NC State Men's Basketball (8-3) moved back into the win column on Wednesday night with an 82-70 defeat of Saint Louis (7-6) in PNC Arena, moving the Pack to a perfect 6-0 at home so far this season.
Three members of the Wolfpack roster ended the night with double figures in scoring, led by 21 points from
Casey Morsell, complimented by 18 from
DJ Horne and 13 from
DJ Burns, Jr. The Pack's offensive effort was aided by
Michael O'Connell passing out a team-best five assists while Dennis Parker Jr. contributed seven rebounds, four of which came on the offensive glass.
The Pack trailed for all but 17 seconds in the first half as the Pack was 0-for-8 from long range and shot just 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the free throw line.
An 8-2 start to the second half pushed the Pack in front, but Saint Louis responded with an 8-2 run of its own to retake the lead.
The Billikens lead was up to four, 50-46, when the Pack went on a game-changing run.
NC State used a 29-7 run from 14:32 to 4:53 in the second half to turn a 50-46 deficit into a 75-57 lead.
An 8-0 run that was opened and closed by a pair of made three-pointers by Horne gave NC State what proved to be an insurmountable lead as the Pack went up 54-50 with 11:47 remaining, with the Billikens never leading after that spurt.
A strong defensive effort from the Wolfpack, NC State forced Saint Louis into 18 turnovers which resulted in scoring 29 points off turnovers, with the Wolfpack offense committed just six on the evening.
NC State will play its final game of 2023 on Saturday against Detroit Mercy, in what will additionally serve as the Pack's last non-conference contest of the 2023-24 season.
Tipoff between the Wolfpack and Titans is slated for 1 p.m. in PNC Arena, with the game broadcast on the ACC Network.
https://gopack.com/news/2023/12/20/mens-basketball-second-half-surge-pushes-pack-past-saint-louis