North Carolina State University Athletics
Lacey Fills Critical Role
11/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Handing the South Florida Bulls their first loss of the season in a down-to-the wire game, the Wolfpack proved that they can eventually be the balanced team that head coach Mark Gottfried envisions them to be.
After winning 68-65 in the final seconds, Gottfried said that the team has to play a lot better than they did on Sunday, especially down the stretch.
With USF showing resilience all throughout the game, the Pack was forced to include both everyone on offense and defense in order to walk away with the win.
Shooting just 32 percent in the first half, the Pack relied heavily on Trevor Lacey to keep them in the game. Lacey was 8-for-9 from the free throw line and found ways to maneuver his way to the rim. The Alabama native finished with 21 points, one shy of his season high.
Still critical of his play, Lacey mentioned that he needed to be more aggressive saying, "I have to be aggressive whether it's scoring or getting people involved."
Looking to be the leader on the court that Gottfried expects him to be, Lacey maintained his pass-first attitude to open up some shots for teammates Cat Barber and Caleb Martin in particular. On Sunday, however, Lacey showed his aggressiveness, hitting his mid-range jumper that Wolfpack Nation should quickly come to love.
Gottfried said that Lacey is a vital aspect to the team. Emphasizing Lacey's basketball IQ, Gottfried said that Lacey truly understands the game.
"He's a coach on the floor. He's recognizing how the other team switches defense, he's recognizing something offensively that he sees," said Gottfried.
Once again working together on offense, Lacey and Barber's chemistry seemed to be clicking today, as Barber was able to compliment Lacey with another nine points in the first half. Barber mentioned that the Wolfpack being tested last in the game was good for the team, because it showed them how to close out the game during crunch time.
Barber said, "I think from now on, every team is going to get tougher so it was a good time for it to happen today."
Even though both teams were shooting less than 40 percent during the first half on Sunday afternoon, there were moments that seemed to shine. After setting an all-time record of 10 blocks Thursday against Jacksonville, BeeJay Anya continued with some huge swats. Anya also contributed many of NC State's assists in the first half, and seemed to look especially sharp with his inside post game and footwork. After halftime, sophomore Kyle Washington found his tempo and was able to add eight points during critical points in the game. There were several points in the second half when NC State led by double figures.
With 1:15 left and State only leading by five, South Florida's Chris Perry fouled out after fouling Barber. With the game coming down to the wire, Lennard Freeman was able to pull in a huge defensive rebound and got the ball to Lacey, which led to free throws.
However, the Wolfpack struggled to make late free throws, which Gottfried said needs to happen in order to make close-game situations easier to finish out.
Gottfried: "Sometimes, if you make foul shots the game just kinda ends a little bit easier and that was disappointing today that we didn't do a good job from the foul line."
Still, the Wolfpack was able to close out the game and improve to 4-0 on the young season.
-- by Kendra Stowe
