Game Summary:
** Seton Hall was voted the last place team in the Big East this season. They didn’t look that bad to me. **
Seton Hall just looked like the better team in the first half. They shot 50% / 31%
/100%, the Wolfpack shot 46% /25% / 50%, including an embarrassing 5-10 from the line. The Pirates out rebounded the Pack 18-15, led in assists 8-7, steals 5-2, and blocks 3-0. For the Pack, Matt Able got hot with 10 points, and Ven Lubin had 8 points and 5 rebounds. The Pirates were up 10 at the 14:07 mark. NC State stayed within a basket for the final four minutes of the half but could not get a stop. Despite the poor performance, the Wolfpack trailed only 33-35 at the half.
The ugly continued into the second half, with the Hall extending the lead to 11 in the first 90 seconds. By the 15:50 mark, the Pack was down 16. Darrion Williams picked up his 4th foul at the 12:19 mark. NC State never seriously threaten the Pirates, only getting as close as 9 points on a couple of occasions. Final score 85-74.
Four Factors
Overall Takeaways:
- Seton Hall was the better team, start to finish.
- According to ESPN, before Seton Hall’s 85-74 win over No. 23 NC State in Maui, ranked teams were 96-0 vs unranked opponents this season, the longest such win streak in any season in AP poll history
- In the pre-game, Coach Wade said he was concerned about Seton Hall’s toughness. That turned out to be the critical aspect of the game. They beat the taller Wolfpack to the rebounds, took the ball away 9 times, scored 40 points in the paint, and had 22 fast break points.
- NC State was exposed as not being as good as we expected. At least not today.
- After shooting 5-10 free throws in the first half, the Pack hit 11-12 in the second.
Individual Highlights
- Ven Allen led the team in scoring (16) and rebounds (9)
- Quadir Copeland had 6 assists
- This was Matt Able’s best game with 15 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 2 steals
- Musa Sagnia went down at about the 8 minute mark in the second half with a what appeared to be a knee issue. He did not return.
Player Stats and Box Score
