As NC State basketball lives on the bubble, Wolfpack tries to ‘focus on the next one’
The pressure was on N.C. State on Saturday and not just because it had some special guests at PNC Arena.
The Wolfpack went into its game against Boston College more than aware that another homecourt loss could all but doom their chances of squeezing into the NCAA Tournament discussion this season.
If that was the case, the Pack took care of that bit of business. They turned back the Eagles 81-70, leading from start to finish, playing solid defense and building a 20-point lead in the second half.
The guests Saturday were members of State’s 1974 national championship basketball team, who are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the school’s first NCAA title. The players are in their 70s now and don’t move as spryly as they once did, but their bonds are strong and their memories of that ‘74 season still fresh, and they earned a big ovation Saturday.
Pressure? The Wolfpack in 1974 was ranked No. 1 in the country and still had to win the ACC Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. That’s pressure.
This year’s Wolfpack just wants a chance to play. At a time when social media is unavoidable, when there’s constant X chatter about the NET rankings and the NCAA bubble and who has who in the slew of mock NCAA brackets, there’s no way for the players to avoid or keep out the noise around them or hear the naysayers.
“That’s what people are going to do. People are going to talk,” Pack guard Jayden Taylor said. “They’re going to say something regardless, so we’re just going to come in and do what we do. We’re not stressing about it.”
The Pack (17-10, 9-7 ACC) will try to avoid it, have tunnel vision and look only at who’s next — in the Pack’s case, Florida State on the road Tuesday.
“That’s all you can do, focus on the next one,” the Pack’s Casey Morsell said. “Yes, you hear about it. Luckily, for us we have a lot of opportunities to add to our resume.”
For the Pack, there are four games remaining in the regular season and at least two will be Quad-1 opportunities for State to improve its NET standing — at North Carolina and Duke at home.
“Right now we’re trying to win as many games as we can, stack ‘em all together and see where we end up,” the Pack’s D.J. Burns said. “We try to focus on what’s in front of us.”
The Wolfpack beat Boston College without Horne putting up another 25 to 30 points. It won without having to survive the final few possessions, good or bad, or putting the ball and the game in Horne’s hands at the end.
Horne scored 13 points Saturday, just two in the second half when he missed five of six shots. It would be Burns who had the most shots (16) and points (19) for the Wolfpack this day as the Eagles futilely tried to keep the big man away from the basket on a day when he would not be denied.
Jayden Taylor had 15 points and was 7-for-7 at the foul line as the Pack did a better job of taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls – State was 21-of-24 at the line.
Casey Morsell finished with 15 points, Mo Diarra hit a pair of 3-pointers and Michael O’Connell had a team-best six assists plus nine rebounds.
“It was good to see more guys on the scoring stat sheet and we’re definitely going to need that if we’re going to win more games and into the postseason,” Horne said.
Taylor had rough games shooting the ball in the Pack’s losses to Pitt and Wake Forest — he was scoreless against Pitt — but has been in double figures the past three games and 15 points Saturday.
“I think it was good for the guys to see the ball going in and gain confidence going into the end of the season,” Taylor said. “It’s good for everybody to just get a good game under their belt, a good win and for everybody to play well.
“This was a big confidence-booster. You saw today that when everybody plays well and we’re on the same page, good things happen.”
That’s what the Pack needs more of at this critical juncture of the season: good things to happen.
