Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State vs. Detroit Mercy
Good news for the NC State basketball team before today's game against Detroit Mercy even tips off. Markell Johnson is in uniform and preparing to play after missing Tuesday's season opener against Georgia Tech with an ankle injury.
The senior point guard will be in the starting lineup, along with Braxton Beverly, C.J. Bryce, Jericole Hellems and freshman Manny Bates as the Wolfpack looks to even its record at 1-1 on the new campaign.
FIRST HALF
Beverly gets things off to a quick start by draining a 3-pointer seconds after the opening tip. And we're underway ...
Keep an eye on Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis. The 6-foot-1 sophomore averaged 26 points per game last season and is the nation's top returning scorer. ...
Davis has shown early that he likes to shoot. He might attempt 30 at the rate he's going today. His father, by the way, is the Titans' coach Mike Davis, who in a previous life led Indiana to the Final Four and a national championship game ...
Beverly misfires from 3, but is rewarded for the flop on his follow through and makes all three shots. State leads 11-6 ...
Pat Andree is the first off the bench, into the game for Hellems after less than four minutes ...
And there's a 10-second violation that takes us into the first TV timeout ...
Give Davis credit for this, he knows how to to score. Over the first few minutes, Keatts has used three different players on him -- Beverly, Devon Daniels and Andree -- and he's scored on all three. He's got nine of his team's first 15 points ...
The Wolfpack has now forced two 10-second violations in the first eight minutes ...
Manny Bates is a work in progress on the offensive end, but you really have to be impressed with the kid as a shot blocker. He has very long arms and does a good job of using them without fouling. He just blocked his third shot of the game, kept the ball in play and got the rebound ...
Johnson isn't showing any ill effects from his injury. He just put a sick cross-over move on his man dribbled into the lane and made a nice dish to Andree in the right corner. It's a shame Andree spoiled the play by missing the open 3-pointer ...
Beverly has made his first three shots from beyond the arc. He's got a bet with Keatts that if he shoots 45 percent for 3 this season, the coach will grow a beard just like the player's. At this rate, Keatts might not be needing a razor soon. ...
The students sitting in the first row are giving Detroit Mercy's Chris Brandon a hard time because of his short shorts. And they are short ... not to mention tight. One fan asked Rose if he got the shorts off the rack in the children's section. Another theory is that maybe he's channeling his inner John Stockton ...
Detroit Mercy coach Davis gets slapped with a technical and Beverly makes both shots. State up 41-28 ...
Davis is still fired up. He's letting ref Jerry Heater have it through this entire timeout ...
Johnson is either concentrating on being a distributor or he's rusty from missing about a week of practice because of his ankle. He's got six assists and five rebounds thus far, but is 0 for his first four shooting ....
Halftime: State 43, Detroit Mercy 30
SECOND HALF
Same five that started the game are on the court to begin the second half for the Wolfpack ...
Bates has five blocks, equalling his total from Tuesday's opener. First TV timeout of the second half, State leads 49-34 ...
REALLY bad sequence there ... Detroit Mercy's Marquis Moore passed the ball to no one in particular (the guy in the first row of the courtside seats WAS open, though) ... then Hellems returns the favor by firing up an air ball from that was nowhere near the rim ...
Johnson misses a fastbreak layup and is now 0 for 5, but Bryce follows the play and scores on the rebound. 51-34 State with 14:50 left ...
Beverly is 4 of 7 from beyond the arc and has 17 points thus far ...
State is just 6 of 22 (27.3%) from 3-point range tonight. More worrisome, however, is that Detroit Mercy is outrebounding the Wolfpack 30-24. State leads 58-41 at the under-12 TV timeout. ...
Markell Johnson makes his first basket of the season at the 11:37 mark of the second half. It was a 3-pointer from the top of the circle. He immediately tried another and missed. He's 1 for 7 from the floor today. He does have eight assists and six rebounds, though ...
Detroit Mercy's Justin Miller is 6-6 and weighs 268 pounds. As bad as State's injury situation in football is these days, maybe coach Dave Doeren should try to talk him into staying behind after the game and playing defensive line for the Wolfpack the rest of the season ...
Freshman walkon Max Farthing with his first run of the season … immediately fires up a 3-pointer. Missed it.
State is on a 6-0 run over the last four minutes. But it has also missed its last five field goal attempts and gone more than three minutes without a basket ...
Don't know how I missed this earlier, but Detroit Mercy's No. 12 is Brad Calipari, a grad transfer from Kentucky and the son of the Wildcats' coach John Calipari ...
Fans getting excited. Detroit's Chris Brandon just missed the first free throw … now he gets booed for making the second. No free chicken this time ...
Beverly with a 3-pointer off some nice ball movement by the Wolfpack ... He's 5 of 7 from long range and leads State with 20 points ...
Bates was on the baseline BEGGING for an alley oop. They had it twice, but didn't throw it to him (presumably because Keatts wanted to run clock). Beverly finally obliged and the big freshman got his dunk. He's 3 for 3 from the floor and now has 8 points ...
B.J. Anya sitting in the first row right behind me. He looks like he weighs about 350 ... I wonder if HE has any football eligiblity left. ...
Chase Graham makes his first appearance as a Wolfpack with just over two minutes remaining ...
First win of the season in the books for State … Wolfpack beats Detroit Mercy 84-65
