night, but I don’t know that teachable moments are so much a thing as there are reminders that, yes, the other team is trying to win, too.
NC State came out gangbusters, played great the first 15 minutes of this game, and and Boston College missed a bunch of shots, the Wolfpack took advantage of the Eagles’ bad interior defense. For a good portion of the first half, State led by double figures. DJ Funderburk was dominant in his first return to action.
DJ scored 17 points in the opening half, got whatever he wanted, and State existed at arm’s length from Boston College, which hovered in between being thrown out completely and growing a spine and trying to fuck this whole thing up.
Factors
| Four Factors | NC State | BC |
|---|---|---|
| Four Factors | NC State | BC |
| eFG% | 56.5 | 56.1 |
| TO% | 24.3 | 23.9 |
| OR% | 36.7 | 39.4 |
| FTR | 48.1 | 28.1 |
Pace and Efficiency
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
| BC | 76 | 70 | 108.6 | 112.9 |
| NC State | 79 | 70 | 112.9 | 108.6 |
See, you can never tell out the break how this is going to go: maybe they lay down, maybe they are tired, maybe they would like to go home. Or maybe they grow a spine and would like to try to fuck this whole thing up.
Boston College is a definite example of the latter. The Eagles were not about to just give up, and they very nearly stole this game on the road, and they deserve a lot of credit for that. I don’t think State came out of the half expecting a fight, and that showed. State was fortunate to get out from under this one.
You gotta be careful about complacency.