GREENSBORO, N.C. — Ralston Turner raised his eyebrows at the question in equal parts because of its obviousness and the possibilities it presents.

T.J. Warren is the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, so he and the rest of the North Carolina State roster has to step up its play to match him, right?

“I think so,” Turner said. “We know that he’s going to get a lot of attention and he can’t do it by himself, so we just have to give him some help.”

Warren, the conference’s player of the year and a Sporting News All-American, is the center of attention for most of the Wolfpack’s opposition, and still managed to go off for more than 40 points in each of NC State’s last two regular-season games. He followed it up with a relatively paltry 24 against No. 10-seed Miami (Fla.) in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, but NCSU (20-12, 9-9 ACC) beat the Hurricanes 67-58, largely on the back of two scoring options.

Warren did his usual thing but Turner also poured in 22 and drained five 3-pointers to send N.C. State to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2-seed Syracuse (27-4, 14-4) at 7 p.m. Friday at Greensboro Coliseum. The No. 11 Orange eked out a one-point win against the Wolfpack in February when Warren scored 23, but Turner added a meek 13 in that contest.

Balance has become more of a necessity with a slew of double and triple teams Warren has drawn, but it’s also become more of a possibility.

“Our players know T.J. is a great player,” N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried said. “But he needs other people to help him score.”

In each of his season-closing 40-point outings, none of his teammates scored more than 11 points. In both contests, NCSU only had one other player in double figures and Turner scored just nine combined points.

North Carolina State can win some games when Warren goes off like that, but it has an easier time when its offense is clicking in multiple places.

When a Davon Reed 3 put Miami up by two with 3:55 to go, it wasn’t Warren who lifted the Wolfpack out of the late hole — it was a collective effort. Warren hit one jumper. Turner scored six points. Desmond Lee added four more.

“That’s a scary thing,” N.C. State center Jordan Vandenberg said after the win over the Hurricanes. “Teams should be a little worried because you’ve got Ralston coming off screens, T.J. scoring by himself. We’re setting them up and it’s not like we’re being greedy with our offense.

“We’re doing it so they can score when they get on fire. Ralston’s had a couple games like this, but it’s good for him to be peaking now during the ACC tournament.”

Gottfried used Thursday’s win as an example to shoot down the notion that NCSU is a one-man show with Warren as the sole attraction.

Even though North Carolina State only has one other player that averages double figures — Turner scores 10 points per game — teams have frequently utilized a triangle-and-two to counter the Wolfpack in addition to the more common box-and-one.

Of course, Gottfried knows SU won’t do any of that. It will stick with its 2-3 zone that held Warren below his season average on Feb. 15.

“They adjusted some shots,” Warren said, “but you just got to stay with it.”

So N.C. State will stick with what it does. Trying to get Warren some shots running along the baseline — a traditional weakness of the zone — and hoping some other guys show up to join him.

Turner — another baseline staple — showed up against the Hurricanes, so NCSU will get another shot at Syracuse.

“Tonight as a team,” Turner said, “we made enough plays to win.”

Published on March 14, 2014 at 1:55 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2