Unable to Lift Lid on Rim, UAB Falls at N.C. State
The Blazers made just four of 25 three-pointers and eight of 14 free throws as they suffered a 94–70 loss.
“John Calipari once said, ‘Man, you don’t have to make them all, but you damn sure can’t miss them all.’”
Invoking the legendary Arkansas coach, Andy Kennedy fittingly summarized UAB’s 94-70 blowout loss at N.C. State Friday night. The Blazers were helpless from the field and from the charity stripe, making four of their 25 three-point attempts (16%) and eight of their 14 free throw attempts (57.1%).
Although the Wolfpack didn’t light it up from behind the arc, either, finishing ten for 30 (33.3%) after a zero for 12 start, Will Wade’s squad connected on 18 of its 22 free throws (81.8%) and absolutely dominated the interior. Powered by the efforts of forwards Darrion Williams and Ven-Allen Lubin and guard Tre Holloman, NCSU posted a two-point percentage of 74.2%, the second-highest mark by a UAB opponent since 1996, according to KenPom.
But for about 15 minutes in the first half, it seemed as though UAB had a chance to pull off the upset. The second game of the Wade era saw the Lenovo Center bathed in red, an adoring crowd of 15,918 showering the coach with cheers on each of the many occasions he appeared on the Jumbotron; never was the building louder than when a camera followed Wade from the tunnel to the Wolfpack bench.
Wade’s aura of supreme confidence influenced all facets of the pregame presentation: an elaborate light show promised to deliver college basketball a “reckoning,” a message the NCSU faithful took to heart as they relentlessly jeered Kennedy, who played for the Wolfpack in 1987 before transferring to UAB. It was quite the change of pace for a Blazer squad that tipped off the season against Mississippi Valley State.
The Green and Gold met the moment, however, deploying a zone that threw the hosts out of sorts in the opening minutes. Daniel Rivera swatted Williams, a preseason All-American and Texas Tech transfer that came to Raleigh after accepting a lucrative NIL package. Chance Westry stripped the Wolfpack’s Quadir Copeland and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Although he committed two quick turnovers, Jacob Meyer made up for it with a masterful display of shooting, starting four for four from the field and scoring the Blazers’ first six points. At the U16 media timeout, UAB led 10-9, buoyed by an NCSU offense ice-cold from beyond the arc.
“I thought early in the game our zones bothered them a little bit, and we were able to score, which allowed us to get in our zones,” Kennedy said. “I thought Chance and Jacob Meyer — I didn’t think the moment was too big for them, and they were really on the attack, and then we were able to get back into the zone and had them a little disjointed. And that’s how we were staying in the game.”
A triple from Evan Chatman and two layups from Westry kept UAB competitive until the 6:25 mark; it was at that point the basket began expanding for the hosts. Paul McNeil hit the Wolfpack’s first three of the night, NCSU connected on two more triples over the next two minutes, and the crowd finally found its voice. Aided by a technical against a screaming Wade, UAB managed to stay within single digits of the Wolfpack, but the Blazers missed their final eight three-point attempts of the half, a sign of what was to come. A frustrating moment in the period’s waning seconds summed up UAB’s night: with his team down 41-33, Meyer put up a jumper that seemed to be through the rim before it rattled out.
“The reality is, we were down eight at the half,” Kennedy said. “The way that they had played, if we could have finished the half a little better, you know, that should have been a two, three, four-point game. We might have even could have taken the lead if we could make a shot. We go four for 25 from three, which is just going to be a recipe for disaster for a group that’s undersized already.”
On the other side of the break, the onslaught began. Rivera opened the second half with a layup that made the score 41-35, but the Blazers got no closer. From the 18:11 mark to the 4:55 mark, NCSU orchestrated a 39-17 run that blew UAB out of the building. The Wolfpack peppered the visitors with triples, making seven of its 14 three-point attempts in the second period, while still leaning on the paint-oriented strategy that brought it success in the first half, converting a whopping 11 of 12 two-point attempts.
The Blazers simply had no answers. Their second-half shooting numbers were almost identical to their first-half shooting numbers; that wasn’t enough. In the absence of a Lendeborg-like interior threat, UAB is heavily reliant on their guards, but it received little-to-no production from any but Westry after halftime. Robinson, in particular, was unlucky from the field, drawing the attention of the NCSU student section after airballing two consecutive three-point attempts. He finished with eight points on a team-low 20.8 eFG%.
“Ahmad Robinson is a guy that we brought in to to to be a scorer,” Kennedy said. “He’s a 17, 18 points per game guy, you know. You put bigger guys on him, you know, the moment — I mean the kid’s great, he works hard, but it’s going to be hard to survive when a guy that you think is potentially your leading scorer goes two for 12 and one for seven overall.”
On the night, Meyer finished with 15 points on six of 18 shooting, Westry scored 14 on six of nine shooting and recorded a team-high five assists, and Salim London made a team-high two threes, scoring eight points. In the frontcourt, Rivera put up 12 points and seven rebounds while KyeRon Lindsay-Martin posted eight and six. Evan Chatman made one three and scored five points on two of six shooting.
The game mirrored the trajectory of the Vanderbilt exhibition: a competitive first half followed by an extended scoreless stretch that put the second half out of reach. According to Kennedy, the Blazers are still figuring out where to turn on offense when the shots aren’t falling.
“I think it was shotmaking on their part and the inability to do so on our part,” Kennedy said. “When you have empty stretches — and it’s been problematic for us, we played Vanderbilt in a exhibition game, we played Western Kentucky in an exhibition game, and now NC State — and we have these stretches where we’ll go three, four possessions: empty, empty, empty.”
UAB will have an opportunity to address these woes November 11th at home against Alabama State, but Friday night, Kennedy was left with no choice but to give props to Wade’s squad and move on.
“They booed me, but that’s what they should do to the opposing coach,” Kennedy said. “It’s been a long time, you know. I’ve got great memories from my time at N.C. State. For some reason, people think I don’t, but don’t believe in all the tabloid journalism, please. I’ve got great memories here. My wife is from Raleigh, and her family was here, and they’re all Wolfpack fans … I think Will brings the right energy at the right time to really ignite this place, and he’s done a great job with his roster construction.”