WCU coach Larry Hunter
• Saturday's 74-62 win over Western Carolina marked the fifth straight game N.C. State made more free throws than its opponent attempted. State made 27 of 33 free throws while WCU was 2 of 2 with those free throws coming with 3:42 left in the game.
State has attempted 158 free throws during this five-game winning streak, making 117, compared to 48 attempts by the opposition (with 37 makes).
In 12 games this season, State has made more free throws than its opponent has attempted eight times, with a 7-1 record in those games.
This is noteworthy on two fronts:
1) Forever State fans have bemoaned supposed advantages afforded to UNC and Duke based on the number of free-throw attempts. As State fans are learning with coach Sidney Lowe and even more now with a post-scorer in J.J. Hickson, free throws are a function of the type of offense.
Carolina has always been an inside-out team, a main tenant of Dean Smith's philosophy, and usually enjoys an advantage on the free-throw line because of its ability to take the ball to the basket and create contact.
Duke is a bit of an anomaly in the sense that its offense is based on the 3-point shot but it plays in front so often, teams foul have to foul to get back in the game. Duke also creates offense from its aggressive defense, which leads to transition, which leads to free throws.
Now, that doesn't explain every call Smith or Coach K got, but it's an advantage that State now has on its side.
2) WCU, under Larry Hunter, runs a similar offensive system to what he helped Herb Sendek install at N.C. State. Hunter's "Prince-State" offense is based on spreading the floor and 3-point shooting.
Hunter said they don't run the exact same Princeton-based package at WCU because — despite Saturday's first-half performance, they're not a good outside shooting team — but the principles are there, which was evident in a first-half backdoor layup by WCU.
So in essence, talent discrepancy aside, Saturday's game was the Old N.C. State vs. the New N.C. State.
And given the disparity between the first and second half for WCU, the game should have looked familiar to State fans. When the Catamounts were hot — and they were blazing hitting their first six 3s — they were in front 41-32.
When they were not, 3 of 12 in the second half, they couldn't buy a basket, losing 42-21 in the second half.
That's the problem with living, and often dying, with the 3-pointer. Teams with lesser talent — it was invented at Princeton for a reason — need an equalizer. Teams with Hickson, Brandon Costner and Gavin Grant, don't, or at least should not.
"They're the most talented team we've played and we've played Indiana, Illinois and Cincinnati," Hunter said. "They're growing as a team. I think they have a lot of potential. They can do a lot of damage if they continue to work hard and grow as a team."
• Offensive philosophy aside, State has developed a habit, often a bad one, of playing to the level of the opponent.
William & Mary, New Orleans, ECU and Western Carolina don't have the talent to stay on the floor with State, yet all either did or outright beat the Wolfpack. That's a problem Lowe has to solve pronto.
There are only two more warm-ups, Presbyterian and N.C. Central, before the ACC schedule begins Jan. 12 with UNC. Both Carolina and Duke routinely destroy non-conference opposition, it's not enough to just beat them.
State needs to adopt the same mentality if it wishes to mentioned in the same company as its powerful neighbors.
• After leading N.C. State to important wins over Davidson, Cincinnati and Seton Hall, Grant was noticeably absent at the end of Saturday's game.
Grant, who scored 23 points in the 79-73 win over Seton Hall on Thursday and has twice this season hit game-winning free throws in the final seconds, did not even play the final 7 minutes and 42 seconds against WCU.
Grant's spot on the bench wasn't because of foul trouble or an injury, Lowe said.
"The guys who were playing were in there playing well," Lowe said. "They were defending. We were finishing the game with the guys who got us back into it."
In 20 minutes, Grant took five shots, scored five points and had two turnovers.
