The NC State men’s basketball team dominated Jacksonville Thursday, 79-43, and narrowed past South Florida with a 68-65 victory at PNC Arena on Sunday to grab an early 4-0 start to the 2014-2015 season.
Thursday’s match served as a tasty cupcake on the Wolfpack’s schedule, as the team faced the undersized Jacksonville Dolphins (1-3). Despite struggling offensively in the first half, NC State laid down the law on the defensive end of the floor.
In his 25 minutes of playing time, sophomore forward BeeJay Anya, who had seven points, eight rebounds and a career-high ten blocks, broke the NC State single game record of nine, which was previously held by former Wolfpack standouts Thurl Bailey and Todd Fuller. On one occasion, the Washington, D.C. native accrued four ferocious swats on a single Jacksonville possession.
“[Blocks are] what I’ve been known for since high school, but I never thought that I would get 10 blocks in college,” Anya said. “A lot of good players have come through here before me, and I feel very accomplished and thankful.”
Anya’s presence under the basket, paired with tightly contested shots from the Pack, caused the Dolphins to shoot for a jaw-dropping 13.8 percent in the first half.
Freshman forward Caleb Martin put on a show, leading the team in scoring with a career high 15 points, draining three out of five shots from downtown.
Sophomore Lennard Freeman also had a dominating performance, as he achieved his second career double-double, posting 10 points and 12 boards.
The Pack (4-0) started off strong against the Bulls (3-1) on Sunday, scoring on four of its first eight possessions. Anya made his presence known early, recording the first of his three first-half blocks just under a minute into the game.
State let the Bulls hang around in the first half, with eight points marking the largest Pack lead. The Bulls’ stifling zone defense caused trouble for the Pack offense as the team shot 10-for-31 from the field, including two-for-12 from beyond the arc.
“We got good shots from the zone,” NC State head coach Mark Gottfried said. “We just couldn’t get the ball in the basket.”
Redshirt junior guard Trevor Lacey led all scorers at half with 11 points followed by sophomore guard Anthony “Cat” Barber’s nine. The Pack struggled to create plays, as the team recorded only two assists in the half. The defense, though, looked promising, forcing five first-half turnovers and causing a 39.3 shooting percentage from the Bulls.
Despite the abysmal shooting, free throws kept the Pack ahead as they shot 11-for-15 from the charity stripe in the first. Entering the break, the Pack held a 33-29 lead over the Bulls.
“We were aggressive,” Lacey said. “We just weren’t making shots.”
The second half saw a better shooting performance from both teams. State scored on four of its first six possessions, including three-pointers from Lacey and junior guard Ralston Turner, respectively.
The Pack managed to maintain a respectable lead for most of the half, with a 12-point cushion being its largest of the game. The offense did seem a bit winded, however.
“We kind of stalled offensively,” Lacey said. “We weren’t as aggressive as we were earlier in the first half.”
With 1:08 to go in the half, the Bulls were able to cut the State lead to 66-63 after a three-point play. Woes from the free throw began to plague the Pack as Barber went one-for-four down the stretch.
“Sometimes when you make foul shots, the game ends a little bit easier,” Gottfried said. “We need to play a lot better than we did today, especially down the stretch.”
A defensive stop with 11 seconds to go followed by a Lacey free throw gave the Pack a four-point lead at 67-63 with 9.2 seconds on the clock. A quick lay-up by the Bulls closed the gap to 67-65 with 3.8 left in the half.
“One thing you can’t do is panic,” Turner said. “But I don’t think that was the case. We just need to do a better job finishing.”
Senior guard Desmond Lee helped ice the game for the Pack, hitting the second of two free throws to give the Pack a three-point lead. The Bulls missed a last second three-pointer at the buzzer and the Pack held on for a 68-65 win.
“They’re a tough team to play,” Gottfried said. “They spread the floor, use their quickness and they made tough shots at the end.”
Lacey led the Pack with 21 on the day as Barber tacked on ten points. Anya and sophomore forward Kyle Washington each had eight points.
“You don’t want to win them like that,” Turner said. “But it’s good for us, you can take a lot away from it and moving forward, obviously, it’s going to get a lot tougher.”
The Pack has home games against Richmond and Boise State before travelling to West Lafayette, Indiana, for their first road test of the season against Purdue.
