3 takeaways as NC State basketball loses to No. 13 Purdue in Final Four rematch

SAN DIEGO — 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 3 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. 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.

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

Purdue plays either No. 23 Mississippi or BYU in Friday’s tournament championship game at 6 p.m.

N.C. State will face the loser of Thursday’s Ole Miss/ BYU game in Friday’s tournament consolation game at 3:30 p.m.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Fast break points absent for Pack

The nation’s best team when it comes to producing fast break 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 fast break points over the game’s first 30 minutes. N.C. State ended the game with eight fast break points.

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.

Huntley-Hatfield a bright spot for Wolfpack

A transfer from Louisville, Brandon 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.