Nearly a month after dropping a tight contest to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, the N.C. State men’s basketball team took revenge on the Demon Deacons Tuesday night in an 82-67 victory at PNC Arena.
Sophomore forward T.J. Warren lit up the box score for the Wolfpack, scoring a career-high 34 points on 15-for-26 and grabbing 10 boards for his first double-double of conference play.
“[Warren] just scores so easily,” sophomore guard Tyler Lewis said. “He just tells me to look up, I hit him and there’s two points.”
State (16-8 overall, 6-5 ACC) avoided what would have been a damaging loss to its NCAA resume. The Pack also won its ninth straight game against the Deacs (14-10 overall, 4-7 ACC) at PNC Arena.
Lewis made an early impact in his second straight start ahead of freshman guard Anthony “Cat” Barber, scoring or assisting on four of State’s first six points.
Warren had a hot start for the Pack, scoring 11 points in the first 10 minutes of action. His play was highlighted by a fast break dunk over a Deacon defender after stealing a pass to put State up by five with 14:26 remaining in the first.
“He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached.” head coach Mark Gottfried said.
State forced 10 turnovers in the first half, scoring 18 points off of Wake’s miscues. In comparison, the Pack managed to take care of the ball on offense in the first period, only turning the ball over four times in the first 20 minutes.
With just more than nine minutes left in the first, Wake switched to a 2-3 zone in an attempt to slow down State’s offense. The change in the game plan resulted in an 11-3 run by Wake, which gave the Deacons a 32-30 lead – the team’s first lead since 16:23.
Three-pointers were a big part of the Deacons’ run, as Wake sank four of its five attempts from downtown in the first half against a Pack defense ranked third in the ACC in three-point defense.
The Pack quickly responded with a 16-6 run to end the first half, highlighted by another dunk from Warren. Warren finished the half with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting. At halftime, Warren had recorded half of State’s points and field goals.
“We’re getting more confident against a zone,” Gottfried said. “It’s not just that we’re hitting the three, we’re moving the ball better and getting the ball inside the zone.”
Barber finished the first half in style for the Pack, scoring a buzzer beating layup to send State to the locker room with an eight-point lead.
State carried its momentum into the second half, going on an 8-4 run in the first four minutes of the second half to extend its lead, 54-42. That lead eventually grew to 21 on a free throw by freshman forward BeeJay Anya with 8:30 left, and the Pack cruised from there.
Wake Forest had a tough time shooting the ball in the second half, shooting only 33 percent from the free-throw line and going one-for-five beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. Gottfried attributed the Deacons’ slump in shooting to the fact that to his team began applying heavier on-ball pressure.
“We talked about it at halftime,” Gottfried said. I thought they were comfortable in the first half. In the second half, we made them uncomfortable.”
The Pack next has its toughest matchup of the regular season Saturday as it travels to take on No. 1 Syracuse, one of the two remaining undefeated teams in the nation. Tip-off at the Carrier Dome is slated for 3 p.m., and the game will be televised by the ACC Network.
