NC State prepared to face Clemson without CJ Bryce
N.C. State won one game without C.J. Bryce. It will likely have to win another on Saturday at Clemson.
Bryce, the Wolfpack’s leading scorer and rebounder, is unlikely to play against the Tigers (6-7, 0-3 ACC), N.C. State (10-3, 1-1) coach Kevin Keatts said.
Bryce missed N.C. State’s 72-60 win over Appalachian State on Dec. 29 after accidentally getting hit in the face by teammate Manny Bates in the morning shoot-around and has been in the concussion protocol since.
Without Bryce (16.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game) in the lineup, junior guard Devon Daniels picked up the slack in the win over App State. Daniels had 18 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.
“I liked the way we responded without C.J.,” Keatts said in a phone interview. “We had some guys in positions they don’t normally play and I thought they did some good things.”
Without Bryce, and down to primarily a seven-man rotation, Keatts slid Jericole Hellems and D.J. Funderburk up one spot from their normal positions.
Hellems played more at the “3” and Funderburk more at the “4.” It was one of the few times this season Funderburk and Bates were on the floor at the same time. Keatts prefers to use one big at a time with four guards.
The lineup agreed with Funderburk, who had a career-high 22 points against the Mountaineers.
Keatts has gotten used to shuffling his lineup. Funderburk missed the first two games of the season and senior guard Markell Johnson missed the opener.
Freshman Dereon Seabron, who would have provided depth at both guard positions, is an academic redshirt and will not play this season. This is the second game Bryce will miss.
Keatts has had to spend more of his time on the day-to-day issues to take a step back and look at the big picture.
“With this group, I’m trying to keep them in the moment,” Keatts said.
N.C. State enters this stretch of 18 ACC games at No. 30 in the NET and in good position, after nonconference play, to return to the NCAA tournament.
The way the ACC has sorted itself out and the way the schedule breaks down, the Wolfpack will play six “Quadrant 1” games, six Q2 and six Q3 games before the ACC tournament in Greensboro in March.
Keatts has kept tabs on how some of the teams N.C. State beat in the nonconference schedule have fared. He noted that Wisconsin jumped up into the top 30 (and gave N.C. State a Q1 win) after a recent road win over Tennessee.
Clemson has gotten off to an 0-3 start in league play and has a losing overall record but only one of its losses has been to a team outside a “Power 5” conference.
The Tigers were in the same boat as N.C. State last year. Good NET ranking but not enough quality wins. They were also one of the first teams left out of the NCAA tournament and relegated to the NIT.
With Clemson at No. 115 in the NET, this road game currently counts as a Q2 game for the Wolfpack.
“I think it will all change,” Keatts said of the quadrant rankings. “Look at what happened with Wisconsin after just one road win.”
N.C. State has won three straight against Clemson since a 78-62 loss there in Keatts’ first ACC game.
NC State at Clemson
When: noon, Saturday
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, S.C.
Watch: ACC Network
Listen: 101.5-WRAL
NC State (10-3, 1-1 ACC)
G Markell Johnson 13.1 ppg, 6.8 apg
G Braxton Beverly 8.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G Devon Daniels 11.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg
F Jericole Hellems 10.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F Manny Bates 6.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Clemson (6-7, 0-3 ACC)
G Clyde Trapp 8.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg
G Curran Scott 7.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg
G John Newman 9.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg
G Tevin Mack 10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg
F Aamir Simms 13.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 10:59 AM with the headline "NC State prepared to face Clemson without CJ Bryce."
