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NC State was due to have a close game go its way after suffering several tough losses in the last month, and turns out that breakthough came against Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon. The Wolfpack had to overcome a whole lot of Pittsburgh free throws and make one last stop in order to do it, but the Pack got it done.
Four Factors
| ... | NC State | Pitt |
|---|---|---|
| ... | NC State | Pitt |
| eFG% | 60.8 | 56.3 |
| TO% | 21.6 | 21.6 |
| OR% | 33.3 | 37.9 |
| FTR | 35.3 | 58.3 |
Both teams shot the ball well inside the arc, but NC State was a bit better at 62.5% on twos. Aside from Shakeel Moore, every State player that saw the court connected on at least half their two-point tries. DJ Funderburk was 6-9 from the field and scored 16, while Jericole Hellems had a team-high 17 on 6-9 shooting prior to fouling out.
There were some officiating shenanigans in this one, and that’s Jamie Luckie for you. Justin Champagnie had an off day from the field, shooting just 3-11, but got 16 free throw attempts to make up for it. Pitt got to the line 28 times, though only made 19 of those. Good thing that’s not a good free throw shooting team!
All told it was a good performance by a shorthanded NC State team that lost Hellems in crunch time. We’ll take these wins however we can get ‘em.