NC State’s Michael O’Connell shined in debut; Wolfpack aims to build off season opener against Abilene Christian

Stanford transfer Michael O’Connell posted five turnovers in NC State’s exhibition against Mount Olive last week, and it did not sit well with him. He was not happy with it, and Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts did not have to harp on it to O’Connell. 

It served as a motivation to build off of for O’Connell, and it worked in the Wolfpack’s 72-59 season-opening win over The Citadel on Monday night. The Mineola, N.Y., native came off the bench in his Wolfpack debut, and he provided a spark for NC State. 

O’Connell tied his career high with five 3-pointers and he posted 14 points with seven assists and no turnovers to help the Wolfpack to the victory. 

“I knew the type of guy I was coaching, he’s a competitor,” Keatts said afterwards. “He didn’t like it. … I thought he was very efficient [against The Citadel]. I thought Michael responded.”

O’Connell was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc to pace the Wolfpack’s 3-point shooting in its first game of the season.  

Following the breakout game, O’Connell credited the NC State coaching staff for his success from deep. 

“I work on it every day with the coaches,” O’Connell said. “I give all the credit to them, they put a lot of time and effort into getting shots from me, going to the gym early mornings, reps after reps after reps, to work on shots like these in game. So I give all the credit to them, they have all the confidence in the world in me, they push me to take the shots and get better every day, so I am grateful for them.”

O’Connell was one of three NC State players in double figures against The Citadel — graduate forward DJ Burns scored 16 and Missouri transfer Mohamed Diarra posted 10 points. 

The Wolfpack was not only balanced on the stat sheet, but in its playing time too. Arizona State transfer guard DJ Horne led the team with 28:56 of playing time. NC State only had one game a year ago where no player played more than 30 minutes, against Florida International, but the red and white had a 25-point halftime lead in that one. 

That new wrinkle was born through the team’s depth this season as it has eight new players, six of which have played. The Pack is still working Kansas transfer MJ Rice back to playing shape, while North Carolina A&T transfer Kam Woods is waiting on a decision from the NCAA on his two-time transfer waiver. 

With a deep roster, NC State will play its second game of the week against Abilene Christian on Friday night at PNC Arena. The Wildcats are coming off a 64-59 win at Oklahoma State, where they never trailed after falling behind 4-2 in the early going. 

Abilene Christian is a capable squad led by a balanced scoring attack. Ali Abdou Dibba scored a team-best 15 points at Oklahoma State, while Hunter Jack Madden added 14 and Airion Simmons chipped in with 11 to round out the Wildcats’ double-digit scorers. 

The Wildcats’ win over the Pokes was the team’s first Power Five win since it beat Texas A&M in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. 

While Abilene Christian was not on O’Connell’s mind at the time after NC State beat The Citadel, he still wanted to see the Wolfpack grow in all facets of the team. 

“I think just overall we’ve got to keep improving, I think that’s going to be the biggest thing,” O’Connell said. “Not focusing too much on one area and neglecting others, but just overall just trying to get better every day on offense, defense, rebounding – everything’s just getting better everywhere.”

While the team is full of new players, Horne added that the group’s chemistry will take time to build.

“I think that we’ll just see more chemistry being built throughout this team being that we’re a new team.,” Horne said. “I think that as games start to go on, things start to look more fluent.”

The Wolfpack have a long road to March, and the Wildcats are likely to provide a stiffer test than the Bulldogs did on opening night inside PNC Arena. 

While NC State handled its business in the season opener, O’Connell was looking forward to the next time he could take the floor in Raleigh.

“I mean, It’s great playing in front of a crowd, it’s PNC,” O’Connell said. “I was excited to be out there for a real game with the team, but I mean it was a great experience and I am excited for more to come.”

That comes Friday as Abilene Christian and NC State meet for the first time ever on the hardwood. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.