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.
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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.
According to reports, NC State is adding UMASS’ Brett Nelson as an Assistant Coach.
Sources: Brett Nelson is leaving UMass to join Kevin Keatts’ staff at NC State as an assistant.
Matt Figger — who worked for Frank Martin at both South Carolina and Kansas State — will replace Nelson in Amherst.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2024
Nelson was only at UMASS for 1 season under Frank Martin. Prior to that, Nelson was the Head Coach at Holy Cross for 4 seasons, posting a 27-84 record.
Prior to taking the Head Coaching mantle at Holy Cross, Nelson was at Marquette for 5 seasons, spending the first 3 as an Assistant Coach, and the final two as an Associate Head Coach. Prior to Marquette, Nelson also served as an Assistant Coach at Ball St., Drake, Arkansas and Marshall.
Before coaching basketball, Nelson played for the University of Florida from 1999-2003. He was All-SEC twice, and earned Third Team All-American honors. When he left Gainesville, he was the Gators’ all-time leader in three pointers made, and ranked 2nd in steals.
As a Senior in High School, Nelson was a McDonald’s All-American.
Power Forward Ernest Ross announced this morning that he is returning to NC State for his final year of eligibility.
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Last Friday, Ross committed to UTSA after entering the Transfer Portal on April 17th, but it looks like he had a change of heart over the past couple of days.
NC State has been in desperate need to add a Big out of the Portal. They have hosted ECU’s Ezra Ausar and Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe, but neither of them have found a home yet. With the addition of Ross, NC State has added depth in the Frontcourt, and unless something changes, their roster is full with 13 scholarship players.
Ross played in 14 games this past season, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in NC State’s 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.
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