By Bert Leeson
3 23 2024
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The 11th-seed NC State men’s basketball team used a 10-0 run towards the end of the first half to take the lead and never looked back in knocking off sixth-seed Texas Tech, 80-67, Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The win is NC State’s first NCAA Tournament win in nine years when the Pack beat No. 1 seed Villanova in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. That game against the Wildcats was also played at PPG Paints Arena.
Ben Middlebrooks and Mohamed Diarra both set career-highs in points to lead the Pack to victory.
Middlebrooks tied his career-high in points in the first half alone, scoring 14 points to lead all scorers. He added seven points in the second half to finish with a game-high 21 points.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native finished the game 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the foul line.
Diarra scored a career-high 17 points, finishing the game 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line and added a game-high 12 rebounds. Diarra has now had a double-double in three of his last four games.
DJ Burns, Jr., and DJ Horne also reached double figures with both players finishing with 16 points.
After scoring in double figures in five straight games in the ACC Tournament, Michael O’Connell was held scoreless, but he did pass out a game-high six assists and had zero turnovers in 37 minutes of action.
NC State took a 37-33 lead into halftime courtesy of a 10-0 run towards the end of the first half.
Texas Tech had a 30-27 lead with 3:58 left in the opening half when the Pack went on it’s run. Diarra started the run with a putback basket, Middlebrooks put NC State back in front with two free throws and Morsell would make a three off a steal to push the Pack’s lead to four. After another defensive stop, O’Connell found Middlebrooks for a lay-up as he was fouled. Middlebrooks made the free throw to complete the Pack’s 10-0 run.
The second half started with both offenses clicking. The Red Raiders got withing three, 52-49, on a jumper with 12:30 remaining, but the Pack would rattle off nine straight points to take a 61-49 lead with 9:21 to play.
NC State would extend its lead to as many as 17 points as Texas Tech would not get the deficit into single digits until under one minute remained.
NC State advances to the second round where it will face 14th-seed Oakland on Saturday night. Tipoff at PPG Paints Arena is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be televised on TBS.
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GAME NOTES
https://goldengrizzlies.com/documents/2024/3/22/3_23_vs_NCSU.pdf
ROCHESTER, Mich. – The No. 14 Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball team looks to build on its already historic run and will play its first-ever Round of 32 game Saturday (March 23) as it’s set to take on the No. 11 NC State Wolfpack inside the PPG Paints Arena, with tip-off set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
This is just the seventh time in NCAA Tournament history that an 11 and 14-seed will face each other as Oakland looks to become the first 14-seed to advance. The Golden Grizzlies were one of four high-seeded teams to win during day one of the NCAA Tournament and are the highest seed so far to advance to the second round. It’s the first time a 14-seed has advanced to the Round of 32 since Abilene Christian did so in 2021.
The Golden Grizzlies (24-11, 15-5 HL) upset No. 3 Kentucky yesterday (March 21), 80-76, as it remained in control for the majority of the contest.
In all 40 minutes of play, the Wildcats largest lead was just two as it only played with a lead for 7:40 of playing time, while the Golden Grizzlies led for 27:55 and saw its largest lead be seven. The Golden Grizzlies were led by a historic performance from Jack Gohlke, who poured in a career-high 32 points on 10-of-20 (.500) shooting from three-point range, tying the second most all-time in an NCAA Tournament game with Carsen Edwards (Purdue, 3/30/2019) and Roburt Sallie (Memphis, 3/19/2009). Trey Townsend also added 17 points (6-of-15) and 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season and 20th of his career. DQ Cole pitched in 12 points, including three makes from deep (3-of-3), to go with eight rebounds and four assists.
Oakland held on to a three-point, 38-35 lead at halftime as Gohlke made seven threes in the first half alone. The Wildcats eyed a comeback down the stretch and hung around to make it a one-point game with 1:03 to go, but Cole hit a dagger corner three to make it a four-point game with :28 seconds to play, sealing Oakland’s fate as it moved to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
ALL-LEAGUE
Trey Townsend, Jack Gohlke and Blake Lampman all earned All-League honors as Townsend became the fourth Oakland player to earn Horizon League Player of the Year since joining the Horizon League. He joins the list of Jamal Cain, Kendrick Nunn and Kay Felder, all of which have played in the NBA, as Cain last won in 2022. Townsend also earned a First Team All-League nod. Gohlke became the second Golden Grizzly to earn Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year as Max Hooper earned the award in 2016, the same year Felder earned Player of the Year. To round it out, Lampman was named to the second team for the first time of his career.
RECORD WATCH
Jack Gohlke ranks fifth in the Golden Grizzlies single season record book for most three-point field goals made with 131, as Travis Bader (2013-14) leads with 147. Kendrick Nunn (2023-24) is ahead of him in fourth with 134. He also sits fifth in three-point field goals per game with 3.7 and second in three-point field goal attempts with 347, as Travis Bader (2012-13/2013-14) is in first with 360.
Graduate student Blake Lampman set the all-time school record against Detroit Mercy on March 2 for most games played in a Golden Grizzlies uniform with 138 and currently has 142. He’s also in the fifth spot career wise in three-point field goals made with 277, as Brad Buddenborg (1998-02) is ahead in fourth with 286, while Lampman is third in attempts with 836, as Erik Kangas (2005-09) is ahead with 861 attempts.
Trey Townsend has played and started in 128 games to date, which puts him second in the Oakland record book for most games started and is fourth overall in the books in minutes played with 4,455. In games started, Townsend is behind Johnathon Jones (2006-10) with 135, while Corey Petros (2011-15) is third in minutes played with 4516. The senior also finds himself sixth overall in offensive rebounds (282, Tom Eller (1990-94) is fifth with 292), fourth in defensive rebounds (594, Corey Petros (2011-15) in third with 664) and sixth in total rebounds (876, Kevin Williams (1972-76) in fifth with 924). He’s also t-seventh in career double-doubles with 20 Tom Eller (1990-94), as Tim Kramer (1975-79) is ahead with 21.
1K Club
The Golden Grizzlies have four players with 1000 career NCAA points (Townsend – 1653, Gohlke – 1127, Watts – 1017, Lampman – 1003) which is t-9th in the NCAA for most active 1000 point scorers on the same team as St. John’s (NY) leads with six. Watts and Lampman recorded their 1000th career-point in the same game.
DQ Cole amassed 1145 points in his career prior to joining the Golden Grizzlies, with Schoolcraft Community College and Henry Ford College, that both compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association level. Although NJCAA points don’t count towards NCAA career point totals, Cole is nearing the 1500-point club as he currently sits with 1454.
OF NOTE
– The Golden Grizzlies had the 25th hardest non-conference schedule in Division I basketball. Its non-conference opponents included four that earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament and include: No. 3 Illinois, No. 7 Dayton, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 10 Drake.
– Trey Townsend, who earned First Team All-League, became the 18th Golden Grizzly in-a-row to receive first team honors as only Gonzaga has a longer streak.
– Trey Townsend is the son of Skip Townsend who played basketball for Oakland University. Skip also played under Greg Kampe as Trey grew up going to Oakland basketball games, camps, etc.
– Oakland was one of 11 (out of 32) number one 1 seeds to win its conference tournament and defeated the No. 8, No. 7 and No. 6 seeds which all had over 20 wins, for the first time at the Mid-Major level that a one-seed beat an eight, seven and six-seed with 20+ wins en route to a conference championship.
– Head coach Greg Kampe is the fifth DI Men’s Basketball head coach to coach 40 seasons at one school and lead the team to the NCAA Tournament 4 times. He joins the list of: Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Ray Meyer (DePaul) and Adolph Rupp (Kentucky).
– Jack Gohlke ranks first in the NCAA in both total three-point field goals made (131) and three-point field goal attempts (347) this season and is second in three-pointers per game with 3.7. With 355 total shots from the field, all but eight have come from beyond the arc.
– Trey Townsend was named NABC First-Team All-District to become the 13 All-District selection since 2009, as head coach Greg Kampe was named NABC District 12 Coach of the Year.
– Head coach Greg Kampe was named a finalist for both the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award and the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year award, while Trey Townsend was named a finalist for the Lou Henson Player of the Year award.
– Jack Gohlke set a new career-high in points (32) with 10 makes from range. His 10 makes in the Round of 64 game put him t-2nd for most threes made in any round of the NCAA Tournament. He also set the record for most threes made against Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament game, along with the record for most threes made inside the PPG Paints Arena. Oakland became the first Horizon League team since 2011 Butler to win a Round of 64 game.
SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK
Oakland will face off against the ACC Tournament champs NC State (23-14, 9-11 ACC) for the first time in program history as the Wolfpack earned an automatic bid in the tournament after it won the ACC Tournament.
The No. 11 Wolfpack took care of business in its first round game against No. 6 Texas Tech, 80-67, to advance to the Round of 32 for the first time since 2015. The Wolfpack widened its lead in the second half as it went into halftime with a four-point lead, but outscored Texas Tech, 43-34, in the final 20. Coming into the Round of 64, the Wolfpack were 3-5 against NCAA Tournament First Round teams this season as it beat No. 1 seed North Carolina to take the ACC Title.
The Wolfpack earned the ACC crown after it won five games in five days, taking out Duke, along with the Tarheels, in its run. The Wolfpack have made the NCAA Tournament back-to-back years as 2024 marks its 29th appearance as it moved on to both the Round of 32 and Sweet 16 on 13 occasions, followed by six Elite Eight appearances, three Final Fours and two championships. The team lost in the Round of 64 last year to Creighton, 72-63, as it hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2015. The team rides a six-game win streak into the Round of 32 game as only one of those wins came by a win margin of five or fewer.
DJ Horne leads the team with 16.9 points per game and hits at a .441 clip from the floor (215-of-488) with 96 makes from beyond the arc. Off the glass, Mohamed Diarra leads the team with 7.5 rebounds as he’s brought down a total of 271, while four total Wolfpack players score in the double figures. Behind Horne is D.J. Burns Jr. who shoots at a .521 clip from the floor (203-of-390) as he’s only hit one three off five attempts.
The Wolfpack narrowly outscores its opponents, 76.5-72.5, as it hits at a .451 clip from the field. The team allows more three pointers than it makes but shoots at a better percentage (.347) and falls at the glass, giving up 1.1 more rebounds to its opponents. The team outscores its opponents in the first and second half, along in overtime, as it scored 150+ more points during the final 20.
Tip-off from the PPG Paints Arena is slated for 7:10 PM ET Saturday, March. 23 and will be streamed live on TBS and truTV, along with an audio stream with Neal Ruhl on the call on 97.1HD-3, WWJ 950AM and the Varsity App.
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