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NC State will be looking for an improved effort at the offensive end Saturday when it goes on the road to face Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., in the ACC opener for each team.
The Wolfpack (4-2) shot 31.8 percent from the field in Tuesday’s 72-52 loss to Ole Miss in the ACC/SEC Challenge. They missed 22 of their 25 attempts from 3-point range (12.0 percent).
“The obvious thing is we didn’t play well offensively,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “I didn’t think we shared the ball like we normally had done, and the ball kind of stuck. Didn’t really get any good, clean looks, and I thought we forced some things.
“That’s some of the things that you’re going to get when you get so many new guys and trying to figure out how to play together.”
Boston College (5-2) didn’t have many shooting issues during its 80-62 triumph at Vanderbilt on Wednesday in another ACC/SEC Challenge game. The Eagles received 24 points from Quinten Post and 22 from Claudell Harris Jr. and shot 10-for-20 from 3-point range as a team. Post and Harris each made four 3-pointers.
The victory ended a two-game losing streak.
“Proud of the guys’ effort,” BC coach Earl Grant said. “We shot a high percentage (51.8 percent). We really guarded well. We took a step in the right direction.”
Post, who leads the team in scoring (21.3) and rebounding (8.9), has scored at least 20 points in each of his last four games.
One positive for NC State in its loss to Ole Miss was the contribution Clemson transfer Ben Middlebrooks provided off the bench. Middlebrooks scored a team-high 13 points and had 12 rebounds.
“I think Ben is one of those kids who, the more he plays, the more he practices, the more he’ll feel comfortable,” Keatts said. “He was really the bright spot for us. Rebounding, finishing around the rim. He did some good things.”
NC State has four players averaging more than 11 points per game: Casey Morsell (14.5), Jayden Taylor (13.3), DJ Burns Jr. (13.0) and DJ Horne (11.2).
–Field Level Media
