Just too much: Three takeaways from NC State basketball’s road loss to No. 10 Kansas

N.C. State hadn’t played at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in nearly 28 years; its last trip here was on Dec. 21, 1996. And the Wolfpack’s last win at Allen came in 1958. None of the Wolfpack players was born, nor was head coach Kevin Keatts. With Kansas on a two-game losing streak, the Pack had a shot to make history.

The Jayhawks were not about to let that happen.

Behind 26 points from Zeke Mayo and 21 more from Hunter Dickinson, Kansas bolted to an early lead and never relinquished control, toppling N.C. State 75-60 on Saturday.

Kansas (8-2) entered the game as a 14.5-point favorite, according to most major U.S. sports books. It was given an 87.7% chance to win, according to ESPN, and an 89% chance of winning, according to KenPom.com.

Mission accomplished.

The Jayhawks opened the game on a 15-0 run and set N.C. State (7-4, 1-0 ACC) on its heels from the opening tip.

Kansas controlled both sides of the floor with ease. Multiple players scored in the low post, from the perimeter and pulled down rebounds. The Jayhawks poked the ball away a handful of times and blocked shots, too — all within the first 10 minutes.

N.C. State settled in midway through the half and went into the locker room down only eight. In the second half, the Wolfpack was within single digits multiple times, but it never went on an extended run and the defense couldn’t force enough consecutive stops to earn an upset.

It ran out of gas in the final five minutes, as the home squad took control. N.C. State’s defense couldn’t stop the high-tempo Jayhawks and its offense sputtered. And it couldn’t keep up on the glass. N.C. State and Kansas were tied with 16 rebounds apiece after the first half, but the Jayhawks finished with a 36-26 advantage.

Middlebrooks led the Pack with 14 points, seven rebounds, a block and two steals.

Dickinson did just about everything for the Jayhawks. In addition to his 21 points, he hauled down 14 rebounds and added seven assists, one block and two steals.

Here are three takeaways from N.C. State’s first true road game of the season:

NC State digs early hole for second straight game

The Wolfpack started its game against Coppin State 0 for 10 from the field and didn’t score its first field goal until 5:17 had elapsed in the game.

“It was a very tough start for us. We’ve got to be better as a team,” Dontrez Styles said Tuesday. “We will be starting in practice, and we’ve got to prepare like no other. We will be ready Saturday.”

Except it wasn’t ready.

The Wolfpack started 0 for 7 from the field — Styles scored the first points on a left wing 3 with 5:40 gone — and trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half.

At times, the team was lackadaisical with ball handling and struggled with fluidity on offense. On defense, the Pack struggled with stopping the Jayhawks regardless of shooting location, primarily because of its ability to pass the ball quickly. N.C. State’s defenders are fast, but they weren’t fast enough. Kansas’ speed often led to wide-open shots and the Wolfpack was late getting there.

N.C. State typically makes 53.9% of its two-point shots, most of which come inside the paint. On Saturday, it made 3 of 10 layups in the first half, squandering would-be points.

The Wolfpack clawed back midway through the first frame to make the game competitive, but the first few minutes ultimately decided the outcome.

Pack still searching for consistency from primary rotation

In the team’s 10-point win over Coppin State, Jayden Taylor, Michael O’Connell and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield combined for four points. They went a combined 1 for 7 against the Eagles, with Taylor and O’Connell taking just three shot attempts.

Huntley-Hatfield looked more like himself against the Jayhawks and scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He added three rebounds and three assists.

Taylor and O’Connell, however, were limited for the second straight game. O’Connell went 0 of 2 in the first half, while Taylor shot 1 of 2. The duo finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

Marcus Hill entered the game as the Wolfpack’s leading scorer (13.0 points per game), but Kansas honed in on him, too. The Bowling Green transfer contributed 10 points.

Keatts said earlier this season that the team can’t really afford to have nights where one or two of his top six players struggle. To have three or more?

“We can’t have that,” Keatts said Wednesday. “It just can’t happen. We’ve gotta do better.”

That consistency will remain a work in progress, but with ACC conference play on the immediate horizon, time is getting short it to figure things out.

Emotions run high

With roughly 13 minutes left in the game, Ben Middlebrooks turned to Dickinson in response to something the Kansas center said. The moment came two minutes after Dickinson was called for a flagrant foul on Middlebrooks.

This was the second time this season Dickinson has been called for a flagrant foul on a team from the Triangle. When Duke played the Jayhawks in the Las Vegas Showdown, officials called Dickinson for a Flagrant 2 foul after he kicked Blue Devils forward Maliq Brown in the head.

Middlebrooks is one of the Wolfpack’s more emotional players and he’s not afraid to go at it. His teammates and officials held him away from Dickinson after the foul.