N.C. State needs better guard play

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - It’s not unusual for media-savvy Florida coach Billy Donovan to praise an opponent.
But Donovan sounded genuine in his assessment of N.C. State on Saturday after the Gators eked out a 68-66 win at the O’Connell Center:

• “They’re a very, very confident team. They’ve got really good players and a lot of good pieces. I’m really surprised that they’re picked where they are [ninth in the preseason] in the ACC.

"Not that I know much about the ACC. But I’m going to tell you one thing, if there are seven or eight teams better in the ACC, that would be really impressive. They’re a very, very good team and I could see them having a very good year.”

• “I’m hopeful that our guys can learn something, our younger guys, playing against two older guys [Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley], two really experienced guys that really know how to play the game. They’re great post-up guys and great passers.

We got, I thought, overwhelmed. And then you double up and those guys do a great job of finding the open man."

With that having been said, the backcourt remains a huge problem for N.C. State. Farnold Degand and Courtney Fells combined for 18 points for the Wolfpack, but they are less than 100 percent with knee and ankle problems, respectively.

Top 3-point shooter Trevor Ferguson is out for at least a couple more weeks with a broken bone in his left hand. Freshman point guard Julius Mays committed three turnovers in 14 minutes and couldn’t handle Florida’s pressure defense.

Sophomore Javi Gonzalez, who has started at point guard for the Wolfpack but also has battled injuries recently, never got off the bench against the Gators.

N.C. State is 9-3 with three losses by a combined 10 points. Costner and McCauley are good enough to keep this team close with effective play on offense against quality opponents.
But it takes good guard play to win close games in college basketball, and so far the Wolfpack isn’t getting that.