NC State men’s basketball cruises past Maryland-Eastern Shore, MJ Rice debuts

NC State men’s basketball crushed Maryland-Eastern Shore 93-61 in the Pack’s annual heritage game in Reynolds Coliseum. 

The Pack’s (6-2) game against the Hawks (2-6) featured extra excitement this year — NC State legend David Thompson was honored with a statue unveiling outside Reynolds Coliseum. Thompson, who led the Wolfpack to its first men’s basketball national championship and two ACC titles, is considered by many to be the ACC’s most talented men’s college basketball player. The Naismith Hall of Famer is the first NC State player to receive a statue outside the Old Barn. 

“It was surreal to see somebody that was just in this jersey get a statue outside,” said junior guard Jayden Taylor. “It was kind of just eye-opening like to what he really did, what he meant to this University and program, so well deserved and happy for him.”

While the team honored a past legend before the game, a new face emerged for the Pack during the game: sophomore forward MJ Rice. The Kansas transfer made his highly anticipated debut with the red-and-white and did not disappoint. 

Rice finished with 11 points off of 5-6 shooting and a team-high six boards. The former blue-chip prospect punctuated his debut with a monster dunk — one that had everyone, including Thompson, impressed.

“[Rice] brings it on both ends, … and as y’all saw tonight, he was a big spark for us, especially in the second half,” said graduate guard Casey Morsell. “He’s worked extremely hard to kind of work his way back in. … We definitely look forward to playing with him more throughout the year.”

As much excitement as there was for the debut of Rice, Taylor’s performance should not go unnoticed, and he cemented himself as one of the Pack’s best players. The Butler transfer led the team with 21 points to go along with four rebounds. Taylor proved to be the team’s best defender, finishing with two steals and a block. 

Besides Taylor, graduate forward DJ Burns also turned in a strong showing. At six-foot-nine, Burns’ size bothered Maryland-Eastern Shore when he worked in the paint. Burns shot an efficient 7-9 en route to 15 points, while also collecting five rebounds. The Hawks limited Burns to just two points in the first half, but he was perfect from the field in the second half, scoring 13 points. 

Joining Burns in the paint was junior forward Mohamed Diarra, who also proved to be a mismatch for the Hawks. While Diarra posted eight points, his biggest contributions came on defense. Diarra snagged five rebounds, two steals and a block and was a disrupting force on defense. 

It was clear the Pack’s goal from the jump was to use its physicality to punish the Hawks, and it did just that — scoring 48 points in the paint and attempting 27 free throws. After netting 18 of its 21 free throws against Boston College, the Wolfpack only made 15 of its 27 attempts.

Against the Hawks, NC State showed off its depth and versatility with six players finishing in double-digit scoring. Through eight games, six different players have led the team in scoring, and eight players have scored 10 or more points in a game.

“I love the versatility of the team,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “When you go to scout us, you can’t really focus on one or two players because we got four or five guys on any given night that can lead us in scoring.”

NC State will return to the court Dec. 12 against UT Martin in PNC Arena. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network.