A Look at NC State’s 78-66 Win Over GT BY THE NUMBERS

NC State defeated Georgia Tech 78-66 tonight, improving to 15-4 and 5-3 in ACC play. You can check out the Box Score here. Below is a breakdown of the game…BY THE NUMBERS.

It’s hard to beat NC State when the tandem of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner are clicking. Smith led all scorers with 25 points, and he also led the way with 5 assists. Joiner had 19 points and 8 rebounds, and was a perfect 9 of 9 from the free throw line.

This was probably one of my favorite Smith performances. He shot over 50% from the field, making 9 of 17 from the field. Yes, he made 4 three pointers, but he also attacked the basket.

Casey Morsell’s impact on a given game always goes way beyond his point total. He finished with 12 points, but this dude had a team high 9 rebounds, with 4 of them being on the offensive glass. He also had a team high 3 blocks. He played way bigger than his height, and he continually proves to be one of the best defensive guards in the ACC.

DJ Burns was the other Wolfpack player in double figures, scoring 10 points, while grabbing 6 rebounds.

Ernest Ross followed up his breakout game against Miami with another solid performance, scoring 8 points on a perfect 3 of 3 shooting from the field. Prior to his 17-point performance against the Hurricane’s, tonights performance would have been a career high.

As a team, NC State shot ball better than Georgia Tech from the field (50.9%/39.4) and from the charity stripe (85%/42.1%). That was the difference in the game. I say that because the Wolfpack had more turnovers than the Yellow Jackets (15/10), and the home team grabbed more offensive rebounds (18/8). Georgia Tech scored 17 second chance points to NC State’s 4.

After starting off the game lackluster on defense, the Wolfpack turned things around, and didn’t look back.