NC State 87, Georgia Tech 78
Box Score
Georgia Tech scored 1.13 points per possession today, which is their third-best mark of the season (behind 1.24 vs. Jacksonville, 1.17 vs. Michigan State).
Both teams shot well in the first twenty minutes; the difference was that Georgia Tech couldn't sustain their hot shooting, while NC State could. Tech declined from 69.6% (effective field goal percentage) shooting in the first to 44.1% in the second. State, on the other hand, improved from 55.4% to 79.2%.
Take a look at how efficient Tech's key players were:
Player | Season O Rtg | O Rtg vs. NCSU |
D'Andre Bell | 91 | 117 |
Anthony Morrow | 121 | 120 |
Jeremis Smith | 108 | 107 |
Zam Fredrick | 87 | 93 |
Ra'Sean Dickey | 97 | 109 |
Lewis Clinch | 92 | 128 |
Clinch and Dickey were excellent off of the bench, and even Zam Fredrick played well relative to his season numbers. Dickey's O Rtg would have been much higher but for turnovers. Fredrick was surprisingly steady with the ball and had a turnover rate of just 12.7% for the game (season turnover rate = 31.7%).
Side note: I'm getting more and more concerned about NC State's ability to force turnovers. For whatever reason--and on first inspection, it appears to have little to do with Julius Hodge--this year's team hasn't been as successful at forcing turnovers as it was last season. We ranked 79th in opponents' TO% in 2005 but have slipped to 204th this season. This puts a little more pressure on our halfcourt defense, though fortunately it has been up to the challenge. I'm probably overreacting a bit, but this is something to keep an eye on.
On the plus side, we did a good job of keeping Georgia Tech from grabbing too many offensive rebounds. And despite the issues with causing turnovers, we still committed fewer of them than Georgia Tech.