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MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Printable Version

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MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - skip75 - 02-08-2025

Welcome back Michael O'Connell!  MOC & his Wolfpack teammates come onto today's game riding a 7-game losing streak.  I saw an article saying that they (&/or their fan base?) have 2 goals at this point in the season: 1) Get into the ACC tournament - 15 teams qualify and NC State is currently tied for 16th; and 2) Avoid the team record for losses - the 2021-2 team finished with a record of 11-21, 4-16 in the ACC.  Just last season, they were in the Final 4.  But 4 of 5 starters from the semi-final loss to Purdue are gone - including DJ Horne & the memorable DJ Burns.  MOC started in that game and 3 current players were the only bench players to appear in the game - Jayden Taylor, Ben Middlebrooks, & Breon Pass.  But the Final 4 is a distant memory.  

The Wolfpack has a record of 9-13, 2-9 in the ACC, 0-8 away from home.  They have played some really competitive games against several very good teams, but their best wins are over Florida State & Notre Dame.  They have led in the 2nd half in 8 of their 9 ACC losses, but have had trouble finishing close games.  Stanford is favored by 6-1/2.  I have not heard any update on the status of Jaylen Blakes &/or Benny Gealer.

NC State has an undersized, but veteran starting line-up - 4 seniors and MOC (a grad student - not sure what he's studying since, unless I'm missing something, the NC State web site doesn't consider that to be worthy of including in a bio - he graduated from Stanford in 3 years with a degree in economics).  Starters Wednesday at Cal were:
#10 Marcus Hill (6'4/185 Sr G)  Played 2 years at JC & 1 at Bowling Green, where he was All-MAC 1st team.  Averages 12.9ppg (on 48.3% shooting - 13th in the ACC) & 4.2rpg.
#8 Jordan Taylor (6'4/195 Sr G)  Played 2 years at Butler.  Averages 12.0ppg, 3.1 rpg.
#3 Dontrez Styles (6'6/210 Sr G/F)  Played 2 years at UNC & 1 at Georgetown, where he was a starter.  Averages 10.0ppg, 4.6rpg.
#34 Ben Middlebrooks (6'10/240 Sr F)  Played 2 years at Clemson.  Averages 8.1ppg, 4.1rpg.
#12 Michael O'Connell (6'2/195 Gr G)  Played 3 years at Stanford, mostly as a starter.  Averages 6.4ppg, 2.7rpg, and 3.32 assists per game - 13th in the ACC.  His assist/turnover ratio is also 3.32 - 2nd in the ACC.

Other players in their rotation are: #5 Trey Parker (6'1/165 Fr G); #4 Breon Pass (6'0/175 Sr G) - unique in that he is in his 4th year at NC State; and #11 Dennis Parker Jr. (6'6/205 So G).  Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6'10/240 Sr C), a part-time starter averaging 8.2ppg & 4.9rpg, did not make the trip to California due to an injury.  In his absence, Ismael Diouf (#33, 6'9/215 Jr F) played 24 minutes (his season high) during the Cal game.

One of the few categories where NC State stands out is turnover margin, where they are 2nd in the ACC at +3.09.  In their 9 wins, they have averaged 19.3ppg off turnovers, outscoring opponents by 102.  In their  losses, they average 10.9ppg off TOs, outscoring opponents by only 7.

Stanford needs to take advantage of this opportunity to end the 2-game skid.  20 wins and a winning ACC record are still possible, but much less likely without a win today.  Next week they're on the road at Georgia Tech (a team that was struggling until wins over Louisville and at Clemson in their last 2 games) and Duke (nationally televised on ABC).

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - needle - 02-08-2025

FWLIW, ESPN's in-house projections unit (something called the ESPN Analytics' BPI forecast), gives NC State a better chance of making the NCAA tournament (5%) than Stanford (2%).

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - gailtate - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 12:14 PM)needle Wrote:  FWLIW, ESPN's in-house projections unit (something called the ESPN Analytics' BPI forecast), gives NC State a better chance of making the NCAA tournament (5%) than Stanford (2%).

Be still, my heart.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - needle - 02-08-2025

Stanford down 13-19 at the under-8 media time out. No Blakes. NC State full court on-ball pressure seems to be effective. Overall, Stanford team looks tired. Plenty of time to turn things around.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - bl82 - 02-08-2025

Agarwal just fantastic as a playmaker today. 61-57 with 7:20 to go.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Madera86 - 02-08-2025

Hey! Up 61-57 with 7:27 left. C'mon, boys!

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Sam Leopold - 02-08-2025

Ryan Agarwal gets the Tree award

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Madera86 - 02-08-2025

Stanford wins! 74-73! Agarwal with the winning layup. NC State just misses a three=pointer at the end. Phew!
LOL. Did Reynaud get away with a magic word in the postgame interview on the court?

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - needle - 02-08-2025

Felt like Stanford made it harder than it had to be, w/Raynaud inexplicably not involved in the offense the last few trips down the floor. Not a great game for Stanford, but the losing streak is broken. 20 wins is a very realistic goal.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - martyup - 02-08-2025

All right now!  We tried to 'coug it, but squeaked out the win.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Spiny_Norman - 02-08-2025

Especially notable since Stanford played without Blakes and Gealer again. Stanford with 9 TOs in the 1st half. Only 1 in the 2nd. Agarwal finished with 9 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. 

Even so, it was tough to watch the last 8 minutes as Stanford could not make a shot and lost a 9 point lead. The Cardinal made only 2 FGs in the final 8:29 - a scramble and put back by Okpara at 2:44 and the game winner by Agarwal at 0:08.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Goose - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 07:25 PM)needle Wrote:  20 wins is a very realistic goal.
It is indeed. Stanford needs to beat Georgia Tech on the road, Kal at home,  Boston College at home, and Notre Dame on the road. Those are games that we should win. However, the two road games are always opportunities to lose to a team we "shouldn't". Having Blakes and Gealer back would be very nice. I am not sure we are a better team than ND or GT on the road without them. I am assuming we don't beat Duke (if we do there will be an investigation :-) or Louisville.  SMU at home is a reach, but not impossible if we are at full strength.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - fullmetal - 02-08-2025

Great for the team to pull out the win after trailing at halftime (albeit only by four).  Would love to see Agarwal be this consistent and improve through the rest of the season.  He *can* be that guy!  Batson Jr and Cammann should work on that FT shooting (1-5 from the stripe).  I'll definitely watch the replay when ACC puts it up on Youtube.

ESPN game cast: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401724857
Stats broadcast: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=549743

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - TonyLima - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 07:19 PM)Sam Leopold Wrote:  Ryan Agarwal gets the Tree award

IIRC he spent most of last year riding the bench. Coaching matters!

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - bl82 - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 10:10 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  
(02-08-2025, 07:19 PM)Sam Leopold Wrote:  Ryan Agarwal gets the Tree award

IIRC he spent most of last year riding the bench. Coaching matters!

Apparently it was Agarwal’s decision to redshirt

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - Sam Leopold - 02-08-2025

I just re-watched the actual ending.  The final NC State shot only missed by like 1/8 of an inch.  Dear Lord.

Maxime had every right to be chucking around magic words there.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - TonyLima - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 10:16 PM)bl82 Wrote:  
(02-08-2025, 10:10 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  
(02-08-2025, 07:19 PM)Sam Leopold Wrote:  Ryan Agarwal gets the Tree award

IIRC he spent most of last year riding the bench. Coaching matters!

Apparently it was Agarwal’s decision to redshirt

I will trust your superior knowledge. But you gotta admit he was prescient about this year.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - magnus - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 11:04 PM)Sam Leopold Wrote:  I just re-watched the actual ending.  The final NC State shot only missed by like 1/8 of an inch.  Dear Lord.

Maxime had every right to be chucking around magic words there.

Was that a foul on Raynaud on that last second shot?  Contact after the shot. Glad the ref didn't call it, if so.

And did anyone else see Raynaud whisk a child seeing the court after time expired?  Backstory?  Mighty brave of that kid to go along if there was no connection.  =)

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - PVTree - 02-08-2025

(02-08-2025, 11:22 PM)magnus Wrote:  
(02-08-2025, 11:04 PM)Sam Leopold Wrote:  I just re-watched the actual ending.  The final NC State shot only missed by like 1/8 of an inch.  Dear Lord.

Maxime had every right to be chucking around magic words there.

Was that a foul on Raynaud on that last second shot?  Contact after the shot. Glad the ref didn't call it, if so.

And did anyone else see Raynaud whisk a child seeing the court after time expired?  Backstory?  Mighty brave of that kid to go along if there was no connection.  =)

I have the feeling that Max ran into that kid trying to block the last second shot from the corner. I took it as a way for Max to make it up to the kid for knocking him over and gave him a thrill by carrying him through the handshake line.

RE: MBB : vs. North Carolina State, 4:00, ACCNetworkNU - JJJ - 02-09-2025

Maples was rocking today, but they really were the Cardiac kids! Raynaud did indeed have the kid on his shoulders as he went through the handshake line, and Agarwal got the on-court (not TV) interview, as he rightly earned.