NC State Basketball
NC State 87 Charleston Southern 53: BOX SCORE & INITIAL THOUGHTS
NC State improved to 3-0 tonight, defeating Charleston Southern 87-53 in PNC Arena.
The Wolfpack have played three games, and there has been a different leading scorer in each one of them. D.J. Burns led the way in Game 1, with 16 points against The Citadel. Jayden Taylor had 22 points in Game 2 against Abilene Christian. Tonight, D.J. Horne led the Pack with 18 points.
Horne shot an efficient 7 of 13 from the field. He also led NC State with 6 rebounds, and chipped in 3 assists and 3 steals as well.
Burns had 16 points on an incredible 6 of 8 shooting. Through 3 games, he is averaging 14.7 points per game, and is shooting 71.4% from the field. Also, D.J. dunked the basketball y’all.
True Freshman Dennis Parker Jr. scored in double figures for the first time in his young career, scoring 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting. Parker also led NC State in steals with 4, and managed to grab 4 boards as well.
Casey Morsell was the 4th player to score in double figures, with 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting. Morsell was 2 of 3 from beyond the arch.
NC State continued to take care of the basketball, turning the ball over only 6 times, while managing to turn over Charleston Southern 22 times. The Wolfpack once again got to the charity stripe at a good clip, taking 12 more free throws than Charleston Southern. NC State had 5 more offensive boards than the Bucs. The Wolfpack shot 50.8% as a unit, and held Charleston Southern to a poor 39.6%.
This Wolfpack team has the makings of being a defensive force. Holding the Bucs to a measly 53 points is impressive. I’ve already addressed how NC State’s defense held Charleston Southern to 39.6% shooting and forced them to commit 22 turnovers. Sometimes when you are creating turnovers, you’re also putting people on the line, because you’re playing aggressive. That wasn’t the case tonight. Charleston Southern only attempted 11 free throws.
NC State’s next game will be against Vanderbilt on Thanksgiving night at 10pm in Las Vegas.