NC State 84 Vanderbilt 78: Initial Thoughts and Box Score

NC State improved to 4-0 tonight, defeating Vanderbilt 84-78 in the Vegas Showdown.

In all 4 of the Wolfpack victories this year, there has been a different leading scorer. Tonight, True Freshman Dennis Parker Jr. and Jayden Taylor both led NC State in scoring with 18 points. Parker was so impressive, shooting 7 of 10 from the field, and 2 of 3 from three. Taylor was so aggressive on the defensive and offensive end, as well as efficient, shooting 6 of 12 from the field, and 1 of 3 from deep. This marks the 1st time Parker has led NC State in scoring, and the 2nd time Taylor has done so.

NC State decided to run a smaller lineup against Vandy, running Parker as an undersized Power Forward. Some of that was due to matchups, and some of that was due to the exceptional play of Parker. I forgot to mention, Parker was also tied for the team lead in rebounds with 9. NC State was +11 when Parker was on the court, which was…you guessed it…a team high. The Wolfpack have something special in Parker.

D.J. Burns might have had 13 points, and tied for the team lead in rebounds (9) and assists (4), but this was his worst performance of the young season. His shot selection was poor and forced, making only 6 of his 18 field goal attempts. Burns also led the team with 4 turnovers, and the team was -2 when he was on the court.

Casey Morsell was the 4th NC State player that scored 10+ points, contributing 12 of his own (4 of 11 FG/2 of 5 3PT).

For the first time this year, NC State let a team shoot over 40% from the field. The Commodores shot 44.6% from the field, which was better than the Wolfpack’s 42.9%. Also, Vandy took 9 more free throw attempts, which is not a good recipe for victory.

In my opinion, this victory came down to turnover margin, fast break points, selfless play and bench points.

NC State turned Vandy over 19 times, compared to 12 of their own. I’m not pleased with 12 Wolfpack turnovers. It was a sloppy performance. With that being said, I’ll take a +7 Turnover Margin.

The Wolfpack played fast tonight, and were sprinting down the court soon as they had a rebound. They had 23 fast break points, compared to Vanderbilt’s 7.

35.7% of NC State’s points came from their bench. This team is deep, and gives Keatts the ability to run the way he wants to,

Finally, I love to see a team have more than half of their field goals come off of assists. Tonight NC State had 17 assists on 30 made field goals.

NC State will play the winner of Arizona State and BYU tomorrow night at 10pm.