NC State men’s basketball has not had it easy playing against Saint Louis over the years, and 2023 proved no different.

The Billikens emerged victorious against the Wolfpack in the first two meetings between the teams, winning an overtime thriller in the 2014 NCAA Tournament and beating the Pack again in 2020.

In this season’s game, Saint Louis was still giving NC State all it could handle, beating the Pack for almost the entire first half in Raleigh and holding a slim halftime lead.

But playing this matchup on its home court for a change, the Wolfpack (8-3) turned it on in the second half and flipped the script, riding the hot hands of graduate guards Casey Morsell and DJ Horne to finally get one over the Billikens (7-6) and winning 82-70.

“I told these guys that this will be the toughest team that we have played at home this year,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “We had to throw their record out of the window because it didn’t matter what their record was coming in. Even though they’re 7-5, we knew we were gonna play a good team on our home floor that if you don’t lock in, it certainly wouldn’t have been a great outcome.”

Morsell and Horne combined for 39 points, both scoring 14 in the second half as well as knocking down four triples apiece in the final 20 minutes. The veterans led the Pack on a 32-9 run in the second frame, stretching the lead to as many as 19 and making the crowd come alive.

“I knew we had to get into a little spark,” Horne said. “Coach was on us about getting off to a good start [in the second half]. After I saw that first [3-pointer] go in, I think it carried over into the rest of the team, and everybody started making them.”

Another key piece in the second half for the Pack was junior forward Ben Middlebrooks, who only logged 15 minutes but was extremely efficient. The 6-foot-10 big man logged nine points along with four rebounds and two steals to help cement the win. 

“Ben Middlebrooks came in and gave us a big lift,” Keatts said. “I thought Ben came in and was really, really good. When you’ve got some transfer guys, as we go through the season, we’re trying to figure out, who takes those shots? Who makes those plays?”

From the beginning, it was evident that the Billikens would provide a test once again for NC State, jumping out to an 8-2 lead as the Pack struggled to score early and leading for almost the entire first half. Saint Louis forward Bradley Ezewiro dealt plenty of damage, scoring 10 points in the first en route to 18 in the game.

Saint Louis forced NC State into bad shots, resulting in the Pack going 0-8 from beyond the arch in the first frame. Along with poor shooting, the red-and-white struggled from the free-throw line and only made seven of its first 15 attempts. 

Although Morsell knocked down NC State’s first triple of the game shortly after the break, it was more of the same to begin the second half, with the Pack struggling to gain control of the game and find a spark. With less than 15 minutes to go, it looked as though the game may have gone down to the wire, with Saint Louis leading 50-46.

The spark finally came with an 8-0 run featuring two triples by Horne and a bucket by graduate forward DJ Burns, which took nearly three minutes but gave the Pack a 54-50 lead that it would hold onto for good.

“Just having that experience — me being an older guy, Casey Morsell started getting it going,” Horne said. “Just trusting our game, trusting our work, and knowing that when those shots come and those opportunities present themselves, just knocking them down.”

A 14-2 run soon after ballooned the lead to 75-57 with 4:40 to go, and when Middlebrooks knocked down a 3-pointer — his first of the season — it was clear that it was the Pack’s night.

The red-and-white converted on the Billikens’ mistakes and scored 16 points off turnovers in the second half. The team’s pressure on both sides of the ball seemed to wear down the opposition. 

“When we’re active and we get 40 deflections, when we’re in the passing lane and when we get our offense off our defense, it’s really good,” Keatts said. “I thought our conditioning kicked in in the second half by the fact that we played so many guys. This is kind of what I’m looking forward to — to wear people down.”

The Wolfpack will stay in Raleigh before the holidays and take on Detroit Mercy at PNC Arena on Saturday, Dec. 23. This will be the team’s last contest before ACC play. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., and the game will broadcast on ACC Network.