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NC State might be young, but they are quickly showing that they can learn on the fly. On Friday night, they defeated a pesky Montana team 85-72 in the first round of the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas.

Malik Abu scored a career-high 25 points on a barrage of dunks and put backs (and also going 9-10 from the line), while Dennis Smith Jr finally came to live with 21 points.

Without Ted Kapita (student visa issues) and Mav Rowan (concussion), NC State was forced to play a 7 man rotation against the Griz of Montana. State came out looking good with Smith and Dorn leading the scoring, but defensively they struggled to stop Montana’s smaller, quicker guards from getting in the paint and creating havoc.

It wasn’t until Markell Johnson turned the tide that NC State started pulling away. When you look at Johnson’s line, it won’t blow you away, but it was pretty impressive. He finished with 9 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and zero turnovers, but his points and assists were momentum changing plays. His two big time dunks, his alley-oops and his nothing bet net three were all plays that really energized the Pack and really shifted them into another gear on both sides of the floor.

The lineup that was doing the most damage was the one with both Johnson and Smith on the floor. Johnson’s ability to dictate flow, and limit turnovers coupled with Smiths electric athleticism created a matchup nightmare for the Griz.

The other takeaway was just how good this team looked against the press. When Montana brought out the full court pressure, NC State used their athleticism to not just beat it, but obliterate it. Check out this video for proof:

NC State takes on Creighton on Sunday at 8:30pm on CBSSN. The #22 ranked Blue Jays beat #9 Wisconsin by 12 a few days ago and just smoked Washington St. in the Paradise Jam last night.

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