NC State remains unbeaten, carves up Bryant 95-72

For the first time since 2004-05, NC State has beaten their three opening opponents by 20 points or more. This time it was the Bryant Bulldogs on the wrong end of the beat down as the Wolfpack rolled 95-72.

It was another good offensive performance for the NC State, once again putting 5 guys in double figures.

Torin Dorn – 26 pts
Lennard Freeman – 20 pts
Al Freeman – 15 pts
Markell Johnson- 10 pts
Darius Hicks – 10 pts

NC State came out a little lazy and Bryant was firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a quick 19-7 lead before Keatts decided to really turn them loose. Keatt had them pressing and trapping from that point on and it made all the difference in the world.

Suddenly Bryant was playing faster, making more mistakes and exerting a ton of energy. The Wolfpack’s press and their active help and recover defense helped in forcing 27 turnovers on the night.

Tonight was also the opener for freshman Braxton Beverly, who had his NCAA ruling reversed just before tip. Although he didn’t have a big game, you can see that it’s’ just a matter of time before he gets things going.

Key stats include The Pack winning the battle of the boards: 39-32 and the fact that they almost scored 100 points, while only hitting 3-18 3s (16.7%) is encouraging.

Major factors were Dorn, who finished with 26 and Markell Johnson who finally notched his first double-double of his career. Lennard Freeman also went beast-mode and dropped 20.

We’ll have a more detailed breakdown of the game coming tomorrow in ‘our take’.