CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Coaches talk all the time about playing for 40 minutes. You don’t win games playing 20, 30, 35 or even 39 minutes unless you’re significantly better than a team. Even then, a full 40-minute effort is what’s needed to get a win. Right now, that’s the big battle North Carolina State is facing, and their latest example is their 79-68 loss at Boston College on Saturday.
Certainly, the Wolfpack were playing with heavy hearts. They all heard the news that women’s basketball coach Kay Yow passed away in the morning, and her impact on the community in Raleigh can’t be stated in words. A moment of silence was held in her honor before the game.
That may have been one factor in their first half struggles, where the Wolfpack stayed with the Eagles early before an 8-0 Eagle run made it 30-19 late in the half en route to a 42-27 halftime score. The Wolfpack struggled mightily on the glass, being out-rebounded 29-15 in the first half (46-25 for the game), with the Eagles’ 15 offensive rebounds being enough for a tie in the opening frame. That was an area they figured they might have an edge, but there was an explanation for the disparity.
“I thought they were more aggressive than we were, more physical.,” said head coach Sidney Lowe. “We weren’t battling in there or really going after it, and if we wanted to get back in this ballgame, we had to pick it up.”
In the second half, North Carolina State came alive and ran off 16 unanswered points to get within 47-44. They would get within three on three other occasions, but no closer, and the Eagles pulled away after the final media timeout.
The Wolfpack’s big run was just not enough after a bad first half.
“The thing that’s been a problem with us is putting good halves with bad halves,” said junior guard Farnold Degand, who was playing in front of friends and family as he grew up in Mattapan. “One game, we play a good first half and a bad second half, the next we play a bad first half and a good second half. We’ve just got to come together and play a whole good game as a team.”
In recent games, turnovers have been the big problem for the Wolfpack, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday. They entered Saturday having turned the ball over 18.6 times in the prior five games, but gave it away just 10 times against the Eagles. The big issue was on the glass, where the Wolfpack came in out-rebounding opponents by nearly six per game on the season. The Eagles turned their 22 offensive rebounds into just 15 second-chance points, but they took more possessions away on a day where the Wolfpack weren’t giving them away at the offensive end.
What stood out to Lowe, as much as anything, was the consistency of effort throughout the game. That’s been an issue all season, and one stat that can point to it is the team’s scoring by half. Good teams are typically stronger in the second half in the scoring column, but not the Wolfpack. While they have scored five more points in the second half than the first on the season, that’s a smaller margin than many teams. But the biggest issue is what they give up, as they have a +69 margin in the first half and only a +21 in the second.
“That’s been one of our issues this year,” said the third-year head coach. “We’ll play well for 30, 35 minutes, and it’s that five-minute stretch that a team might make a 10-0 run or something like that and get us down. We’ve been in just about every game, but if we were to play 40 minutes, we certainly would have won some of those games. That’s been one of our Achilles’ heels, not being able to play 40 minutes.”
It’s helped land the Wolfpack in the bottom three of the ACC with a 1-4 mark after Saturday.
Other Notable Games
Duke 85, Maryland 44: This was never a ballgame, as the score might indicate. It was the worst loss for the Terrapins under Gary Williams.
Marquette 79, DePaul 70: The Golden Eagles continue their hot streak, as they have now won nine straight and are 6-0 in the Big East.
Memphis 54, Tennessee 52: The stakes weren’t quite as high as last year, but once again the road team comes out on top between these two.
Kentucky 61, Alabama 51: The Wildcats pick one up on the road to go to 5-0 in the SEC behind another solid game from Jodie Meeks (27 points).
Auburn 73, Arkansas 51: The Razorbacks fall to 0-4 in the SEC with this home loss, making their big wins right before conference play less relevant.
Connecticut 69, Notre Dame 61: The Huskies continue their prowess on the road and snap Notre Dame’s 45-game home winning streak.
Villanova70, South Florida 61: The Wildcats get back to .500 in Big East play with a tough road win.
Washington 86, UCLA 75: A big win for the Huskies, who continue their surge by winning their fourth straight and 13th in 14 tries. They are alone atop the Pac-10 at 6-1.
California 76, Oregon 69: The Golden Bears bounce back from their loss to Oregon State on Thursday night and send the Ducks into an 0-9 hole in the Pac-10.
Oregon State 77, Stanford 62: Winning at Cal on Thursday was a surprise, but sweeping the Bay Area trip for the first time in 16 years is a shocker.
Xavier 80, LSU 70: The Musketeers continue to roll, winning their eighth straight, five of which have been on the road.
Kansas 82, Iowa State 67: The young Jayhawks continue to grow up in early Big 12 play, improving to 4-0 with this road win behind 26 points and five assists from Sherron Collins.
Missouri 97, Texas Tech 86: The Tigers improve to 4-1 in the Big 12 with this win, quietly in the race for the top early on.
Illinois 64, Wisconsin 57: Two teams playing different than expectations, but in the opposite manner. The Illini go to 5-2 in Big Ten play, while the Badgers are 3-4.
Penn State 63, Iowa 59: Don’t look now, but the Nittany Lions are 5-3 in the Big Ten.
Utah State 67, Hawaii 51: The Aggies just keep on winning, improving to 19-1 overall and 7-0 in the WAC.
VCU 76, George Mason 71: The Rams win the first of two big home games, with a first-place showdown against Northeastern up next on Tuesday.
Northeastern 58, Old Dominion 42: A big win for the Huskies, who get their first-ever win in Norfolk and set up the aforementioned showdown in Richmond on Tuesday night.
Drexel 62, William & Mary 49: Few expected the Dragons to be in the mix for the conference race, but they’re 6-3 in the CAA following this win.
Siena 82, Niagara 65: At this point, you can just about hand the top seed in the MAAC Tournament over to the Saints, as they knock off one of their top challengers in convincing fashion to go three games up on the next two teams in the standings.
Butler 78, UW-Milwaukee 48: The Bulldogs continue their run through the Horizon League, now with a 9-0 mark.
Portland 73, Pepperdine 58: Quietly, the Pilots are 4-1 in West Coast play and 13-7 overall.
Cornell 83, Columbia 72: The Big Red join Yale atop the Ivy League at 2-0.
Holy Cross 71, American 62: After a lot of struggles in non-league play, the Crusaders are 4-1 and atop the Patriot League after winning this early showdown at home.
Akron 68, Kent State 54: Who would have figured that young, rebuilding Akron would have a better record (10-8) than Kent State (8-11) at this point?
