3 Double-Doubles help Wolfpack outlast Robert Morris, 81-69

NC State finally played to their strength and it paid off with a 81-69 victory over Robert Morris.

All of NC State’s losses have followed the same pattern. Poor volume shooting from the guards, and low usage, but high efficiency from the bigs.Tonight was different.

NC State’s guards once again had an off shooting night, but instead of forcing shots up, they went inside. The Pack’s 3 double-doubles (Yurtseven, Dorn, Freeman) was too much for the Colonials to handle.

Here are the quick hits from tonights win:

• NC State finally got their bigs the basketball and it paid off. Abu, Lennard Freeman and Omer Yurtseven combined to go 16-25 (64%). That would seem impressive, but it’s becoming the norm. These guys, at the moment, are one of the most efficient front courts in the nation. NC State needs to continue to play through them.
• Torin Dorn attacked the rim all night. We mentioned earlier in the week that he needed to initiate more contact and work on getting to the line to increase his offensive efficiency and he did just that. His 8 trips to the line was a season high. He finished with 17 points and 10 boards.
• Huge game for Lavar Batts. The freshman was a huge spark off the bench tonight and can be credit for turning the tide in this one. His 9 points and 2 assists aren’t going to jump off the page, but it was his tenacity on defense, and his hounding of the Robert Morris guards that were the difference.  His shot needs some work, but his ability to get into the lane and make things happen is what this team is missing with Markell Johnson still suspended.
• Braxton Beverly and Al Freeman once again were ice cold. They finished 2-18 (11%) and 1-8 from 3pt range. It’s a tough call with these two. One one hand, you know they are capable scorers and you want to try to get them going. On the other hand, they’ve already shot you out of a few games and when you’re bigs are playing at this level, you really can’t warrant these guys shooting that much, with that percentage.  That being said, I didn’t think these guys took many bad shots tonight. They didn’t heave anything up early in the shot clock. They were just off. Freeman came into the game shooting only 26% from 3pt range, so credit him for not taking as many in this one. He shot only 2, his lowest amount of attempts on the season.
• NC State dominated Robert Morris on the boards 48-38. They also finished with 21 second chance points to the the Colonials 12. That was the difference.