Three takeaways as N.C. State basketball loses to No. 13 Purdue in Final Four rematch

N.C. State’s first test against a ranked team this season brought the same result, against the same team, that ended the Wolfpack’s magical men’s college basketball season last April.

No. 13 Purdue rode 22 points from bruising forward Trey Kaufman-Renn to an 71-61 win over the Wolfpack Thursday at the Rady Children’s Invitational at Liontree Arena.

It was Purdue which last beat N.C. State, the previous loss coming by a 63-50 score at the Final Four in Arizona.

Though many of the players in Thursday’s game were different, N.C. State (5-1) once again couldn’t keep up with the Boilermakers (6-1).

N.C. State stuck with Purdue, trailing 33-32 at halftime, but a slow start offensively to the second half doomed the Wolfpack. N.C. State hit just three of its first 10 shots after intermission while committing six turnovers during that 12-minute stretch.

That allowed Purdue to build a 55-42 lead with 8:30 to play on Kaufman-Renn’s basket inside.

“We’ve got to do a good job of making the right play,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said. “We turned it over a couple of times and didn’t find the right guy. But overall, I loved the way we competed. That’s a really good team, the No. 13 team in the country. So we can learn from this because we were right there in moments.”

The 6-9 Kaufman-Renn, a junior forward, made 8 of 14 shots while also pulling down eight rebounds. He helped the Boilermakers to an 38-28 rebounding edge.

N.C. State forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield said the Wolfpack needs to be tougher in that area.

“I think, first, I mean, just being a man, first and foremost,” Huntley-Hatfield said. “Hitting first. The player that hits first will pretty much come up with the rebound. So we’ve got to do the right things. Take care of the details, finish plays with a rebound and don’t allow teams to get multiple shots.”

Jayden Taylor led N.C. State with 15 points as the Wolfpack shot just 43.4%, including 39.1% in the second half.

N.C. State plays Brigham Young (5-1) in Friday’s tournament consolation game at 3:30 p.m. Purdue will face No. 23 Mississippi (6-0) in Friday’s tournament championship game at 6 p.m.

Ole Miss beat BYU, 96-85, in overtime in the second game of Thursday’s Rady’s Children’s Invitational doubleheader.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Fastbreak points absent for Pack

The nation’s best team when it comes to producing fastbreak points in the still-young season, the Wolfpack were unable to get its running game going against Purdue.

While winning its first five games against teams from lower-rated conferences, N.C. State averaged 28.4 fastbreak points per game. Kentucky is next nationally with 23 such points per game.

But against Purdue, the Wolfpack fell into a double-digit hole in the second half because it only had four fastbreak points over the game’s first 30 minutes. N.C. State ended the game with eight fastbreak points.

Little that had happened thus far this season pointed to such an occurrence. The Boilermakers’ transition defense, according to Synergy Sports analytics, carried an average rating as it was in the 49th percentile by allowing one point per possession in transition.

N.C. State’s transition offense, also according to Synergy, averaged 1.388 points per possession and was in the 99th percentile with an excellent rating.

But Keatts said the Wolfpack’s rebounding problems against Purdue hurt the its transition game.

“Here’s the problem,” Keatts said. “We didn’t do a great job rebounding the ball. You get outrebounded by 10. One of the biggest things you got to do is rebound the basketball to finish possessions, and because we didn’t finish possession, we were not able to get out and run. So we have to clean that up.”

Wolfpack again struggles on 3-pointers

N.C. State entered the game having made 28.6% of its 3-pointers this season, which left the Wolfpack No. 306 among all Division I teams nationally.

So when the Pack kept missing shot after shot Thursday against Purdue it wasn’t surprising. Concerning, yes, but not surprising.

Despite hitting just 2 of 12 3-pointers in the first half, N.C. State only trailed 33-32 at halftime. But that lack of production behind the 3-point line finally caught up with the Wolfpack. N.C. State finished 4 of 17 (23.5%) on 3-pointers, making just 2 of 5 in the second half.

Dontrez Styles had a particularly tough day, going 0 for 5 on 3-pointers while scoring only four points.

“I think a lot of that comes down to Purdue,” Keatts said. “They’ll they close on you. They make you take tougher 3s, and we just didn’t make them. The good thing, I’ve always said, is that we’re not jacking up 20 or 30. I’m okay with it, because we’re still growing and getting better.”

Huntley-Hatfield a bright spot for Wolfpack

A transfer from Louisville, Huntley-Hatfield turned in a strong performance for the N.C. State. The 6-10 senior scored 13 points with eight rebounds. He didn’t commit a turnover while playing 29 minutes against Purdue. He also contributed two assists while making 6 of 10 shots overall.

Huntley-Hatfield certainly looks like a solid transfer portal pickup who will help the Wolfpack plenty as the season progresses.