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[Note: I wrote this after the game and meant to, y’know, publish it after the game but turns out I may be losing my mind.]
It wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty, but for a while there this game was going well for NC State. Oklahoma State couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn to begin the night and didn’t make a shot from the field until nearly the 13-minute mark.
NC State started on a 7-0 run and held a nine-point lead on multiple occasions during the first half, but with about three minutes remaining in the period, it all fell apart on the Pack. Oklahoma State scored 12 straight points to turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead at the break. The Cowboys did not trail again.
Four Factors
| ... | NC State | OSU |
|---|---|---|
| ... | NC State | OSU |
| eFG% | 34.8 | 40.3 |
| TO% | 23.1 | 16.3 |
| OR% | 34.9 | 40.0 |
| FTR | 62.5 | 50.0 |
Pace and Efficiency
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF |
| NC State | 68 | 74 | 91.9 | 100.0 |
| OSU | 74 | 74 | 100.0 | 91.9 |
By the halfway point of the second, Oklahoma State led by 14 and appeared to be cruising to an easy one, but the Pack managed to rally a couple times down the stretch—a whole bunch of free throws helped—and clawed back to within a basket with 30 seconds left. The Cowboys made their free throws and got a key stop to thwart the rally.
The Pack showing fight in those last 10 minutes is a positive. Just about everything else, uh, not so much. NC State shot 9-28 from the field in the first half and then 8-28 in the second. NC State was also 24-26 at the free throw line in the second half, but the dreadful shooting from the field was just too much to overcome.
It also didn’t help that the Pack finished -5 in turnover margin and lost the battle on the glass.
The Cowboys were as advertised in that they didn’t get much of anything from the perimeter, making just two three-pointers all night. But they were markedly better than the Pack inside the arc: 45 percent on twos compared to 33 percent for NC State. Oklahoma State’s offense was no work of art but was better than NC State in enough areas to secure the win.
The loss spoiled another nice night for Dereon Seabron, who scored 19 on 6-11 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds. Seabron and Ebe Dowuona (1-1) were the only Pack players to make at least half of their field goal attempts.
NC State returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Texas Southern.