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Free throws are free: At the risk of continuing to belabor a point we regularly mention in this space, as our good friend Tony Patelis often points out, free throws are indeed free. The Wolfpack got to the line 34 times in the game but hit just 21. Seabron and Hellems connected on just 11-of-20 tries combined. Richmond got to the line just over half that amount of times but connected on 14.
QUOTABLE: “The storyline of the game is that we’re technically a good free throw shooting team. For us to leave 13 on the rim is not characteristic of us. Certainly, we didn’t try to miss them.” – NC State coach Kevin Keatts
Trading paint: NC State is clearly a different team without Manny Bates in the post, and Richmond exploited that Friday. Granted, the Spiders’ style is to utilize cutting and motion, but it was visible to the tune of 46 points in the paint for Richmond.
QUOTABLE: “It’s tough. At the end of the day, we’ve got a good coach sitting over there in Manny Bates, so it’s tough. We played against a senior, a graduate – he’s probably 23 years old and knows how to play. He facilitated everything for them. I don’t wanna ever use that as an excuse. I thought (Richmond forward Grant) Golden made everything go for them. We knew that coming into the game. They ran everything through him. It was a tough matchup for our guys.” – Keatts
“As you know, we like to go inside every game. That’s our gameplan, to play inside-out. They didn’t double, so I think we got some opportunities to sort of go one-on-one in there. I made some shots, but really, I think (forward) Nate (Cayo) opened it up for us. He had a lot of big buckets in the first half. He did a really good job of being aggressive for us and starting to open that up.” – Golden
Age is a benefit: Richmond features a veteran club – especially in comparison to NC State – and that experience showed itself Friday. The Spiders remained composed down the stretch, making key plays at key times.
QUOTABLE: “Obviously, playing an ACC team, they’re gonna be big, athletic, and fast. We have older guys. We’ve been here. We’ve seen everything. We definitely felt like we could have an advantage down there (in the paint) early.” – Golden
“I hate that we’re young, but we are, and I’ve gotta accept that. We’ve gotta make some plays and get those guys better. Defensively, we’re all a nightmare because of our guys being so young.” - Keatts
And finally, the Hustle Stats:
Points in the paint: Richmond 46, NC State 30
Points off turnovers: Richmond 9, NC State 6
Second-chance points: NC State 14, Richmond 3
Fast-break points: NC State 12, Richmond 2
RICHMOND 83, NC STATE 74
RICHMOND (7-4): Burton 6-11 2-4 16, Cayo 7-12 0-0 14, Golden 8-15 3-3 19, Gilyard 3-7 6-6 13, Wilson 2-3 1-2 9, Sherod 1-6 0-1 3, Crabtree 0-1 0-0 0, Grace 2-2 0-0 5, Bailey 1-1 0-0 2, Gustavson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 31-59 14-18 83.
NC STATE (7-4): Hellems 2-6 7-10 12, Dowuona 2-3 1-2 5, Smith 4-14 9-10 18, Seabron 8-16 4-10 21, Hayes 6-14 0-0 16, Gibson 1-1 0-0 2, Morsell 0-5 0-2 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Pass 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 21-34 74.
Halftime — Richmond 39-35. 3-Point Goals—Richmond 7-19 (Burton 2-4, Golden 0-3, Gilyard 1-4, Wilson 2-2, Sherod 1-4, Crabtree 0-1, Grace 1-1), NC State 7-22 (Hellems 1-3, Smith 1-5, Seabron 1-2, Hayes 4-8, Morsell 0-3, Pass 0-1). Fouled Out — Cayo (UR), Hayes (NCSU). Rebounds — NC State 37 (Seabron 13), Richmond 33 (Burton 8). Assists —Richmond 19 (Gilyard 10), NC State 8 (Seabron/Hayes 3). Total Fouls — Richmond 21, NC State 19. Technical — NA. A —NA.