NC State Mows Over UNC-Asheville 100-49

The NC State Men’s threw down their 3rd straight dominant performance to start the 2018 season tonight, mowing UNC-Asheville 100-49.

The Wolfpack’s defensive intensity has been insane through 3 games. They held the Bulldogs to 33.3% shooting from the field, and have held their opponents under that percentage in each contest so far (Mt. St. Mary’s – 32.8% & Maryland Eastern Shore – 31.5%).

Redshirt Sophomore Devon Daniels’ got in a groove for the first time since the exhibition game, leading the Wolfpack in scoring with 20 points, shooting 8 of 16 from the field. He also led NC State with 9 rebounds.

The Wolfpack’s offense was the epitome of balanced. Five NC State players had double-digit scoring performances (Daniels – 20, Dorn – 13, Bryce – 13, Funderburk – 11, Walker – 10), and eight players had 8 points or more (Beverly – 9, Hellems – 9, Harris – 8).

NC State shot an efficient 53.6% from the field, and a respectable 36.8% from deep. They out-rebounded the Bulldogs 51 to 24, and turned them over 24 times.

Head Coach Kevin Keatts told the team after the game that this was the hardest his team had played in two years.

.@CoachKeattsNCSU just told the team in the locker room that that’s the hardest his team has played in 2 years.

He’s proud of them.

— Craig Hammel (@Hammel_Craig) November 14, 2018

I know that NC State’s competition hasn’t been the most challenging out of the gate, but their offensive explosion through three games is extremely impressive. The last time the Wolfpack scored 90+ points in three straight games was in 1995-96 (tweet)

NC State has beaten their opponents by an average of 49 points through three games. Last year their margin of victory through three games was 26.7

The downer of the night was seeing Junior point guard Markell Johnson leave the game with a head injury four minutes into the game. He was on the receiving end of viscous pick from UNC-Asheville’s Jeremy Peck. Johnson went to the locker room, and came back out in sweats. Keatts said after the game he didn’t have a concussion.

The Wolfpack will host Maine on Saturday in PNC Arena at 2pm.